13 recipes
An elegant cuisine built on rice and dashi that values seasonality, simplicity and umami.
Read its storyA comforting classic Japanese soup with tofu and wakame, built on a simple homemade dashi.
A comforting Japanese rice bowl of chicken and softly set egg simmered in a sweet-savoury sauce.
A lightly sweet, juicy Japanese rolled omelette built from thin layers, easily made in a regular round pan.
Crisp-skinned chicken thighs glazed in a glossy sauce of soy, mirin and sugar, a quick Japanese classic made for a bowl of rice.
Wheat noodles stir-fried with chicken, cabbage and carrot in a tangy, slightly sweet sauce, the essential street food of Japanese summer festivals.
Triangular rice balls shaped with salted hands, filled with a creamy tuna mixture and wrapped in nori, a staple of Japanese lunchboxes and picnics.
Japanese pan-fried dumplings with crisp golden bottoms, tender steamed tops and a juicy garlic-and-ginger filling.
Crisp, golden panko-crusted chicken breast served with a thick, fruity tonkatsu-style sauce and finely shredded cabbage.
Tokyo-style ramen in which a slow-simmered, clear chicken broth meets a soy-based tare, finished with soft-boiled eggs and crisp-skinned chicken.
Thin and thick maki rolls of seasoned sushi rice wrapped in nori, made at home with cooked fillings that need no raw fish.
An Osaka-style street favourite: a cabbage-packed batter cooked into a thick pancake and topped with sweet-tangy sauce, mayonnaise and aonori.
Japanese fried chicken: thigh pieces marinated in soy, ginger and garlic, coated in starch and fried twice until crisp outside and juicy inside.
A Japanese noodle soup of beautiful simplicity: thick, soft udon in a hot, clear dashi broth, served with nothing more than spring onion.
Japanese cooking rests on rice farming, which arrived from mainland Asia thousands of years ago. Rice became not just food but the centre of culture and ritual. In the 7th century, under Buddhist influence, imperial edicts restricted eating the meat of certain animals, and for centuries fish, soy products and vegetables became the mainstays of the Japanese table.
Japan has always transformed outside influences in its own way. Staples such as soy sauce, miso and tofu developed from Chinese techniques. In the 16th century, Portuguese traders and missionaries helped spread the frying technique we now know as tempura. From the start of the Meiji era in 1868, eating meat was encouraged again, giving rise to Western-inspired dishes such as Japanese curry rice and tonkatsu. Ramen developed in Japan from Chinese noodle dishes. Washoku, traditional Japanese food culture, was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013.
Stretching from north to south, Japan has a cuisine that varies by region. Hokkaido in the north is known for seafood and dairy. Osaka, nicknamed "Japan's kitchen", is famous for street foods such as takoyaki and okonomiyaki. Kyoto is known for refined vegetable dishes and tofu shaped by Buddhist temple cooking, while Okinawa in the far south has a distinctive cuisine reflecting its separate history.
Short-grain rice, soy sauce, miso, mirin, rice vinegar and dashi, a stock made from kombu seaweed and bonito flakes, are the foundations. In 1908 the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, studying kombu, identified the fifth basic taste he named "umami". The "ichiju sansai" pattern of one soup and three side dishes is the classic model of a balanced meal. Choosing seasonal ingredients and presenting them with care matters as much as flavour.
First learn to cook Japanese-style rice and make