Green Tea Forum

Guest · Posted: May 08, 2006 3:35 am Post subject: Japanese food virgin, need help!

I'm interested in trying some Japanese food, and I think that noodle dishes would probably be the easiest to start with, since I grew up in a household that regularly served mac and cheese, hot dogs, and other poor, white-trash fare (Horrifiying and disgusting, I know!). Foods from other cultures are completely alien to me. For example, I never even had Chinese until I was in my mid-twenties! Anyway, what can you more cultured folks suggest I try first? There's a few upscale Japanese restaurants near where I live, and I found a nice little Japanese grocery store, so I can learn to cook anything I find that I like. Thanks.

Chip · Posted: May 08, 2006 5:33 am Post subject:

Hey girl wolf,
First thing to remember, there is authentic Japanese cuisinine and then there is Japanese for Americans (same for Chinese, etc). You will have to ask around about the restuarants in your area. Always go for authentic if you can.
Japanese eat a lot of fish, so get into that mind set. They eat red meat too, but be prepared to eat fish.
My fav is sushi and sashini and hopefully they will have some for you to try. And yes, raw fish is a part of this. It is not like they throw a smelly tuna steak on your plate. Sushi is usually with raw thin sliced raw fish, rice and other ingredients rolled into a log with dried nori...I think usually farm raised kelp which I can eat plain...and then sliced. MMM good. Sashini is usually thin sliced raw fish. Servings of these dishes are rather small, usually. They use a very high grade of raw fish for these dishes and the fish is extremely fresh. Only get these dishes from reputable sources and hopefully freshly prepared.

If you prepare these, check out some Japanese cuisine cookbooks. They will stress cleanliness...and freshness. You do not pick up fish for these dishes at the local supermarket. It is usually a very high grade and extremely fresh.

Fish that is cooked is often recommended prepared rare or medium rare, seared on the outside.

But there is a lot more to Japanese cuisine than I could cover here. But you have to be at least a little adventurous...and willing to try very unusual things that most Americans would not.

And have fun. With the name girl wolf...you gotta be at least a little adventurous....let us know how you make out.

And just for fun, check out Iron Chef on the Food Channel...not the newer Iron Chef America. Iron Chef pits different Japanese Iron Chefs against challengers. You will see a lot of incredible dishes prepared...some not so Japanese...still an educational show for anyone interested in Japanese cuisine. Great show. It is not unusual to see tea used in the preparation of their dishes.

Franca_A · Guest

Depending on how adventurous you are, there's a range of food you can try. Of course, everyone's heard of sushi and feel free to try that, but for those of us used to cooked food, other Japanese dishes can be really yummy. One is tonkatsu- breaded pork that is fried and served over rice with a simple soy sauce (there is also a chicken version). You could also go to a place that serves teppanyaki. This is chopped up steak that is prepared at a your table, so makes for a fun show as well as dinner. For more Japanese food information, check out http://www.foodvirgin.com. They'll tell you how to try sushi for the first time, as well as lots of other cuisines.