Monday, February 21, 2005

JAPANESE COOKING

▼ “Okra will be in fashion next to edamame (green soybeans).” An expected boom in Okra is talked about at a restaurant in New York City in an American TV drama. A chef who made okra dishes is proud of his cooking, saying, “Isn’t it delicious!”

▼ Green soybeans are fairly popular now in the United States and Europe. They have spread as a handy snack for health-oriented people as tofu did. What will become of okra? At present it is no more than an unusual cooking ingredient. Will day come when okra takes the place of green soybeans?

▼ Talking of Japanese dishes, once sukiyaki and tempura were popular, but people’s interests were gradually switched to ingredients such as tofu and shoyu (soybean sauce). Sushi has spread more widely than anticipated. In Britain where sushi bars are rapidly increasing, Japanese food markets have become twice as many in five years since the end of 1990s.

▼ In the midst of such a trend, a Japanese cooking book in English version was published in London last year. The book was called “Harumi’s Japanese Cooking” written by Kurihara Harumi. She won the grand prize at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and the ceremony was held in Sweden the other day.

▼ The book was introduced by overseas media. There was such a stereotyped misunderstanding that “eating meat has been forbidden by Buddhism in Japan but Harumi enjoys using it.” But most of the comments were favorable saying that “though based on a long tradition, it is light and modern.” As a matter of fact, some commented her as “a charisma housewife in Japan.”

▼ She does not emphasize the seasoning of dried bonito too much in Japanese dishes. She thinks it possible to replace it with something else. It might be better to call her a “charisma housewife” without “mysteriousness and enigmas” of Japanese dishes.