【Cultural】Food Festival Featuring Japan
Japanese food culture is famous due to its richness and uniqueness. It is so varied that each type of food has its own etiquette where a noodle soup restaurant has its own, and a sushi restaurant has another. Each dining experience is different, making Japan’s food culture prominent not just because of flavors but with the fun and experience.
A typical Japanese meal consists of a bowl of rice (Gohan), a bowl of miso soup (miso shiru), pickled vegetables (tsukemono), and fish or meat. Rice is the staple food like most of the other Asian countries. For light meals, several kinds of noodles like udon, soba, and ramen are affordable and famous. As an island nation, the Japanese take great pride in their seafood having a wide variety of fish, squid, octopus, eel, and shellfish appearing in all kinds of dishes with the famous and loved sushi to tempura.
"Chanchan-yaki" as shown in the video clip, is a dish with steamed salmon combined with vegetables and seasoned with miso. Many believed it originated in a fisherman's town in the Ishikari region and became famous nationwide. It started when a fisherman caught a salmon while onboard the ship and baked the fish on an iron plate during the early Showa period. There are also various beliefs about how the name "Chan-chan-yaki" was derived, such as "it can be made quickly" or "it is made by dad". In the earlier times, this famous dish was cooked at home mostly from autumn to winter season when salmons are harvested. But when it became popular, many already preferred this dish all year round. The food became popular even with different generations because it is easy to prepare, and even with just one meal, it exemplifies lavish dining. It can be eaten with vegetables, making it more nutritious and preferred by many individuals.
Sources:
[1] https://www.cooking-sun.com/japanese-food-culture/
[2] https://www.japan-zone.com/culture/food.shtml