Food Culture

Currently, okonomiyaki can be broadly divided into Kansai and Hiroshima styles.

In Kyoto, everyday side dishes made from on-hand ingredients are called "obanzai".

This teppanyaki style of cooking involves cooking meat, vegetables, seafoods, and the like on top of an iron hot plate called a "teppan".

Ochazuke is a quick and easy dish made simply by pouring Japanese tea over rice.

The onigiri (rice ball) is a simple dish consisting of a compacted ball of rice with some ingredients placed inside.

In Japan, curry with rice is a national food almost on the same level as ramen noodles.

Sukiyaki is a dish made from beef, tofu, spring onions, and other vegetables simmered in a sweet and salty sauce made with sugar and soy sauce as a base.

Sashimi is raw seafood served in thin slices. It is also called otsukuri.

To make shabu-shabu, you cook vegetables and tofu in a hotpot filled with flavored broth, and dip thinly sliced pieces of meat into the broth. The meat and vegetables are eaten with ponzu or sesame sauce.

Today, though, there are a lot of stylish yakitori places that are like café bars, and it is not unusual for women to dine alone, or for couples to come on dates.

Although now sushi is a gourmet cuisine, it was first mainly eaten at food stands and considered as a simple fast food.

Like udon, soba noodles, made from buckwheat flour, are the typical Japanese noodles.

Yakiniku is a type of Japanese barbecue. In the US(United States), this type of cooking is sometimes called "Korean barbecue".

Dumplings can be fried, steamed, or boiled, but in Japan fried dumplings are the most common.

Oden is a dish made by simmering daikon, chikuwa, konnyaku, and a variety of other ingredients in a pot with soup.

Basic tempura is fish, shellfish and vegetables fried in a batter made from eggs, water, and flour.

Tracing culinary customs from the Stone Age to the stovetop range, from the raw to the nuked, this book elucidates the factors and myths shaping Americans' eating habits. The diversity of food habits and rituals is considered from a psychological perspective. Explored are questions such as 'Why does the working class prefer sweet drinks over bitter?', 'Why do the affluent tend to roast their potatoes?', and 'What is so comforting about macaroni and cheese anyway?'

What’s for breakfast in Nigeria? Snack time in Germany? How about dinner in Vietnam? Travel around the world to learn about the foods and cultural practices that make up mealtime with this fascinating series. Each book includes a simple recipe for a representative dish. This volume includes Meals in Nigeria, Meals in Russia, Meals in Turkey, and Meals in Vietnam.

What’s for breakfast in Nigeria? Snack time in Germany? How about dinner in Vietnam? Travel around the world to learn about the foods and cultural practices that make up mealtime with this fascinating series. Each book includes a simple recipe for a representative dish. This volume includes Meals in China, Meals in Germany, Meals in India, and Meals in Mexico.

From an early age, Cecilia Chiang could be found delighting in the sounds and smells from her favorite room in her home—the kitchen. Little did Cecilia know that she would one day have to escape war and travel to a faraway country, destined to change Chinese cuisine in the United States forever. Experience the dishes Cecilia Chiang enjoyed throughout her life as the seventh daughter in a large family to the owner of the famous Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco.