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Gyoza - Japanese style dumplings
Gyoza is originally a Chinese dish that has also become very
popular in Japan. Recipes shows the steps of how to make the
dough and the filling. There are premade pieces of dough (or
even completely premade deep frozen gyoza) available if you
prefer not to make the dough yourself.
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Rice
Over 2000 years ago the Japanese began to cultivate rice.
It became their most fundamental kind of food. Rice, exists
in many different forms, such as cooked white rice, fried
rice (chahan), rice balls (nigiri), sushi rice, donburi, omochi,
rice gruel (okaiyu), rice snacks (osenbei), sake (nihonshu)
and rice vinegar. Rice can be eaten for breakfast, lunch,
and supper.
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Sashimi
Sashimi, which is actually raw seafood, is mainly raw fish.
Many different kinds of fish are eaten by the Japanese. They
should be saltwater fish, not freshwater fish as the latter
may contain parasites that are only killed by cooking. Saltwater
fish do not contain these parasites. Some of the most popular
fish used for sashimi are tuna maguro, fatty tuna toro,
salmon sake, squid ika, octopus tako,
prawn ebi and mackerel saba. The fish has to
be as fresh as possible. Sashimi can be eaten just as sashimi
or as nigiri sushi, where it is put on top of a ball of sushi
rice and is eaten with soya sauce and wasabi. Wasabi is a
hot green horse radish cream that should be mixed with soya
sauce.
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Sushi
Sushi is the most popular food among the Japanese. Sushi is
a dish that is made with rice which was prepared with Sushi
vinegar. It is not just a dish, it is also considered an art
form. The method of preparation, shape and taste differ somewhat
depending on the locality. Sushi is very attractive because
it is prepared quickly before the customer's eyes by the sushi
chef. There are many different kinds of sushi, some of them
being nigiri sushi, temaki sushi, norimaki sushi, futomaki
sushi, gunkan, chirashi sushi and inari sushi.
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Noodles
There are a variety of noodles that one can get in Japan.
The most popular ones are Ramen, Udon and Soba. These noodles
are served in a broth with various bits of vegetables, meat
and fish. Ramen are noodles that originally came from China
and are as thin as spaghetti. Udon are thick Japanese noodles.
Soba noodles are thinner than Udon but thicker than Somen
and Ramen noodles. All of these noodles can be prepared in
several ways.
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Tempura
Tempura is seafood and vegetables deep fried in a light, crispy
tempura batter and is dipped in a light soy sauce. Portuguese
Christian missionaries introduced tempura to Japan during
the 16th century when they were told to abstain from meat.
It was originally prepared as fried fish. It is a very popular
Japanese food, and is one of the best known outside of Japan.
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Yakitori
Yakitori is grilled chicken speared on sticks. All different
parts of the chicken, such as thighs, skin and liver are used
for different kinds of yakitori. The chicken morsels are first
marinated in teriyaki sauce, a sweetened version of soy sauce
with the addition of sake, honey, and ginger. Those skewers
of chicken are then grilled. Yakitori may also include vegetables
or ginkgo nuts.
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Okonomiyaki
It is a mixture between pizza and pancake. The word "Okonomi"
means "as you like" and refers to the ingredients. The most
popular kinds of Okonomiyaki are prepared with only a few
ingredients, for example, only with aonori, katsuobushi, and
the sauces. The Korean style is prepared with leek only. It
can also be served with or on top of Yakisoba (fried noodles).
Okonomiyaki can be eaten with mayonnaise and Okonomiyaki sauce.
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