Best home dishes use two essential ingredients – taste and healthiness. We cook as we usually do at our home for family and friends, paying respect to Japanese traditions that are based on a balanced way of eating.
As a result, our dishes contain more grains, vegetables and fish, and somewhat less meat, and of course no preservatives or chemical seasonings. Today, such dietary traditions of Japan are preserved in a form known to the world as macrobiotic. We try to learn and use some essences from its philosophy and methods as well.
Healthy life style
DID YOU KNOW?
Washoku, Japanese food and Japanese dieting practice, is UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2013.
Source: UNESCO
GRAINS
They are the main component in Japanese diet. Any Japanese person would say that rice is the staple of the nation, not to mention our culture itself is composed around rice, literally.
Brown rice is particularly rich in manganese, among its other nutrients like vitamin B3 and magnesium. Manganese helps produce energy from protein and carbohydrates. It is also a critical component of a very important antioxidant enzyme.
We mix white rice with whole grains like brown rice, black rice, millet and barley in our bowl of rice for more tastes and more balanced diets.
* Dinner hours only
DID YOU KNOW?
Japan has one of the longest life expectancy in the world. Women held a record for the longest life for 25 years in row, with an average life span of over 86 years old, as of 2009.
Source: Health Statistics New South Wales, Reuters
VEGETABLES
Vegetables are second after the grains in traditional Japanese cooking. They contribute essential vitamins and minerals, which are not present in grains. We use much of root vegetables. They can be an excellent source of protein while having no fat and are low in calories. Their phytonutrients are proven to include antioxidants.
Daikon radish is one of the main vegetables in Japanese cooking. It is served grated for fish dishes, pickled or often simmered in various dishes, most commonly in miso soups.
Ginger is another popular root vegetable, with a long tradition of being effective in easing symptoms of gastrointestinal distress. It is also common to make tea from ginger to fight a cold. We serve it grated to go with udon noodles and tempura or use it in cooking for a number of our dishes.
Shiitake, Japanese native mushrooms, are another standard ingredient in our cooking. These rich-flavor mushrooms are known for high contents in minerals and vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin D) and for various health benefits such as immune supports.
We use locally grown fresh shiitake for our cooking.
DID YOU KNOW?
Japan has the lowest adult obesity rates in the world.
Source: Public Health England
BEANS AND BEAN PRODUCTS
They are an excellent source of protein. Taking soybeans, the most popular kind in Japanese diet, it is richer than meat in a number of nutrients like vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, iron and fiber. Also, soybeans are an important source of minerals like copper, manganese, molybdenum and phosphorus and of B vitamins, riboflavin and omega-3 fatty acids. Replacing meat and dairy with soy would also lower total cholesterol and saturated fat intakes per day. Moreover, many studies provide us with evidence that supports the role of whole soy foods in a cancer-preventing diet.
Soybeans is used for our home-made tofu (soybean curd). We also mix beans, in addition to whole grains, in our standard steamed rice for dinner hours.
Fermented soybean paste (miso) is one of a few non-animal foods that are rich in vitamin B12. For those who eat less meat, fish and dairy, it is advised to supplement vitamin B12 with alternative sources; lack of this vitamin could lead to fatigue, anemia or neurological disorders. We use miso not only in miso soups but also in a number of our dishes.
DID YOU KNOW?
Japan eats 10 times more soy than any other nation per capita.
Source: Insiders health (insidershealth.com)
FISH
It is the secondary source of protein in traditional Japanese diet after beans. Scientific studies continue to explore the relationship between the unique type of fat found in seafood, the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, in the prevention or mitigation of common chronic diseases. The world has realized such health benefits; a report by FAO* shows that aquaculture has enjoyed an average annual growth rate of 6.6% since 1970 and that global seafood consumption is now at an annual level of 17 kg per person.
*Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2010
DID YOU KNOW?
Japan is the second per-capita biggest fish eater in the world, after Chile.
Source: National Geographic Magazine, October 2010
SEA VEGETABLES
Being in tune with rhythms of nature, Japanese cooking uses vegetables from both land and sea. Sea vegetables offer the broadest range of minerals, containing virtually all the minerals found in the ocean, and many of same minerals found in human blood, making our blood stronger. They are also excellent sources of vitamin C and B2. They are known for antioxidant benefits.
Dried seaweed or kelp (kombu) is used to make our soup stock (dashi) used to give umami taste to many of our dishes. We also use soft dried kelp (wakame) in miso soups and salads, and you will also see hijiki in some of our dishes.
DID YOU KNOW?
Umami, a savory taste, is the fifth basic taste, together with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. It was proposed by Professor Kikunae IKEDA in 1908 and recognized as scientific term in 1985.
Source: Wikipedia
SOUP STOCK (DASHI)
It is the basis of most Japanese traditional dishes if not all, miso soups for the most known example. Dashi is typically made with three simple ingredients – bonito fish flakes (katsuobushi), dried kelp (kombu) and water.
Katsuobushi is made of bonito fish fillets that have been dried and smoked until they are as hard as a piece of wood. The bonito is then shaved into flakes.
Katsuoboshi and kombu are both known to give umami, which can be described as pleasant savory taste with a long lasting, mouthwatering sensation over the tongue.
Umami represents the taste of the amino acid L-glutamate and 5’ribonucleotides such as guanosine and inosine monophosphates, most notably found in fish, cured meats, mushrooms, vegetables, green tea, and fermented products, e.g., cheeses, soy sauce. With dashi, L-glutamate comes from kombu and inosine from katsuobushi.
Interestingly, many of us first encounter umami in breast milk, which contains roughly the same amount of umami as broths.
We make our soup stock slowly with natural ingredients. We add to katsuobushi and kombu dried flakes of bullet tuna (soda katsuo) and mackerel (saba) for milder and richer tastes.
BALANCED DIET IS OUR MOTTO.