ASIAN
FOODWAYS:JAPANESE
Japanese
meals are rice or noodle-based with attention paid to the artistic arrangement
of the food. Dishes tend to include a balance of meat (chicken, beef,
or pork), usually in small amounts and thinly sliced, with fresh vegetables.
Seafood is frequently featured, and seaweed is eaten in a variety of forms,
including soups, pickles, and, best known to Americans, dried in thin
sheets (nori) and used to wrap rice for sushi. Japanese cuisine tends
to use very subtle flavorings, featuring the natural flavor of the ingredients
and using few spices. Wasabi or horseradish gives spiciness for sushi
or sashimi, but unlike other Asian cuisines, garlic and chili peppers
are not common.
Japanese food
was first introduced to mainstream America through Japanese steakhouses
featuring theatrical food preparations. Dishes such as chicken or beef
teriyaki and sukiyaki were adapted and accepted into American cuisine.
Sushi was
introduced in the 1970s and after initial suspicion and stereotyping of
it as raw fish, it became not only accepted but also trendy. Nigiri consists
of bite-size pieces of seafood (raw) placed over ball of rice mixed with
vinegar. Maki are seaweed-wrapped rice rolls with fish, pickled or fresh
vegetables, and fried egg in the center. Even though Wood County has not
fully embraced traditional Japanese sushi, contemporary, Americanized
adaptations can now be purchased ready-made at most supermarkets.
Rice wine
(Sake) might also accompany meals, particularly sushi, and is frequently
used in rituals and festivals. Tea plays an important role in Japanese
culture, and the tea ceremony is symbolic of Japanese culture and history.
A reconstruction of a traditional Japanese tea room can be seen on the
campus of the School of Art at Bowling Green State University.
Content
submitted by Arisa Shibagaki
ASIAN
FOODWAYS:JAPANESE-HAWAIIAN
Marian Silverman,
born in Tokyo, Japan, is half Japanese and half American. When she was
four, her family moved to Hawaii. In the 1980s, at the age of 18, she
left Hawaii and moved to Bowling Green, Ohio with her American husband.
Growing up
in Hawaii, she has a lot of memories about Hawaiian food. At home, however,
her Japanese mother served mostly Japanese meals. Her favorite dish is
Teriyaki chicken, which is typical Japanese food; however, she introduced
me to Hawaiian and Japanese food because of her mixed background.
Chicken
Long Rice is a typical Hawaiian food, which is served
as an everyday meal and at Luau, which is one of the biggest parties in
Hawaii. Interestingly, even if different people cook Chicken Long Rice
at home or restaurants, the taste is always the same.
Chicken Long
rice and miso soup
2 lb. Chicken Thighs
2 bundles long rice (soak until soft, cut into desired length)
4 cups water
1 T. Hawaiian salt * Marian used Kosher salt instead
3 stalks green onion (1-inch lengths)
2 tsp. Sugar
De-bone each
thigh. Slice into 4 to 5 pieces. Boil water and add chicken. Add kosher
salt, dash of MSG, and sugar. Cook until chicken is tender. Add long rice.
Cook until tender. Add green onions. (Optional- 1⁄4 -inch fresh
ginger).
Miso
Soup is a typical Japanese food, which is served as an everyday meal. Every
family has their own taste for miso soup. Marian learned the recipe from
her mother, and she has never changed the taste. She mostly uses seaweed
and tofu for garnish; however, the garnish can be changed all the time.
5-6 cups water
1 pkg. Katsuo dashinomoto
Ajinomoto (*Marian does not use it)
1⁄2 cup miso
Green onions, chopped
Bring water
to a boil; and katsuo dashinomoto and miso and stir until miso is dissolved.
Add garnish with chopped onions.
Marian’s
various cultural and historical backgrounds shaped her unique foodways,
which means that her foodways expresses the negotiated identity of hers;
Hawaiian and Japanese identity because of her food choices. Gabaccia
(1998) asked if “what we eat” tell us “who we are”
(p. 6). —I can say “yes” because “Miso soup and
Chicken Long Rice (Japanese-Hawaiian food)” tells me “Marian
is a Japanese-American who has a background in Hawaii.”
WORKS
CITED
Gabaccia, Donna R. We Are What We Eat, Harvard University Press, 1998.
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