Some time ago, Wang Sicong just had a meal with friends, and he made a big news: a high-end dish that made the prince spend 15,708 yuan, but was angrily beaten by Wang Sicong.
What's going on? Originally, this high-priced dish was sold at a Japanese restaurant called "Bass Hatsumo" and its selling point was the ingredients, which were said to use fresh, high-end ingredients flown in from Japan. However, Wang Sicong said that the ingredients used in this Japanese food store are actually quite ordinary, and they are not as high-end as advertised.
"This is the hardest Japanese food I've ever eaten in the last year or two," says Mr. Wang.
In recent years, Japanese cuisine, which is based on fresh ingredients and elegant environment, has quickly become popular around the world, and because of its high price, it has gradually become synonymous with high-end catering. However, behind this "Japanese food fever", there is a hidden quality of japanese food and drink, in other words, the Japanese food we eat in the store is not necessarily the real Japanese food.
So, what kind of Japanese food can be called a really good dish?
Mr. Xu Jingbo, who has served as a professor at Kobe University and Kyoto University, has long been immersed in the study of Japanese culture. He believes that food culture is a very important part of Japanese culture, because the Japanese national perceptual culture is very developed, therefore, The Japanese diet in taste, vision, smell, touch and even hearing, have shown a very strong and delicate appeal, and through these appeals, we can further explore the cultural core of the Japanese nation.
In order to give us a better understanding of Japanese food and another form of Japanese culture, Professor Xu Jingbo wrote the heavy book "Washi". In the book, Professor Xu will show us:
What is the essence of high-end and expensive Japanese cuisine? How did traditional Japanese ingredients such as sushi, tempura, sashimi, and udon noodles, which we are very familiar with, first appear? And how did kaiseki cuisine, synonymous with high-end Japanese food, evolve into what it is today?
The prestigious "Shijo Stream" is a genre of cuisine that has been passed down from generation to generation in the Japanese cuisine industry for hundreds of years, and as the forty-first generation of Shijo Stream, Mr. Takahiko Shijo once said this:
"There is a principle in Japanese cuisine, that is, the delicious taste cannot exceed the original taste of the material, and it stops at the highest point of the taste of the material, and further processing of this is prohibited!"
In other words, the Japanese believe that the meaning of the chef's existence is to give full play to the taste contained in the ingredients themselves, rather than to make a fuss and randomly add a variety of "heavy flavor" spices to the ingredients.
Located between 30 degrees north latitude and 45 degrees north latitude, the Japanese mainland, with a humid and mild climate, abundant products and distinct seasons, the Japanese who grew up in this natural environment have a very delicate perception of the subtle changes of the sun, moon, stars, spring wind and autumn dew. That's why they're so concerned about the taste of the ingredients themselves.
In addition, the poor level of economic development in ancient Japan, the low degree of overseas trade, whether it is animal and vegetable oils, or sugar and spices, are only eligible for luxury families, so the Japanese in the absence of condiments, pay more attention to the taste of the ingredients themselves.
In the Jiangnan region of China, there is a folk saying called "not eating from time to time", and in Japanese folklore, there are similar cultural customs, for which they also created two very interesting words, one is "first thing" and the other is "ten things".
The so-called "first thing" refers to the first batch of vegetables and fruits and grains picked in the harvest season, which is what we often call "fresh goods", such as "Mingqian Tea" and "Pre-Rain Tea", which are sought after by many tea lovers. The "ten things" refers to those foods that are in season, such as "autumn wind, crab feet itching" refers to the hairy crabs in the order. In the eyes of the Japanese, both "Hatsumi" and "Ten-something" represent the season when the ingredients are most delicious.
The Japanese obsession with "hatsumi" dates back to the time of the Muromachi shogunate (1336-1573). At that time, many people believed that eating "first things" regularly could prolong life, so "first things" became a symbol of health and longevity, whether it was high-ranking officials and nobles or ordinary people, competing for newly listed vegetables and fruits. There is a saying in Japanese folklore called "If you eat the first thing, you can live seventy-five more." "This is a manifestation of the social customs of the time.
Published in 1776, the Fukujukucho First Objects Judgment was a judgment on the most popular first objects in Japan at that time, such as bonito, salmon, sake, buckwheat, catfish, matsutake mushrooms, new tea, and eggplant.
Among them, bonito is especially popular with the people of Edo (today's Tokyo), many of whom, in order to eat the first net of the season, even take a large amount of silver to the dock overnight to queue up, waiting for the return of the fishing boats that go to sea - is this mentality a bit like the young people who completely queue up in front of the store in order to buy a new iPhone for the first time?
In addition to the ultimate pursuit of seasonal ingredients, there is another very important component of the Japanese diet, that is, from the diet, to experience the reincarnation and change of the four seasons.
Like the literati of ancient China who liked to mourn the spring and autumn, the Japanese were also very sensitive to the changes of the four seasons. As early as the Publication of the Ancient and Modern Waka Collection and the New Ancient and Modern Waka Collection published in the Heian Dynasty, there have been many lingering chants of the four seasons. This custom of chanting the four seasons has been passed down to later generations, and in the Japanese songs, sentences and haiku, there is a special type of entry called "season language".
The so-called "seasonal language" is actually the "language of the season". For example, Yamazaki Sogen's "Eat chestnuts at night, and the moon comes out of the mountain." In October, the paper window was broken, and the golden wind was cold. Another example is Matsuo Basho's "shredded meat under the tree, vegetable soup, cherry blossom petals falling." "It's all very classic.
In traditional Japanese cuisine, "sucking" is a food that best reflects the taste of the seasons.
The so-called "sucking" is actually a bowl of soup with an extremely light taste, not even a trace of oil star. And the whole content of this bowl of soup is just a small piece of fish or chicken with bone spurs removed - if it is replaced by a Chinese table, such a dull soup, I am afraid that most people will not want to drink it.
However, the soul of the "sucking" is the small handful of seasonal vegetables that the chef deliberately puts in it, in addition, there will be a small piece of young leaves or grapefruit skin floating on top of the hot soup. The buds of the leaves are of course the best embodiment of the season, and diners with a heart can also experience the season and the cycle of seasons from the subtle differences in the taste of grapefruit skin - the season of grapefruit birth, the season of grapefruit flowering, the season of grapefruit ripening, the season of grapefruit bitterness.
The Japanese people's obsessive pursuit of eating seasons can also be reflected in modern high-end Japanese food. For example, next to a small plate of delicate sashimi, a red plum with a spit can bring diners a hint of early spring, and if you decorate a sushi plate with a few budding evening cherry blossoms, it will also be reminiscent of the meaning of burying the soul of the flower in the cold rain - whether it is cherry blossoms, autumn leaves, or grapefruit and red plums, on the one hand, to embellish the food on the plate, on the other hand, it is also a trace of nostalgia for the elegance of the past.
The Japanese people's pursuit of the flavor of ingredients has evolved to the extreme, resulting in the famous "kaiseki cuisine". Nowadays, kaiseki cuisine has become synonymous with high-end Japanese cuisine, and it is said that if you want to eat the most authentic kaiseki cuisine in Japan, then you must be prepared for a big hemorrhage - even if it is just a bowl of ordinary tea and rice, it will cost 10,000 yen, that is, 1,000 yuan!
Why does a bowl of tea and rice sell so expensive? Originally, the tea used to make tea and rice was the finest Uji tea in Japan, and the water used to make tea was also the best water taken from the water intake of Tamagawa Shangshui!
To be precise, "kaiseki cuisine" should be called "tea kaiseki cuisine", and its emergence is closely related to the formation and development of the Japanese tea ceremony.
The word "kaiseki" originates from Buddhism, which is a ritual of Japanese Zen Buddhism. It is said that as early as the 12th century AD, that is, the Kamakura shogunate era in Japan, Zen Buddhism originating in China was introduced to Japan by two Zen masters, Eisai and Michigen, and flourished in Japan.
According to the Zen precepts, monks must strictly abide by the rule of "not eating after noon.". However, because the monks had to practice and chant continuously from the afternoon to the middle of the night, some monks were hungry and physically weak, so they carried the hot stones into their arms to relieve hunger. This stone is called "warm stone". Later, the rules in the monastery slowly became lax, and some monks secretly made some simple and light food to fill their hunger, and these simple foods were called "kaiseki".
In the 16th century, during the Muromachi shogunate in Japan, the tea ceremony began to flourish. Senritsu, known as The "Tea Saint" of Japan, is the master of the tea ceremony, he attaches great importance to the spiritual pursuit of idleness, and believes that only the "one juice and three dishes" diet is the most suitable for tea.
What is "one juice and three dishes"? To put it bluntly, it is actually very simple, that is, a soup, a sashimi, a boiled dish, a fried dish or a grilled dish, and the flavor of all the ingredients is ultimately to highlight the tea ceremony itself, so the choice of ingredients is mostly clear and fresh - this is the prototype of kaiseki cuisine.
However, just as the so-called "Yangchun White Snow, Qu Gao and Widow", the tea ceremony of Qianlixiu was too quiet, so after the improvement of the princes and nobles, the tea ceremony that initially attached importance to the inner gradually evolved into a pursuit of external forms of "Daimyo Tea", from ingredients to eating utensils. In this process, the "kaiseki cuisine", which originally had only "one juice and three dishes", gradually formed a set of relatively fixed dishes and etiquette.
In the "Tea-style Moonflower Collection", the way to serve "kaiseki cuisine" is described in detail:
First, the waiter will bring out a tray with a soup bowl, rice bowl and small bowls containing fish or sashimi, then present rice and soup, then take out the appetizers and wine served on the plate, and pour the wine three times for the guests, which is the "one offering", that is, the first offering; next, the waiter will bring a barbecue fish or poultry, and pour the wine three more times with the wine pot, which is called "two offerings"; then, the waiter will remove the soup bowl and rice bowl and send a bowl of clear soup, which is the "sucker" we mentioned earlier, and pour the wine three times These are the "three offerings."
At the end, the waiter will serve a plate of pickles and hot water, as well as a dessert of fruit. After eating the fruit, guests can take a break from the tea garden outside and drink strong tea in the tea room – the most basic model of kaiseki cuisine in the Edo period.
"Kaiseki cuisine" has evolved from the Edo period to today, and although the process of dining is still largely the same, the level of sophistication and luxury of the dishes has been greatly improved compared with before.
Usually, before a meal of kaiseki begins, "eight inches" is presented as a side dish. The so-called "eight inches" is actually the seasonal theme of the appetizers, which is what we often call the "small dish platter", and the common "eight inches" are mainly made of snapper, octopus, lilies, kidney beans and so on.
Then, the waiter will bring out a plate of "Xiang Attachment", "Burning Matter", "Cover", "Strong Cuisine", step by step to push the diners' taste experience to the climax.
"Xiangfu" is the seasonal fish sashimi, although it is only a simple sashimi, but this is also the Japanese are most proud of the way of cooking, whether it is the freshness of the fish, or the season, knife method, seasoning, can reflect the Japanese attitude to the excellence of ingredients.
A "lid" is a food that is served in lacquerware with a lid, usually steamed in a soup or tea bowl. Sweet seabream in spring, surimi in summer, matsutake mushroom in autumn, and crab in winter are all common cover ingredients.
"Roast" refers to seasonal fish stewed in a barbecue manner. There are also many ways to grill, such as salt roasting and smoking that highlight the original flavor, sweet and sour yuzu yakuza with citrus flavor, and teriyaki with a rich sauce. In kaiseki cuisine, the most common ingredient in spring is cherry trout, as for summer, the most suitable for barbecue is tai knife fish, and autumn fish to choose from, often with seeds of seasonal fish, if in winter, of course, it is the puffer fish dominates the world - "desperately eat puffer fish" is said to be Japanese.
The last "strong dish" is the "hard dish" in this kaiseki cuisine, generally speaking, the common "strong dish" is mostly roasted or steamed beef, poultry, and fish. In addition, "strong dishes" are usually based on Japanese stock and boiled with other ingredients to make the flavor level of the ingredients more distinct.
Next, the waiter will serve "imperial rice", "incense", "sucking" to let the guests clear their mouths. "Ozai" is of course rice, "incense" is Japanese pickles, and as for "sucking", as we said earlier, it is a soup used to consume food after meals.
After a full meal, we will end this perfect meal with a "water object", that is, an after-dinner dessert.
You see, such a complicated step of "kaiseki cuisine" can be called the master of Japanese cuisine, in such a meal, the collection of raw food, sushi, steaming, cooking, frying, pickling, sauce and most of the Japanese food methods. Moreover, in this meal of "kaiseki cuisine", it fully reflects the presentation of Japanese cuisine to the flavors of the four seasons - if you go to Japan to eat kaiseki cuisine, then in the spring and autumn, you will never eat the same kaiseki cuisine twice - this is the food mystery of kaiseki cuisine, which is known as the "soul of Japanese food"!