The atlas · A cuisine · Japan
Japanese
A cooking of restraint and season, built on dashi — and on letting one ingredient taste as much of itself as it can.
Where it comes from
Much of Japanese cooking rests on dashi, a stock made in minutes from kombu and dried bonito. It was studying kombu dashi that led the chemist Kikunae Ikeda, in 1908, to identify glutamate and name the taste umami.
Meals are built by number and season: rice, soup and side dishes, each chosen for the time of year. Washoku was added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2013.
Where in it
- TokyoOld Edo, a city of quick, strong-flavoured eating — sushi, tempura and soba all began as street food here — and later of yōshoku, Western dishes made Japanese.OyakodonTonkatsu
- KyotoThe old imperial capital: temple vegetarian cooking, tofu and yuba, pickles, kaiseki, and a pale, delicate dashi that lets the ingredients show through.Dashimaki tamago
- OsakaA merchant city called 'the nation's kitchen', famous for eating until you drop — kuidaore — and for konamon, batter foods off the griddle, from okonomiyaki to takoyaki.Okonomiyaki
- HokkaidoThe cold north: seafood, dairy, sweetcorn and potatoes, lamb grilled as jingisukan, and ramen made hearty for the winters — miso ramen above all, in Sapporo.Miso ramen
- FukuokaKyushu's big city, facing Korea and China across the sea: tonkotsu ramen from the yatai, open-air stalls by the river, and spicy mentaiko.Tonkotsu ramen
- OkinawaThe islands of the old Ryukyu Kingdom: pork from nose to tail, bitter melon and island tofu, and a cooking closer to China and South-east Asia than to Tokyo's.Gōyā chanpurū
How it cooks
- Dashi
- Kombu steeped below a simmer, bonito added off the heat, strained without squeezing.
- Steaming
- Gentle, even heat — for custards, fish and rice.
- Seasoning by ratio
- Soy, mirin and dashi in proportions a cook knows by heart.
Always in the kitchen
Cook from it
Tonight, with what's good in October
Its classics
JapaneseChawanmushiA savoury egg custard, steamed in a teacup with dashi, and set so softly it barely holds.2 versions here
JapaneseDashimaki tamagoA rolled omelette made with dashi, cooked in thin layers in a square pan until it's juicy and just set.No one here has made it yet
JapaneseOnigiriFreshly cooked rice pressed by hand into a triangle or ball around a salty filling, and often wrapped in nori.No one here has made it yet
JapaneseOyakodonChicken and onion simmered in sweet dashi and soy, bound with barely set egg and slid over a bowl of rice.No one here has made it yetJapaneseTonkatsuA thick pork cutlet in flour, egg and coarse panko, deep-fried until crisp, sliced, and served with shredded cabbage and a thick, fruity sauce.No one here has made it yet
JapaneseDorayakiTwo small, honeyed pancakes sandwiched around sweet red bean paste.No one here has made it yetJapaneseOkonomiyakiA thick savoury pancake of batter and shredded cabbage with pork belly, cooked on a griddle and finished with sweet-sour sauce, mayonnaise, aonori and bonito flakes.No one here has made it yetJapaneseTonkotsu ramenThin, straight noodles in a cloudy, creamy pork-bone broth, with slices of chāshū, red pickled ginger and spring onion.No one here has made it yetJapaneseMiso ramenThick, wavy noodles in a rich broth seasoned with miso, under stir-fried pork, bean sprouts and cabbage — and in Hokkaido, often sweetcorn and a pat of butter.No one here has made it yetJapaneseGōyā chanpurūBitter melon stir-fried with firm tofu, pork and egg — Okinawa's everyday dish, bitter, savoury and soft at once.No one here has made it yetHow it got here
Edo period · from China's southern coast to NagasakiBanquet cookingIn the Edo period, Nagasaki was Japan's window on the world. Chinese traders' banquet cooking met Japanese cooking there, and chawanmushi is often traced to that table.Chawanmushi →
