Geisha, kimono, samurai, ikebana, hoku - all this is Japan. Sake, sushi and rolls are also the Land of the Rising Sun. But “Hokkaido”, “Castella”, tayaks are not topographical names. This is a traditional Japanese pastry made from ingredients unusual for a simple European. And strangely enough, the products are very tasty and original.
Japanese food culture
The aesthetics and beauty of the Land of the Rising Sun has been known for centuries. The tradition of doing everything slowly and majestically ennobles any action. This also applies to food culture. A feast with the Japanese is not just a process of physical saturation. All the food of the inhabitants of the island state is characterized by grace and charm. What is the Japanese tea ceremony worth? Slow preparation and tasting of a fragrant drink is accompanied by thoughtful thoughts about the laws of the universe. An excellent addition to the ritual is Japanese pastries: sakis, chocolate cake, etc.
The main difference between Japanese food is the careful selection of products. In the creation of those ingredients are used that do not need a long preparation. After all, healthy food is full of vitamins and minerals that are lost in the process of serious heat treatment. The main products in the island nation are rice and fish. It is this combination that enriches the body with useful vitamins and microelements that promise a person good health, repulse major diseases and give longevity. The Japanese are one of the few nations in the world that can boast of the long duration of human life. In this country, the highest rate on Earth is recorded, which symbolizes the specific number of citizens who have crossed the centenary.
Traditional tableware of the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun
Japan is a state of original customs. One of the interesting traditions of the country is the selection of tableware in accordance with the season. The yellow and green gamut of cups and plates is exposed in the summer, yellow-red shades are used mainly in the fall. All dishes are made of natural materials - clay, metal, wood.
Types of tableware in Japan are:
- Bowls for soup or rice - van. Such vessels are necessarily equipped with a lid, which helps to maintain the aroma and warmth of food.
- Hati, or serving cups, are used for direct food intake. They are distinguished by the absence of a cover, a large diameter and a shallower depth.
- Japanese tea is served in tawans - special bowls.
- For sauces, vinegar, tea or sake, original cups with a spout are used.
- Soba teko is a small noodle cup.
- Japanese side dishes (vegetables and seafood) are served on a dish with a high leg.
- In special occasions, water, sake or tea is served in a ceramic teapot.
- The set of Japanese dishes was not complete without the main subject - the hashi sticks.
- All Japanese pastries and food, as well as dishes, are served on round or square trays.
Why do Japanese eat chopsticks?
The main cutlery of residents of East Asia are sticks. Like many other well-known inventions, they were invented in China. The first sticks resembled tongs and were made of bamboo. The subject was convenient to take food and use for cooking. The first sticks were long enough so that the cook did not burn himself, turning the ingredients of the dish. Over time, the device was divided into two types. Chopsticks about 38 cm long are used in the cooking process, and shorter ones (25 cm) are intended for food.
Japanese sticks (hashi) are made mainly from natural wood - bamboo, cypress, maple or plum. Residents of this country hate to use iron spoons and forks. In addition, such an item is easy to cut in the forest from a tree branch. That is how the first sticks appeared in ancient China.
Khashi are of two types: dining rooms (square in cross-section), and kitchen - round. Each person has his own personal set of sticks. It is not customary to use alien hasi in Japan.
In addition to ease of manufacture, there is another reason for using chopsticks as cutlery. The fact is that iron spoons and forks are perceived by Asians as a symbol of greed and violence. A spoon can fit much more food than you can eat at a time. With chopsticks, it is possible to capture small portions, which favorably affects digestion. Maybe that is why in Japan you rarely meet fat people?
Another reason to use chopsticks is the development of fine motor skills, which favorably affects intelligence. Hashi teach little Japanese from early childhood. That is why the kids are superior in the development of their peers, Europeans.
Features of Japanese desserts
The traditional sweets of the descendants of the samurai are called “wagashi” and are a combination of ingredients that at first glance are completely unsuitable for each other. It’s rather strange to try dessert, which includes algae, rice and strawberries, or a combination of beans, mint and agar-agar. However, weird mixes are incredibly tasty.
A feature of Japanese desserts is that the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun use in cooking all the gifts of the meager nature of their homeland. The basis of many sweets, as well as fresh Japanese pastries, is rice and all kinds of modifications. Also included in the sweets are legumes (mainly red azuki beans), sweet potatoes, chestnuts, buckwheat and wheat flour. Desserts are not without seasonal berries - strawberries, tansy, strawberries.
Japanese Bean Cookies: A Step-by-Step Recipe
Quite original are the adzuki cakes with walnuts. Baking is simple and affordable even for a beginner in the field of confectionery.
The composition of bean cookies includes:
- apple - 1 pc.;
- adzuki - 220 g;
- cottage cheese - 150 g;
- egg - 1 pc.;
- whole grain flour - 170 g;
- corn starch - 30 g;
- baking powder - 7 g;
- walnuts - 35 g;
- cane sugar - 100 g;
- Salt.
This Japanese pastry is cooked in just 1 hour 10 minutes. First, red beans are boiled and allowed to cool. Two halves of the apple must be baked in the microwave for four minutes. Grind the adzuki in a blender, gradually adding the baked apple, cottage cheese, raw egg, sugar. Separately mix nuts, flour, starch and baking powder. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly until a dough-like substance is formed. Salt to taste. On a baking sheet lined with parchment, spoon a cookie and garnish with halves of nuts. Bake at 180 ° C for 15 minutes.
A simple recipe for Japanese Hokkaido Milk Bread
This gourmet bread can be safely attributed to the category of desserts. And how else to call a soft, fragrant crumb in a crisp, which can not be cut with a knife, but only pinch off with your fingers? It’s not even bread, but a tender bun.
Cooking Hokkaido will require very little time and effort. Like all products of Japanese cuisine, baking is simple and concise, but nevertheless elegant and original.
Flour infusion consists of 75 ml of water, 75 ml of milk and 2 tbsp. with a hill of flour. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and brew to a state of paste, without forgetting to constantly stir. Cool.
Next, prepare the dough, consisting of flour tea leaves, 120 ml of milk, 1 egg, 60 g of sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 5 g of dry yeast, 350 g of flour, 1 tbsp. l milk powder and 30 g of soft butter. First combine the tea leaves, egg and milk, add the yeast and mix until smooth. Separately combine the flour, milk powder and sugar, add the mixture to the liquid mass and knead well. When mixing, gradually add oil and salt. Put the finished dough in a deep container and leave for two hours. Then the mass is kneaded, divided into four equal parts, from which the balls are rolled. Roll each sphere into oval cakes half a centimeter thick. Visually divide the cake into three parts and fold it with an "envelope". Roll each “envelope” from the back to a thickness of 0.5 cm. Roll the resulting cake into a snail. Do the same with the rest of the test.
Put parchment greased with vegetable oil in the mold. Transfer cooked “snails” onto paper, cover with a clean cloth and leave warm for 1-1.5 hours. Before baking "Hokkaido" grease with a mixture of yolk and 1 tbsp. l milk. Bake at a temperature of 170 ° C (preheating the oven), 35-40 minutes. Remove the finished bread from the pan and completely cool.
Biscuit "Castella" - the pinnacle of pastry craftsmanship
A true culinary masterpiece is the Japanese Castella biscuit. Baking itself came to Japan from Portugal in the distant XVI century. Soon she was so fond of the children of the samurai that, having changed her a little, they began to consider "Castella" traditional Japanese pastries. The biscuit recipe is straightforward, and the product with dignity becomes the decoration of any tea ceremony.
To make Castella you will need:
- 8 chicken eggs;
- 300 g of brown sugar;
- 200 g of wheat flour;
- 100 g of milk;
- 4 tbsp. l honey.
Following the instructions, you can get a ready-made biscuit in literally an hour.
A prerequisite for baking is to sift the flour three (!) Times. Separately combine honey with milk and mix thoroughly. Beat eggs with sugar in a steam bath for 15 minutes. Beat the egg mixture in a blender until completely cooled. Gradually add milk with honey. Then carefully introduce the flour, stirring with a silicone spatula.
Bake the finished dough in a parchment-lined form at a temperature of 180 ° C for 50 minutes. The biscuit is considered ready if the wooden skewer stuck in it remains dry to the touch. Place the hot Castella in a plastic bag (or wrap it in plastic) to make the baking more moist and dense.
Green tea and flour roll: two ingredients in one Japanese pastry
Descendants of samurai love desserts with delicate creams. This sweetness is green tea roll. It is noteworthy that the dessert is almost not sweet, but nonetheless very tasty.
For the test you will need:
- eggs (3 pcs.),
- sugar (90 g)
- flour (75 g),
- Japanese powdered green tea (3 tsp),
- hot milk (2 tbsp. l.).
The cream includes:
- cream (50 ml),
- Japanese powdered green tea (1 tsp),
- sugar (1 tbsp.).
Beat the eggs and sugar with a mixer until smooth. Heat the mixture in a water bath to 36-37 ° C. Separately mix flour with tea and sift twice to saturate with oxygen.
Beat the egg mixture until foamy. Gently introduce flour with tea, gently mixing. Add milk. The result should be a homogeneous substance.
Cover the square with parchment, pour the finished dough and bake in a preheated oven at 200 ° C for 5-10 minutes.
Remove the cake from the mold only after complete cooling.
For cream, whip cream and sugar, gradually adding tea.
Put the cream on the cooled cake, roll the roll. Pack the product in parchment and place in the refrigerator for a while.
Cookies tayaki - a favorite treat for children and adults with a story
This sweetness was invented more than a hundred years ago. The name baking means "baked sea bream" - an incredible delicacy of the time. Maybe that's why cookies are in the shape of a fish? And the syllable "tai" is consonant with the Japanese word "medetai", which means happiness and prosperity. That is why, tayakas regale themselves in order to attract good luck.
There are many recipes for Japanese pastries with photos for clarity. But they are all similar in the main ingredients of cookies. Tayaki is made from waffle dough with a variety of fillings - from sweet beans, custard and chocolate to eateries - with cheese, sausages, etc. A special condition is the mandatory presence of a form in the form of a fish (tayaki).
For the test you will need:
- wheat flour (2 tbsp.),
- water (1 tbsp.),
- sugar (2 tbsp.),
- finely ground salt (1 tsp),
- soda (0.5 tsp),
- vegetable oil to lubricate the mold.
We mix flour, sugar, water and salt, mix until smooth, gradually adding soda.
Cookies are cooked on the stove. We warm the shape in the form of fish to the optimal (but not hot) temperature on both sides. Lubricate the heated container with oil, put the dough in a thin layer on the bottom. Put the stuffing on top at your discretion, and fill it with a second layer of dough. Bake cookies in a closed form on an open fire for 5 minutes. If the tayaki is not ready, turn the container over and continue baking on the other side. Ready Japanese pastries should not be removed from the mold immediately, but allowed to cool thoroughly.