# The building blocks of Japanese Cuisine



## spoiledbroth (Sep 20, 2016)

quite informative... hachisu writes good stuff

http://luckypeach.com/guides/building-blocks-japanese-cuisine/


----------



## ecchef (Sep 20, 2016)

I guess she forgot about dashi, huh.


----------



## S-Line (Sep 20, 2016)

Good read, very informative. I guess kombu should've been in there as well.


----------



## daveb (Sep 20, 2016)

O.K. But where's the Sansho?


----------



## S-Line (Sep 20, 2016)

And the katsuobushi.


----------



## Keith Sinclair (Sep 20, 2016)

Thanks that was informative. I buy 3 crabs Viet Huong fish sauce. Miso was an acquired taste for me. Now like it with noodles, fish, & even as salad dressing. Ponzu has many uses. Article makes you want to search for the quality stuff.


----------



## spoiledbroth (Sep 21, 2016)

konbu and katsuobushi of decent repute are apparently quite hard to find outside asia, or so I'm told. Obviously it's not intended to be all inclusive guisze. And what's more as LP is aimed at the home cook, I really doubt even most Japanese people bother to make dashi at home (which is sort of funny, you can't blame westerners for not wanting to make stock because it requires some care over a day or two, much unlike dashi)



keithsaltydog said:


> Thanks that was informative. I buy 3 crabs Viet Huong fish sauce. Miso was an acquired taste for me. Now like it with noodles, fish, & even as salad dressing. Ponzu has many uses. Article makes you want to search for the quality stuff.


I like miso quite a bit too, the red stuff is best :d and best for you apparently. I like misonaise coleslaw 

Ponzu still a little weird to me  

and yes does make you want to find the creme de la creme, the way she writes about it at least.


----------



## mhlee (Sep 21, 2016)

daveb said:


> O.K. But where's the Sansho?



Sansho is a condiment, and a not so common one at that. It's definitely not even close to being a "building block" of Japanese cuisine. Same with Ponzu; it's a condiment of limited use. It's not supposed to be poured all over everything. 

On the other hand, Katsuobushi and Konbu are essential. They're easy to find in the US if you're in a large city. France is going to have a Katsuobushi factory soon; we don't even have one in the US.


----------



## spoiledbroth (Sep 22, 2016)

I mean I think you can get by with dashi no moto which may be what she recommends in successive articles. There's something about the softness or hardness of Japanese water that iirc has some impact on dashi making ... This not withstanding katsuobushi and konbu make great eating on their own


----------



## Keith Sinclair (Sep 22, 2016)

Like a little citris ponzu wt. chili pepper :tmin raw oysters


----------



## _PixelNinja (Sep 23, 2016)

mhlee said:


> France is going to have a Katsuobushi factory soon; we don't even have one in the US.


Yup. Can't wait 



spoiledbroth said:


> There's something about the softness or hardness of Japanese water that iirc has some impact on dashi making ... This not withstanding katsuobushi and konbu make great eating on their own


They say its the softness:



> Professor Toru Fushiki The Secret of Koku and Umami, (&#12467;&#12463;&#12392;&#26088;&#21619;&#12398;&#31192;&#23494
> 
> One challenge in making dashi abroad, however, is the need to secure supplies of soft water. In places like the United States and Europe, water is usually high in mineral content, making it difficult to bring out the umami in the ingredients.


----------



## spoiledbroth (Oct 2, 2016)

So I bought brown rice vinegar and although it's mizkan which isn't probably high on the list of good brv's I have to say it blows the autolysed white rice vin I was using before out of the water. Wouldn't be surprised if the mizkan was autolysed as well and a bit of placebo effect but ... Yeah I'm impressed and I have to say I like the taste of even cheaper white rice vin over any of our western vinegars can't wait to try the brown on some rice


----------

