In chapter 6, Michael wrote about Japanese food program on TV. He went to watch "Bistro SMAP", which is one of corners of "SMAP×SMAP". He said that SMAP changed Japanese prejudice that men didnot cook in the kitchen. Recently, I also think that there are many men whose hobby is cooking. Perhaps SMAP is one of factors of the trend.
Next chapter, he went to tempura shop with his family. They ordered whitebait, squid,eel and shrimp. He was so impressed of the tastiness. Particularly, he want to know how to make these crunchy batter, which is called"koromo" in Japanese.
He wrote that although the technique of deep-frying was originally introduced to Japan by Europeans and Chinese, the Japanese have elaborate the way of making tempura. I was amazed by the information.
He told that Japanese always serve tempura with grated daikon mixed in with the dipping sause, because daikon helps the digestion of oily foods. I thought we should eat daikon-oroshi before I eat tempura.
It was interesting that he thought Japanese people are very careful about eating, because they believe that Tokugawa ate tempura too much, so he died.
I did not know Tempura was introduced by the European countries because I thought it is the chief food that was originally created in Japan. Also, I did not know why it is eaten with grated radish and seasoning soy sauce clinging to it before your book taught me that. From the above, there may be lots of things about the Japanese food we the Japanese don't know.
返信削除I really enjoyed your introduce of the book！
返信削除I am very happy when foreigners tell Japanese food is so deiicious and healthy. And the author and you said that recently there is the trend that some men's hobbies are cooking. I think it is very nice trend and women will like and appreciate that trend. So your explanation is very interesting for me!
I wonder whether more "talents" (such as the members of SMAP) demonstrating how to prepare dishes on television actually translates into more Japanese husbands and boyfriends cooking more for their partners or families. It's strange how it's normal for the chefs in restaurants, particularly prestigious ones, to be men but it somehow is still abnormal for men to cook in their kitchens at home.
返信削除Western food was called nanban-ryōri (南蛮料理) when it was first introduced to Japan. Perhaps using large amounts of oil in cooking is a rather barbarian custom. I just heard that not only "tempera," but also hiryōzu (otherwise known as ganmodoki), have Portuguese origins. It's interesting how healthful variations were added (such as eating daikon-oroshi with tempura) to aid in the digestion of oily foods. It shows a kind of food wisdom that attempts to counter the negative health effects of newly introduced foods.
Cheers,
Joseph D>