Against the backdrop of a crazy love for Japanese cuisine, you can often hear voices of criticism. Like, fresh fish in Siberia – it’s fantastic, and therefore, and say that in Novosibirsk there is a kitchen of the Land of the Rising Sun at least naive.
The more interesting was to hear the opinion of a Japanese expert on this matter: On June 25, a meeting with Ito Kiyoko, a nutritionist of the Japanese Association of Correct Nutrition, took place at the Harakiri restaurant.
She came from Hokkaido to Novosibirsk to participate in the celebration of the City Day, cooked several national dishes and told how the Japanese eat and why they are slimmer than Russians.
Reference:Ito Kiyoko graduated from the Tokyo Women’s University with a degree in Housekeeping and Cooking, is a registered member of the Japan Dietitian Association, a nutritionist, a consultant to the School Nutrition Association of Hokkaido, a supporter of the introduction of the foundations of healthy nutrition in public catering establishments.
Do you think that in Novosibirsk you can prepare a truly Japanese dish?
In principle, no. Of course, vegetables, meat – they are the same, but most importantly – it’s special Japanese seasonings that you do not grow, and you can buy only some, the most basic.
And how do you feel about raw fish? Is it safe to eat?
Yes, in Japan it’s safe – this is the fish that you just caught, completely fresh, it’s not frozen, nothing was done to it. What kind of fish is hard to say.
We have very popular sushi and fashion does not pass them. Among the Japanese, they are just as popular?
Of course, the Japanese also like sushi and often eat them.
What, in your opinion, is the main difference between the Japanese style of food and European traditions?
The key difference between the Japanese food style and the European one is that Europeans eat a lot of bread – it goes as an addition to all the main dishes that are served to the table. In Japan instead of bread, the source of energy is rice.
Traditional Japanese lunch includes rice, Japanese soup, fish and vegetables. All this is served in small portions (this is very important) and lunch is very useful.
What do you prefer to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
For breakfast, I usually eat rice, soup, small fish, vegetables – this is traditional food. I usually take lunch with me. It includes rice, soup, fruit and any vegetable garnish. And I also eat yogurt for lunch. For dinner, almost the same: rice, fish or meat, a lot of vegetables – for example, fresh cabbage, finely chopped.
What dishes of Russian cuisine do you know and love?
The most famous Japanese for the Russian dish is borsch. I really love borsch, I often go to restaurants to eat it, and, in addition, I like pelmeni.
What is the most useful kitchen in the world, what type of food is optimal?
I can not say for the whole world, but from those kitchens that I know, the Japanese is the most useful. In the rest of the world today, popular food – sweet, fatty, in addition, eat a lot of meat, all this is not very healthy. Japanese cuisine contains fish, vegetables and rice – all these are the healthiest foods.
From the dishes you cooked, there is pork here, you somehow especially prepared it, dietily?
When I pondered what dishes to represent in Novosibirsk, I first of all thought not about those that are most useful for health, but about those that can be cooked here without problems. In Japan, employees often eat such dishes for lunch, to quickly return to work. If you add a lot of vegetables to these dishes, it will be more useful.
Is fast food in Japan popular or does everyone eat only useful rice?
Our fast food is, like everywhere else, mostly white bread, hamburgers. Of course, this is not a healthy food, and a snack on the run, if it really does not work out to eat normally.
And the problem of excess weight for Japanese is relevant?
In Japan, began to appear recently, full people, but, of course, there are not so many as here.
What diets are popular among your women?
There are many different diets, they are discussed on television, as in the whole world. For example, apple diet. But I’m more engaged in the development of proper nutrition programs and in these diets I do not understand much.
Where do the habits of proper nutrition come from?
In Japan, the culture of proper nutrition is inoculated from school. It is believed that the schoolchild must eat at least 30 different foods during the day, and, of course, this can be achieved only through a variety of vegetables and herbs – and this is the most useful products for health. Today, the policy of the state is aimed at encouraging children to eat properly since childhood, so that later they become full-fledged workers and have good health. With children, of course, this issue is much easier to solve than with adults. For schoolchildren, different classes are held, explaining which dishes are good for health, which are not, and not only the benefits of products, but also the rules of behavior at the table are discussed. But it is important and give a choice of several dishes, in the school menu it is provided.
Share the recipe for a simple and healthy Japanese dish.
For example, Oyacodon, it is often cooked by the Japanese for lunch. For him, you need to pour a little Japanese dashi broth into a skillet (it is prepared from fish, in Novosibirsk you can buy a concentrate that is diluted with water), then pour in soy sauce and a little sugar, chop the chicken in small pieces and send it to the pan. After this, in a free proportion add onions, green onions and sliced carrots. Instead of green onions, you can use green peas. Then, when the meat is ready, you need to fill it with a stirred egg (but not whipped), close the lid and leave for a minute on low heat. After that, the dish is laid out in a bowl over the boiled rice.
