The Authors' Kitchen, Japan Style Quiz

Answer:

Daikon zosui is a rice and vegetable soup flavoured with soy sauce, with the rice being rinsed beforehand to make it stickier. Daikon, also known as mooli, is a large white winter radish consumed in East and South Asia. Zosui is a winter dish and is often served to people who are ill.

Kitsune udon is a noodle dish. Udon are thick noodles made from buckwheat flour and boiled in broth. The kitsune variant, from Osaka, is topped with aburaage (deep-fried tofu pockets); it gets its name because the mischievous fox spirits in question are said to enjoy aburaage.

Namasu is a salad made from thinly sliced raw vegetables, such as carrots, and seafood. The vegetables are pickled in vinegar beforehand. It was actually introduced to Japan by the Chinese, during the 8th century, but has since become a Japanese dish.

Onigiri is also known as a rice ball, though it's really more of a rice triangle. It is wrapped in nori (seaweed) and stuffed with sour or salty fillings such as salmon, umeboshi (pickled plums), fried egg and lunch meat, or bonito flakes. A Google image search reveals some really interesting (and kawaii!) onigiri designs, such as rabbit faces or ghosts.

Shoyu ramen is a type of ramen dish, with a broth made of soy sauce (shoyu). Ramen is probably Japan's most famous noodle dish (and if you're a 'Naruto' fan like me, you'll remember it's the title character's favourite food and the spirals on his orange tracksuit resemble narutomaki, a type of fish cake), and it's made from wheat noodles, thinner than udon, served in broth. The ones used for shoyu ramen are a curly variant. Toppings include bamboo shoots, boiled eggs, spring onions and chashu, or braised pork belly.

Sunomono is a type of salad that is similar to namasu ('su' meaning vinegar); however, one major difference is that sunomono is usually associated with cucumbers, garnished with sesame seeds. Sunomono is dressed with vinegar, rather than marinaded in it like namasu.

Tonkatsu is a pork dish, consisting of pork cutlets (ton) fried in panko breadcrumbs (katsu). It can be made with either pork fillet or pork loin. A variant where the cutlets are served on a bed of rice is called katsudon, while katsukare or katsu curry is served with a curry sauce (which has taken off as a popular pub dish, and even crisp flavour, in the UK!)

Yakisoba is a stir-fried noodle dish. While soba noodles are normally made from buckwheat flour like udon, the ones used for yakisoba are made from wheat flour, Chinese-style. The noodles are fried with chopped pork and vegetables such as cabbage, carrots or beansprouts. Yakisoba-pan is a type of sandwich made with yakisoba, garnished with mayonnaise.

Yatsuhashi is the only Japanese sweet food, or wagashi, in this quiz. It is a type of sweet cracker made from glutinous rice flour and flavoured with sugar and cinnamon, though other flavours such as matcha also exist. A raw variant, nama yatsuhashi, resembles a triangular dumpling and is stuffed with a sweet filling such as red bean or peach paste. It is popular in Kyoto.

Yudofu (or 'hot water tofu') is a simple tofu dish. A block of silken tofu is heated in broth and topped with green onions, ginger, bonito flakes and soy sauce.

As for the wrong answers: avgolemono is a Greek soup made with eggs and lemons. Bun cha is a Vietnamese dish with fried pork and white rice noodles, served with nuoc cham (a dipping sauce). Kuaytiaw reua, aka boat noodles, is a Thai dish made with pork or beef, soy sauce and tofu, and seasoned with pig's or cow's blood. Mohinga is a Burmese fish and noodle soup that also contains fish sauce, lemongrass and ginger, and is sometimes served with fritters or boiled eggs. Tiramisu sounds Japanese, but is actually Italian; it's a cake made from ladyfinger biscuits soaked in coffee (or coffee liqueur if you want a richer cake), layered with mascarpone cheese and dusted with cocoa powder.