| Japanese Traditional
Kaiseki Cuisine |
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From ancient times, Japanese have
shown a preference for
enjoying the natural flavor of food. In this
sense, Japanese
cultural traditions are expressed in the nation's
cuisine.
Japanese cooking therefore is simple and natural when
compared with that of other cuisines.
Food seasoned in a manner which preserves or further
enhances the essential, natural flavor of the raw
ingredients. It is the basis of Japanese cuisine. |
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As the rich and noble
people of most foreign countries fostered their own culinary cultures, Japanese
culinary cuisine has also
centered itself around the dietary life of the upper
classes and nobility. The Kaiseki cuisine was developed for entertaining
large
groups of people. This is the type of cuisine served for
dinner at our ryokan. |
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Traditional Japanese meals
generally consist of:
ZENSAI ( an appetizer )
HASSUN ( an hors d'oeuvre )
SUIMONO ( a clear broth )
NAMAMONO ( a fresh dish )
NIMONO ( a boiled dish, usually cooked in soy sauce,
sugar,
sweet rice wine and dashi )
YAKIMONO ( broiled food )
MUSHIMONO ( steamed food )
ATSUMONO ( heated food )
SHIRUMONO ( soup )
GOHAN ( rice )
KONOMONO ( pickled vegetables )
KUDAMONO ( fruit ) |
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Japanese Seasonal Ingredients
Spring
Rape blossom
Bamboo shoots
Bracken
Royal fern
Fatsia sprout
Udo
Japanese butterbur
Wasabi
Trefoil
Chinese chives
Rockfish
Flatfish
Halfbeak
Spanish mackerel
Red sea bream
Hard-shell clam |
Summer
Water shield
Broad bean
Green bean
Japanese apricot
Corn
Cucumber
Mioga
Sweetfish
Eel
Pike conger
Bonito
Conger eel
Squid
Flathead
Horse mackerel
Grunt |
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Autumn
Matsutake mushrooms
Pumpkin
Wax gourd
Chestnut
Gingko nut
Ginger
Japanese taro
Buckwheat
Japanese lime
Pacific saury
Mackerel
Sea bass
Sardine
Chum salmon
Barracuda
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Winter
Giant whit radish
Turnip
Chinese cabbage
Naga-negi onion
Greens
Carrot
Devil's tongue
Japanese amberjack
Crab
Pike shrimp
Oyster
Blow fish
Angler fish
Bastard halibut
Cod
Bluefin
tuna
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