Dashi

Being a part of an Italian family has its perks, the main one being food. When my great grandparents immigrated from Italy to the United States in the early 1900s, they brought the country’s mouthwatering cuisine with them. Their exclusive recipe for tortellini soup, a dish containing ring-shaped pasta filled with meat or cheese suspended in broth, is deserving of an award. Three generations later, my parents and I still concoct this soup during the holiday season. Making homemade tortellini soup takes hours of effort and concentration over the course of three days, but it allows my family to spend time together while preparing a dish that we all savor. The first day is spent making both the dough and the filling. In a large frying pan, my dad cooks a little over a pound of ground sirloin on medium heat over the stovetop. He continually stirs the meat until it reaches the perfect shade of brown. While the sirloin is cooking, my mom and I begin to make the dough by adding six cups of flour, six eggs, and a half cup of water at room temperature into a bowl. Dough that is too wet or too dry can be a disaster to handle, so adding the perfect amount of water is critical. Occasionally my mother and I will add too much water, and the wet dough will stick to every surface it touches. However, dry dough is completely useless, so it is better to add more water than not enough. Using a dough hook attached to a KitchenAid stand mixer on a low speed, the ingredients are combined into a…

usually a common number. Interesting thing about this variety of sushi is that it does not have a fixed recipe for making it. As such, it is quite common in Japanese households. Preparing it is rather simple and even leftovers can be used. Moreover, the most common kinds of chirashi that is consumed in Japan are usually not made with fish. Inarizushi In this variety of sushi, a pouch of “abura age” (fried tofu) is filled with sushi rice. In making the abura age, the tofu is cut into thin slices…

The Japanese culture and diet is drastically different to compared to their western neighbors. “Japanese adults are the least obese among the industrialized countries” (Japan Times). Small portions and fish are major components of every day meals. “Home cooked meals including grilled fish, rice, vegetables, miso soup (stock soup from, dashi, a traditional Japanese paste), green tea, and a piece of fruit” (Campbell). All these different cultural food staples construct a normal meal. Since World…

It is possible to make almost every Japanese dish just by keeping a few simple ingredients in stock. Dashi stock is a staple ingredient in many Japanese dishes; it is made out of konbu(dried kelp/seaweed) and bonito flakes(dried fish flakes). Japanese dishes are centered on rice and miso soup, which are usually a part of every meal. Fresh, seasonal ingredients are important also, with fish being a reoccurring ingredient in most dishes. Japan has always been known for its incredible fish dishes,…

The earliest historical records of Inari worship before the 10th or 11th century don’t mention anything about foxes. The simplest explanation seems to be that mice eat rice and foxes eat mice. So foxes could be seen as protectors of rice, but who knows. Worshippers at Inari shrines, commonly make offerings of Aburaage, which are thin slices of fried tofu with sweet soy sauce flavoring. It’s supposedly the favorite food of foxes, thus udon (a type of thick wheat flour noodle of Japanese cuisine…

rice, vegetables, noodles and fish (mapvalleyregister.com). Like America, Japan is also a “melting pot” (mapvalleyregister.com). You might still be asking how Japan has influenced America. During 1996, there were 5000 Japanese restaurants in America; in 2006, there were 10000 (mapvalleyregister.com). WOW! That is a lot of restaurants. Japanese food also is great for taste. Whenever you hear about a taste, you normally think about sour, sweet, salty or bitter; however, what if I told you that…