How to Eat Authentic Japanese Cuisine

Authentic Japanese food include sushi, miso soup and tempura and features rice, tofu and seafood as staples. The recipes are divided into two primary regional variations. Kanto uses strong flavoring and Kansai is mildly seasoned. Follow these steps to enjoy the healthy delicacies of Japanese cuisine.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Take note of the season and the delicacies available in the area where you're dining. Authentic Japanese cuisine relies heavily on fresh, seasonal food. Vegetables and seafood should reflect the season's offerings.
2. Ask about key ingredients like dashi, miso and soy sauce. Dashi is Japanese stock made from soaking kelp, dried shiitake mushrooms or dried baby sardines. Miso is a paste made from fermented rice, barley or soybeans with salt. Japanese soy sauces include wheat and are sweeter than those from China.
3. Try the miso soup, a mixture of dashi and miso with tofu and vegetables added. All authentic Japanese soups have dashi as their base and may contain seafood, pork, tofu or seaweed.
4. Look for rice or noodles with your meal. Rice is a staple of Japanese cuisine. It may take the form of white rice, a mixture of white and brown rice and even barley and white rice. Authentic Japanese noodles like Soba, Udon and Somen are served cold with a dipping sauce.
5. Check out the dishes accompanying your soup and rice or noodles, called okazu. These are made from seasonal fish, tofu, meat and vegetables. A standard authentic Japanese meal consists of three okazu, which can be eaten raw, grilled, fried, steamed or boiled.
6. Eat your meal with pickled vegetables or salted food. These are available on the table in small quantities to add flavor to rice dishes. Seafood is often salted for additional flavor.
7. Be prepared to pay a high price for authentic sushi. A staple of Japanese cuisine, quality sushi depends on freshness. Order a simple variety, like the cucumber roll, to evaluate the quality of the rice, which is the basis for judging this delicacy.

Tips & Warnings

• An authentic Japanese meal should end with green tea.
• In a traditional Japanese place settings, the rice bowl sits on the left, the soup bowl on the right and you serve the main dishes on flat plates behind the soup and rice.