Umamiis the fifth category of taste and is not as commonly known as the other four (sweet, salty, sour and bitter).
Umami is a concept with which all Japanese people are familiar – the Japanese palate easily recognizes its rich mouth-feel. The Kanji characters for umami translate as “delicious flavor” (旨味). When something taste good, it is often said to be Oishii (美味しい), but it can also be called Umai (旨い), and shares the Japanese character for umami.
Umami can be described as savory; it is full, rich, and round on the palate. It naturally exists in many foods including Parmesan cheese, meat, mushrooms, seaweed and tomatoes.
In 1908, Professor Kikunae Ikeda identified umami while sampling his wife’s is tofu simmered in a kelp broth and later isolated glutamate, inosinate, and guanylate, the naturally occurring amino acids and nucleotides that are the common components in umami-rich foods. Professor Ikeda also developed the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate.
Many Japanese ingredients are rich in natural umami, including some of the main players in the Japanese pantry; soy sauce, mirin, miso and sake. Food is richer in Umami when fried that when fresh: shiitake, scallops, and daikon, for example.
Chives are an effective vegetable for nourishing and relieving fatigue. It also contains vitamin E, which helps prevent lifestyle-related diseases and antioxidants, so it is an ingredient that should be included in your daily diet as much as possible. Because of its unique flavor, it is best to use it up quickly, but if you cannot use it up, it is recommended to wash it well before refrigerating or freezing it.
In the past, it was common for respected people or relatives with longevity to be godparents, or for fathers and grandfathers to name their babies, but these days, with the trend toward nuclear families, parents are more likely to name their babies.
How Parents Decide The Name?
In the past, people often used the family name as a reference for naming their children, but nowadays people tend to focus more on the ease of calling (sound) and the image of the Chinese characters.
However, there are cases where grandparents or relatives place great importance on the family name judgment and cannot be ignored. Since surname and name determination is based on the balance of characters with the family name, the range of names is limited. (My mother, for example, bought books and did careful research.)
Once a potential name is chosen, the parents check the name from various angles for any flaws. It is important to note that some kanji cannot be used for names. The only kanji that can be used are the Joyo Kanji and Kanji for personal names. Since the reading is free, some parents give a reading that is somewhat close in sound and meaning to the kanji.
Recent Name Trends
The most popular names in 2021 were “蓮”(REN) for a boy and “陽葵”(HIMARI) for a girl. REN was the 1st for 4 consecutive years and HIMARI was 1st for 6 consecutive years!!!
As the effects of the COVID situation continue to be felt, there seems to be a growing trend among both men and women to choose names that are more solid and reassuring than those that are varied and novel.
Another name, “AOI,” ranked first in the common reading for both boy and girl, is a popular gender-free name.
Meimei Shiki (Naming Ceremony)
Parents usually decide their newborn’s name until the 7th day after the birth. This is because they used to invite their family and relatives and hold special dinner gathering/party. At this event, parents announce their baby’s name for the first time and put the paper with their baby’s name on the wall to show everyone.
Nowadays, parents and their family (including relatives) live apart because of lifestyle and also for work situation. So, it’s not so easy to coordinate this gathering after the child birth. Modern parents usually celebrate this event only for themselves these days. Same as this situation, my husband and I had casual lunch with my parents on the day I came back home from hospital. (After lunch, I went asleep to get recovered…zzz) Read More
In spring, edible wild plants called “Sansai” (山菜) appear in supermarkets. Sansai are considered very precious because they can be picked in mountains or fields for a short period of time, only a few weeks.
It is said that there are more than 200 varieties of Sansai, including sprouts, greens, and small, tender young grasses.
Although some Sansai have a bitter taste, they are used in a variety of dishes such as soba noodles, cooked rice, branched vegetables, and salads.
Tempurais a must for those who enjoy the taste of Sansai. When I was a child, my grandparents who lived in the countryside would send us wild vegetables from the mountains when it was time to harvest them. I still remember how my father used to happily eat them as tempura on the same day they were sent to us. (And I used to pick them up and eat them!) At the time, I ate them without really understanding how delicious they were, but now I realize that it was a luxurious time.
Some popular Sansai include:
Asatsuki (あさつき) : Chives Fuki (ふき) : Japanese butterbur Fuki no to(ふきのとう) : Unopened bud of Japanese butterbur Katakuri(かたくり) : Dog’s-tooth violet Nobiru(のびる) : Red garlic Seri(せり) : Water dropwort Tara no me(たらのめ) : Shoot of the Angelica tree Tsukushi(つくし) : Field horsetail shoot Udo(うど) : Japanese spikenard Warabi(わらび) : Bracken Yomogi(よもぎ) : Mugwort Zenmai(ぜんまい) : Royal fern
It is the season for fresh onions. Because of their high water content, they are crispy and have a nice texture when cut into thin slices and eaten in salads. Fresh onions are easily damaged, and if stored at room temperature, their skins will soon become slimy. To prevent moisture damage, it is recommended to wrap them in newspaper or kitchen paper, place them in a plastic bag, and keep them refrigerated.They will still be crisp after a week.
In Japan, when a woman reaches the fifth month of pregnancy, she wears an abdominal belt called an “Iwata Obi” (岩田帯) in hopes of an easy delivery.
It was worn every day until the day the baby was born, but these days few people actually wear one, even though some buy one for celebratory purposes.
Nowadays, instead of belly bands, people wear girdles or belly wraps, which are convenient for taking off the belt.
And the first day to wrap the girdle is called the Obi Celebration, which is the day of the dog in the fifth month of pregnancy.
(In the lunar calendar, each of the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac is distributed on a different day of the month, so there are two or three Dog Days in a month.)
Dogs are said to be fertile and to have an easy delivery, so the dog day is probably because of the desire to be named after them.
In the past, belly bands were usually sent with dried bonito flakes and sake from the family of the expectant mother, after prayers for safe delivery had been offered at a nearby shrine or temple.
It may also be given by a matchmaker or a close couple blessed with a child.
The gift varies from region to region, such as a bleached cotton with the words Kotobuki or Inu (dog) written in red, or a talisman tucked into the obi.
Since it is a lucky charm, it may be appropriated in the form of a token, which can then be purchased at shrines or department stores that offer prayers for easy childbirth.
In my case, there is a famous shrine called Kishimojin in my neighborhood, so I went there to pray for a safe delivery. At that time, I bought a belly band.
During my pregnancy, I wore a girdle-style one, both with my first son and when I gave birth to my first daughter.
Memo : 1. Are you looking for baby food making items? Visit our shop!
2. To make Japanese baby foods, please check recipe tutorials!
3. To know more about Japanese culture, please check Events & Food Culture.
Do you all like to spend time relaxing in a cafe? While there are many Western coffee chain stores in Japan, there are also traditional coffee shops called “Kissaten”(喫茶店). Kissaten is essentially a store that serves tea or coffee. However, Kissaten in Japan may be a little different.
First, Kissaten are places to relax and quietly enjoy drinks and food.Some Kissaten have newspapers or magazines as well as TVs in the store, which may serve as background music in the store.
And, as is increasingly the case with Western coffee chains these days, Kissaten brew coffee one cup at a time, so it takes a little longer to be served. Still, it is worth the wait as a quality drink is served.
The best way to store ginger is to wrap it in kitchen paper or newspaper and store it at room temperature in a cool, well-ventilated dark place. If it is kept refrigerated, it will be too cold and the surface will become slimy even if it is wrapped in paper. If stored at room temperature, the skin will remain shiny even after two weeks. Even if the outer skin is a little dry, the ginger itself is fine.
Lettuce is indispensable for salads. However, some of you have probably bought lettuce and put it straight into the refrigerator, where it quickly became damaged and ended up being thrown away without using it all. I’ll show you how to keep lettuce refrigerated for 2-3 weeks.
Katsuobushi (かつお節), dried and shaved bonito flakes, is a key ingredients in dash, brings a smoky richness to the broth. It can be made from a variety of fish including yellowfin tuna, mackerel, and anchovies – each, of course,with its own flavor profile.
To make katsuobushi, the bonito is simmered and its bones are removed after which it is dried and smoked. Sometimes a mold that promotes fermentation is added to the bonito, other fish are processed in a similar fashion.
It is commonly used for dashi (Japanese soup stock), but it is also sometimes placed on top of okonomiyaki or ohitashi to be tasted with the dish.
After being roasted in vacuo and seasoned with soy sauce or other seasonings, it is called “okaka”, and is sometimes mixed with rice balls or rice to make yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls).
There are two major types of Katsuobushi:
Arabushi (荒節) : Light in flavor, this dried and smoked katsuobushi is the most popular type, especially in the Kyoto and Osaka region. Karebushi (枯節) : A mold that promotes fermentation and imparts a stronger umami flavor is added to arabushi, resulting in this type of Katsuobushi, popular in the Tokyo region.
Different ways to shave fish flakes:
Atsu kezuri (厚削り) : Thick-cut shavings that make an intense dash, used in dishes that are simmered for a long time. Hanakatsuo (花かつお) : Thinly shaved flakes used for making dash quickly Hana kezuri (花削り) : Very thin shavings also used to make instant dashi Ito kezuri (糸削り) : Thin strands often used as a garnish for tofu or vegetables
