Cuisine

Japan

Japanese cooking values seasonality, simplicity and the natural taste of ingredients, and a meal is built around rice, miso soup and a few small dishes – the pattern called ichiju sansai, ‘one soup, three dishes’. Flavour comes from dashi made with kombu seaweed and bonito flakes, soy sauce, miso and mirin – umami in its purest form. Fish and seafood are eaten raw, grilled and simmered, and alongside refined kaiseki cuisine, ramen shops, okonomiyaki and street food are hugely popular. Washoku, the traditional food culture of the Japanese, is inscribed on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list.

• 6 dishes
• Soups: 2
• Main dishes: 3
• Desserts and sweets: 1
• vegetarian: 1