Tabemono o Arigato Trivia Quiz

In Japan, the importance of rice as a diet staple is entrenched in its language. "Gohan" is both the word for "cooked rice" as well as "meal." Prefixes are added to give us 'asagohan' (breakfast), 'hirugohan' (lunch), and 'bangohan' (dinner). The use of these terms tells us that it was just about impossible for most Japanese to think of a meal without rice. It can be a simple side dish of plain cooked rice, or the rice can be incorporated into the main dish, but it is nearly always present. More than just food, rice and its cultivation is the basis for Japanese culture. In Shintoism, the most sacred offerings are sake and mochi rice cakes (pictured), both of which are products of rice.

Mochi can be traced back to the 6th Century when earthenware steamers became popular in Japanese households. It is made from 'mochigome' which is a a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. It is steamed and then pounded into a paste in the required shape. Sometimes other basic ingredients are added such as water, sugar, and corn flour (cornstarch).

Mochi is eaten year-round, but it is the traditional food of the Japanese New Year.

Udon are thick and chewy noodles, one of the three main varieties of noodles eaten in Japan. They are made from wheat flour and brine water.

Udon are a versatile ingredient: They can be incorporated into stir-fries or added to hot broth dishes but are also served cold with a tsuyu soup base or tentsuyu dipping Sauce (Tsuyu is made from sake, mirin, soy sauce, kelp [kombu], and dried bonito flakes [katsuobushi]).

Each region appears to have its own regional udon specialty but common udon noodle soup dishes that appear in most Japanese places include kitsune udon (noodles with aburaage [fried tofu]), and chikara udon (noodles topped with grilled mochi rice cakes).

Miso soup is a staple in the Japanese diet. It is far more than a bowl of broth that comes as a side dish to most meals. It is usually eaten at least once a day. It has its origins in China and can be traced back to the 6th or 7th century. The soup is simple in preparation but complex in taste - it is made using dashi stock and miso paste. Toppings are optional but usually add contrasting textures when incorporated into the soup.

Popular toppings include wakame seaweed, tofu, mushrooms, and green onions. Miso paste is made from fermented soybeans and can be white, yellow, red, brown, or black depending on the preparation and fermentation time.

Tofu is an integral and common part of the traditional Japanese diet. In a culture where meat was banned for centuries, it is an important protein source. Tofu is soy milk that has been coagulated, with the resulting curds (solids) being pressed into blocks (Not unlike the making of cheese). These blocks come in differing levels of firmness: Soft (or silken) tofu is fresh tofu with a smooth, custardy consistency. It is often eaten cold. Firm tofu is also fresh tofu, but it has a much stronger texture than soft tofu and is better suited towards cooking.

Tofu dishes include hiyayakko which is chilled soft tofu garnished with grated ginger, shaved bonito flakes (katsuobushi) and green onions, and seasoned with soy sauce; yudofu is tofu pieces boiled in clear broth and dipped into soy sauce or ponzu (lemon-flavoured soy sauce); atsuage is firm tofu, deep fried and containing an outer fried skin. It can be served on its own or seasoned with soy sauce, or used as an ingredient in soups and stews.

Edamame is soybeans still in their pods, salted and steamed or boiled and then salted. This is a favourite Japanese snack.

Ramen is more than just noodles: It is a whole dish prepared with thin noodles (originating in China) in a soup and served with various toppings. The key is the broth. There are four different bases: soy sauce (shoyu), soybean (miso), pork bone (tonkatsu), or salt (shio). The noodles are thin and alkaline enough to prevent them from dissolving or getting over-soft in the broth. Common additions are braised pork, corn, seaweed, bamboo, eggs, tofu, and bean sprouts. It is common for the dish to be served with half a boiled egg as part of the toppings.

Whilst Chinese in origin, the dish has exploded in popularity in modern Japan thanks to its low cost and heartiness with ramen-ya (ramen restaurants) being ubiquitous in Japanese cities, especially Fukuoka.

Tempura is one of the few basic Japanese foods that has its origins external to Japan or China: The Portuguese, whose cuisine included flouring and frying food, introduced their method of cooking between 1543 and 1639 (when Japan was receptive to international traders). Tempura are pieces or slices of meat, fish, and vegetables that have been covered in a batter and deep-fried. The batter is incredibly light by Western standards and is much paler when cooked than 'traditional' batters. Flour, eggs, and water make up the batter in eastern Japan, whereas the eggs are omitted in the west. Eastern parts fry tempura at high heat with sesame oil whereas low heat and vegetable oil are used in Western Japan.

Tempura tends to be made from either small shellfish (shrimp/prawns - ebi) or small whole fish (sakana), or vegetables (eg nasu - eggplant; kinoko - mushrooms; kabocha - pumpkin; and satsumaimo - sweet potato).

Larger meals are often made from tempura. Such a dish is known as tendon, where tempura pieces are served over rice with a sweet and salty sauce, pickled ginger, and the ubiquitous miso soup. Sometimes the fried delicacy is used as a side dish to accompany noodle soups.

Gyoza are dumplings in a half-moon shape filled with savoury minced fillings. Popular fillings include pork mince, cabbage, green onion and mushrooms though there are many other fillings used as well. The minced mixture is wrapped up in a circular gyoza wheat-based wrapper and crimped around the edge to make a semi-circular shape. The dumplings are then usually cooked by frying on one side to give a crispy texture and then steamed. They can also be boiled and served in broth, or sometimes deep-fried.

To serve, dumplings are dipped into a sauce of vinegar and soy sauce, sometimes with a little chilli oil.

Sashimi is raw fish or meat that has been cut with great precision into thin slices and is usually accompanied with daikon radish, pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce. Tuna, salmon, flounder, shrimp, and squid are all popular protein choices.

Sashimi is often confused with sushi but it differs as all sushi is made with vinegared rice and does not always contain raw fish (Eggs and vegetables found in sushi are Western variations - they do not feature in authentic Japanese sushi). Sashimi is nearly always raw protein and is never served with rice or nori (seaweed). The fish used to make sashimi has to be as fresh as possible, for both optimal taste and to minimise the risk of contamination.

Soba is the Japanese word for buckwheat. Soba is one of three main types of noodles consumed in Japan. There is no wheat in buckwheat, making Soba gluten-free. The buckwheat flour soba gives the noodles a definite earthy and nutty flavour. This works well with stronger flavours such as garlic and sesame.

Soba is usually served in soups, hot, with simple ingredients such as spring onions, small fishcakes and agetama (fried tempura scraps). Alternatively, it is served as a cold dish with tsuyu sauce (soy sauce, rice wine, sake, dried kelp with bonito flakes).

The literal translation of 'yakitori' is "grilled bird' which is exactly what the dish consists of, nearly always chicken. Yakitori are small skewers of bite-size chicken pieces. They are seasoned with salt or brushed with a tare (sauce), of mirin rice wine, soy sauce, sake, and sugar.

There are several different variations of yakitori, but the most common types are momo (chicken thigh), negima (chicken with spring onion), and tsukune (chicken meatballs).

There are yakitori-ya restaurants that specialise in these grilled snacks. They are popular after work when people are looking for a snack to accompany their beer or sake.

Being a group of islands, seafood is a favoured and accessible protein source in Japanese cuisine. Unagi is the Japanese word for 'freshwater eel'. Unagi no kabayaki is the most popular dish associated with it and dates back to the Edo period (1603-1868). Traditionally Japanese people customarily ate kabayaki unagi during the summer to gain stamina.

Kabayaki is a common form of fish preparation in Japan. The method includes butterflying, gutting, and deboning the seafood before covering the fish in a sauce glaze. It is usually grilled over charcoal. Unagi is the most popular fish prepared this way but scaleless fish like catfish, gunnels, pike conger, or anago (saltwater eels) are also prepared this way.

The sauce is prepared from soy sauce, mirin (rice wine) and a little sugar to give it a sweet-sour umami taste; this also gives the eel a crispy, crunchy texture. It tastes a little like teriyaki but without the ginger and garlic components.

In Japan, kare raisu, or curry rice, is comfort food. Kare raisu is a rich stew based on a roux (fat/flour paste). It is considered to be Japan's national home-cooking dish which is ironic as it is a yoshoku dish (western foods introduced during the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912)). Japan had been closed to the outside world for 250 years. Foreigners were not allowed in and Japanese departure was punishable by death. As well Buddhist and Shinto beliefs outlawed the consumption of meat.

However, the emperor lifted the ban on meat in 1872 changing the Japanese diet forever. Given that Meiji coincided with the apex of British colonial rule, the British began to incorporate a spice mix called curry powder which was their interpretation of Indian curry spices. The Japanese adapted the spice mix to their taste, creating kare raisu. Initially served only in Western-style restaurants in Japan, when a 1923 earthquake devastated Tokyo and other cities on the Kanto plain kare raisu stalls were quickly erected all over Tokyo offering a cheap and hearty meal. In 1930, the Japanese company S&B started selling "Hidori Brand Curry Powder" facilitating home cooking of the now entrenched favourite. The Japanese version yields a curry generally sweeter in flavour and thicker in texture than the British curry powder-based curries.

In 1966, the same company released Golden Curry, a curry spice, non-perishable roux in a block format that looked like a chocolate bar. The dish now required only minimal chopping and simmering of meat and vegetables. Then the curry block was added which quickly melted, flavouring and thickening the stew. This method has become so ubiquitous that it is considered the only "authentic" way to prepare Japanese curry. On average it is consumed two to three times a month on average in Japanese households. It's the standard Friday meal served to the Japanese navy.