Montrose - Daily Press

“Let’s go out for Japanese. I know a good place.”

For most people that means a meal of sushi, sashimi, yakitori, teriyaki or tempura. That’s like lumping all Italian cuisine into spaghetti and pizza.

What most people don’t realize about Japanese food is that home-cooking, not restaurant cooking, is its bedrock. In Japan as well as in the United States, chefs and home cooks cater to two different audiences. But those lines are blurring. Trend-spotters are noting that as American palates become more adventurous and sophisticated, informed diners are seeking out Japanese cuisine beyond sushi and sashimi.

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Their reasoning is simple. Americans want food that is low in fat and cholesterol, less dependent on red meat and dairy products with more emphasis on fish, seafood and vegetables. That’s practically a textbook definition of Japanese food. Even though they have salt-related problems, the Japanese are known for having a low incidence of heart disease and a long life span.

I mentioned this food trend to my friend Masako Kikuyama. She has lived in Pittsburgh since her husband, Andy, opened Kiku, an authentic Japanese restaurant in town 25 years ago.

“What do you eat at home?” I asked her.

“I can show you. Come for lunch,” she said. “My friends and I will cook a Japanese home-style meal.”

At her door a week later, I was greeted by four aproned women, friends from Pittsburgh’s Japanese community of about 500 to 600 people.

Masako introduced her sister, Setsu Furuya, who has been the chef at Kiku for the past two years. “My husband and I had a restaurant in Tokyo,” Setsu said with a laugh. “When we closed it, we came to Pittsburgh to retire. But my husband, Gen, became the sushi chef at Kiku, and I sort of migrated back into the kitchen, too.”

Fusayo Sasaki said, “I am a housewife. I cook Japanese food for my husband every day.” He works for TYK of America, a maker of building materials.

Elegant and white-haired, Yoko Sando is the oldest of the four women. She has a twinkle in her eye that says she’s full of life. Her husband, Isumu, is retired too, but he is still quite active and teaches the medical residents at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Once in the kitchen, the women set to work in a blur of motion. After glancing at Post-it notes scribbled (to my eye) with Japanese characters, they began swirling around food-laden counters, swishing chopsticks in steaming pots, slicing vegetables piled onto chopping boards, squishing their hands in a bag of green stuff in the sink, all the while chirping in Japanese to each other and occasionally in accented English to me. I had no idea what was going on.

Hey, wait a minute. What are you doing? Slow down. Let’s talk.

Full of giggles, the women were eager to share. While we sat at the kitchen table, they presented a tutorial in Japanese cuisine.

Japan is made up of islands, a good half of which are taken up with mountains and forest, and the remaining half with cities, factories and rice fields. There is very little space left for vegetable growing, let alone pasture land for grazing.

As a result of the lack of space, the Japanese have become very resourceful in harvesting the land and sea. Fish and other seafood make up a central part of the diet. The Japanese do not just gather iodine- and mineral-rich seaweed, they cultivate it. In fact, kombu (kelp) is one of the most important flavors of the cuisine.

Rice, the basis of nearly every meal, is grown in a patchwork of paddy fields wherever possible, across much of the country.

Rice is the source of sake, a rich sweet wine that is splashed into almost every dish, like wine in French cooking. Mirin, a delicate cooking wine, also is made from rice, as is the sweet vinegar used in salads and for making sushi.

From soybeans comes soy sauce, another important flavor in Japanese cooking. Fermented soybeans are also the source of miso, an earthy and powerful flavor paste.

The stars of the show are the ingredients themselves. They are cooked simply and lightly and often separately, rather than mixed together, so that each taste remains pure. A touch of soy sauce or wasabi often points up flavor.

There are no heavy masking seasonings or heavy sauces as in many other cuisines. As a result, Japanese food tastes distinctly fresh and clean.

JAPANESE RECIPES TO MAKE AT HOME

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES WITH SOY HONEY GLAZE

PG TESTED

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

Pinch of salt

For the glaze:

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon juice from grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut sweet potatoes into ice-cube sized dice. Cover a baking tray with aluminum foil and spritz it with nonstick baking spray. Mix potatoes with oils and salt and spread them on the tray in a single layer. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes until the cubes are soft and begin to brown and crisp.

Drizzle with glaze and continue to cook until brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with seeds.

Makes 4 servings.

_ “Japanese Light” by Kimiko Barber

GREEN TEA ICE CREAM

PG TESTED

Cheating? No. Easy? Yes. Top each serving with a spoon of sweet adzuki bean paste, if you like. Find it at Asian grocery stores.

1 pint very good-quality vanilla ice cream

2 teaspoons matcha (green tea) powder

1 teaspoon lukewarm water

Start with softening the ice cream by taking it out of the freezer and transferring it to the fridge for 15-20 minutes, but do not let it melt.

Put the matcha powder in a small, fine-meshed sieve or a tea strainer held over a mixing bowl and push it through. Add the water and mix well.

Add half of the ice cream and mix thoroughly with a rubber spatula. Then add the rest of the ice cream. You can stop mixing when the ice cream looks marbled, or you may continue mixing to achieve a uniform pale-green color. Place the bowl in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours or until the ice cream is firm. The amount makes 8 scoops. Top with 1/2 tablespoon of the adzuki bean paste.

_ “Japanese Light” by Kimiko Barber

JAPANESE SALAD DRESSING

2 shallots, peeled and minced

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon grainy mustard

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 small clove garlic, peeled and finely minced

Pinch each salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a lidded glass jar and shake it vigorously to mix. Keep refrigerated and use within 3 days.

_ “Japanese Light” by Kimiko Barber

AROMATIC STEAMED SALMON WITH SHALLOTS AND BROCCOLI

Kimiko Barber suggests serving this recipe, from her book “Japanese Light,” with “plain boiled or mashed potatoes to soak up all the tasty cooking juices.”

1 pound salmon filet, cut into 1 1/4-inch chunks

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup sake

1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

2 teaspoons juice from grated fresh ginger

Freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 shallots, chopped

4 ounces broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces

Put the salmon in a large bowl; set aside. Mix together the soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, ginger juice and pepper to taste in a small bowl; pour mixture over the salmon, stirring to coat each piece. Set aside 15 minutes.

Pat the salmon dry with paper towels; discard the marinade. Dust with the cornstarch. Put the shallots, broccoli and salmon in a heat-resistant bowl. Place in a steamer basket; cover basket. Steam until salmon is just opaque throughout, about 15 minutes. Serve drizzled with the cooking juices.

Makes 4 servings.

_ “Japanese Light” by Kimiko Barber

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