Washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

(Photo credit: The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan)

Yesterday, UNESCO put washoku or traditional Japanese cuisine on ther list of Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Humanity. The details are here. It’s only the second national cuisine to be put on this list, after French cuisine in 2010, but it’s by no means the only food-related one to be there, not even the only one for 2013 (more on that later).

This has been in the news in Japan for some time, and it is regarded as quite a big deal there. There has been a lot of concern amongst some purists that washoku is slowly being eclipsed by the popularity of food imported from elsewhere, especially the west. And, I have to say this about my countrymen: Japanese people just love it when they as a collective or a Japanese person gets official recognition overseas. To be a bit sarcastic, it’s like one has not really and truly ‘made it’ until they get some kind of award from a non-Japanese entity. It’s a bit weird.

In any case, as someone who is deeply interested in the history and sociology of food, I think that recognizing food as a crucial part of our heritage is a great idea. Food is as noble a cultural heritage as dance or art or crafts, is it not? And I don’t understand the snark and negativity that I have seen around it either, both about the designation of French cuisine when it happened and Japanese cuisine now. Food gets little respect amongst some people, I tell you.

However, I’m not too sure what that Intangible Cultural Heritage designation does. Does it help to boost tourism? I don’t know, and haven’t really been able to find out, if it did anything for French cuisine in any way. Don’t people travel to France for the cuisine anyway, and to Japan too? It is a hook to hang some promotions on.

Or, maybe it’s most important in raising awareness of the value of the cuisine within the country itself. In Japan as in many other developed nations, many people are increasingly going for convenient pre-processed foods and taking shortcuts. At the same time there’s also an interest in going back to natural ingredients and traditional ways of doing things anyway. Perhaps this UNESCO recognition will boost such efforts.

This is the video that presented the case of washoku to UNESCO. (They seriously need to get another narrator the next time…but the video itself is nice.)

As I mentioned above, Japanese cuisine is not the only food and drink related tradition to be recognized this year. Here are the other ones:

Also, if you want to know exactly what an Intangible Cultural Heritage is, there’s a definition here on the UNESCO site. I think this is the part that is most important:

The importance of intangible cultural heritage is not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next. The social and economic value of this transmission of knowledge is relevant for minority groups and for mainstream social groups within a State, and is as important for developing States as for developed ones.

If you want to learn some of the basics of washoku and you missed my Japanese Cooking 101: The Fundamentals of Washoku a few months ago, just start here and follow the links at the bottom.

And last by not least, English Cookpad is showing a link to a washoku recipe on the site in Advent-calendar style until December 25th. I have a little essay on the page where I talk a little bit about how Japanese expats feel about the ‘cuisine from home’. I hope you enjoy it. ^_^

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Thai Iced Tea Traditional Restaurant Style

How to make Thai Iced Tea:
Thai iced tea is one of the first things people fall in love with when dining at a typical Thai restaurant. It is a native-grown red-leafed tea which is spiced with star anise seed. It is usually brewed strong and then blended with a rich swirl of Half & Half or milk. Delicious!
6 cups water
1 cup Thai tea (cha Thai)
1 cup sugar (vary according to taste)
Add a little Half & Half into each serving to taste
Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the tea and remove the pan from heat. Stir to submerge all the tea leaves in the water. Steep for about 5 minutes. Pour the brew through a coffee filter or a fine-mesh strainer into a large pitcher. Add the sugar to the hot tea and stir to dissolve. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve: Fill tall glasses with crushed ice. Add enough of the tea to fill the glasses to within 1 inch from the top. Add a little Half & Half into each serving to taste

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'Fried Chinese Traditional Spring Rolls' Wall Decal - Removable Graphic

WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won't damage your paint or leave any mess. PLEASE double check the size of the image you are ordering prior to clicking the 'ADD TO CART' button. Our graphics are offered in a variety of sizes and prices.

WallMonkeys are intended for indoor use only.

Printed on-demand in the United States Your order will ship within 3 business days, often sooner. Some orders require the full 3 days to allow dark colors and inks to fully dry prior to shipping. Quality is worth waiting an extra day for!

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'Ingredient Used In Traditional Chinese Medicine' Wall Decal - Removable Graphic

WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won't damage your paint or leave any mess. PLEASE double check the size of the image you are ordering prior to clicking the 'ADD TO CART' button. Our graphics are offered in a variety of sizes and prices.

WallMonkeys are intended for indoor use only.

Printed on-demand in the United States Your order will ship within 3 business days, often sooner. Some orders require the full 3 days to allow dark colors and inks to fully dry prior to shipping. Quality is worth waiting an extra day for!

Removable and will not leave a mark on your walls.

'Fotolia' trademark will be removed when printed.

Our catalog of over 10 million images is perfect for virtually any use: school projects, trade shows, teachers classrooms, colleges, nurseries, college dorms, event planners, and corporations of all size.

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Setsuden article in The Japan Times, plus suzumi or 'keeping cool' the traditional way

In my Japan Times article this month, I talk about setsuden or cutting down on electricity use, a critical topic this summer in Japan due to so many power plants (both nuclear and otherwise) being offline temporarily or permanently. This is not just in the devastated Tohoku region, or the Tokyo-Kanto region that TEPCO covers, but nationwide. With daytime temperatures nearing 40 degrees celsius already, it may be a long and difficult summer in Japan. Hopefully the article will give some ideas for making setsuden a bit easier, and even a little fun. (Incidentally, I’m sort of hoping setsuden becomes a widespread word; it’s so compact and descriptive, much better than ‘cutting down on electricity use’, isn’t it?)

Since my Japan Times article is in the Food section, I do focus on things you can do in the kitchen, but there are other low- or no-electricity ways to keep cool too. As I mention in the article, many department stores in Japan have set up suzumi or “keep cool” product sections, where they sell a lot of traditional items that help you feel a bit cooler. These range from things like fans, absorbent towels, bedding and handkerchiefs, to more aesthetic things like fuurin or wind bells. I bought the one pictured here and in the Japan Times article in Asakusa, Tokyo. They’re called Edo Fuurin, and they have been made in the Asakura area since the feudal Edo period. (Yep, even in modern Tokyo some traditional crafts are kept alive.) It’s very thin handblown glass, handpainted with irises. They had other summery designs too, like morning glories, hydrangeas, and goldfish.

Goldfish are associated with summer because they are, or at least used to be, a ubiquitous part of any summer festival or omatsuri. I remember trying to catch those elusive goldfish with wire rings lined with the weakest ever paper. If I managed to catch one, I would carry it home proudly in a little plastic bag of water, and dump it into a bowl…where it would live for a week or so at most before dying (I had no idea about filtering the water, etc.) and I had to give it a fishie burial.

Here’s another suzumi item - a little strap or netsuke to hang from a cellphone or, in this case my coin purse. It’s shaped like a tiny glass eggplant-shaped fish bowl, and it has a miniscule goldfish and a gold coin inside. It doesn’t physically cool you, but looking at such a cool, cute item does perhaps make you feel a tiny breath of imaginary cooling air. It’s resting on another traditional item that helps to keep you cool, a woven cotton cloth called a tenugui, which is used in all kinds of ways, including just to wipe off sweat.

In any case, if you happen to be visiting Japan this summer, do be aware that trains and stores are not blasting the air conditioning as much as usual. You may want to carry a little fan with you to keep cool. Japan has terrific absorbent handkerchiefs, made of toweling and cotton gauze and things like that, which are great for mopping your brow with. And why not look for little, cool suzumi items too? You may learn a little about Japanese traditions as you combat the hot, sticky weather.

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Low Calorie Dinner Recipes - A Traditional Asian Vegetable Recipe

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup carrot

- 1/2 cup baby corn

- 1 cup potato

- 1 cup tomato

- 1 cup lettuce

- 1 cup celery

- 1 cup cauliflower

- 1 cup onion

- 2 gloves of garlic

- 3 teaspoon peanut oil

- 1/4 cup water

- 1/4 cup Asian fish sauce

Process

Heat the wok to high, add oil. Wait for 1 minute, then add garlic. Reduce heat to medium high. Stir until garlic has its instinct odors. Add carrot, potato first and stir for 5 minutes. Pour water, sauce in the wok. Simmer for 2 minutes. Here comes to cauliflower, onion, baby corn, and celery. Stir for 3 minutes. At last, add the rest ingredients to the wok and stir for 2 minutes more. Serve hot.

This is simple, traditional Asian food. You can add any vegetable in the recipe such as broccoli, spinach, turnip, radish, pumpkin, okra. The alternatives are endless. As you probably vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. Especially, vegetables are low in fat and calorie. In fact, the above recipes has only 80 calorie for each serving. A great idea for weight loss, right?

Here are just a dinner recipe. For breakfast, lunch, and snack recipes with under 500 calories, let us visit. I am sure that you would choose a suitable and scientific diet! Well, there is no reason for you to hum and haw. It is the right time to start weight loss journey!

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Low Calorie Dinner Recipes - A Traditional Asian Vegetable Recipe

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup carrot

- 1/2 cup baby corn

- 1 cup potato

- 1 cup tomato

- 1 cup lettuce

- 1 cup celery

- 1 cup cauliflower

- 1 cup onion

- 2 gloves of garlic

- 3 teaspoon peanut oil

- 1/4 cup water

- 1/4 cup Asian fish sauce

Process

Heat the wok to high, add oil. Wait for 1 minute, then add garlic. Reduce heat to medium high. Stir until garlic has its instinct odors. Add carrot, potato first and stir for 5 minutes. Pour water, sauce in the wok. Simmer for 2 minutes. Here comes to cauliflower, onion, baby corn, and celery. Stir for 3 minutes. At last, add the rest ingredients to the wok and stir for 2 minutes more. Serve hot.

This is simple, traditional Asian food. You can add any vegetable in the recipe such as broccoli, spinach, turnip, radish, pumpkin, okra. The alternatives are endless. As you probably vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. Especially, vegetables are low in fat and calorie. In fact, the above recipes has only 80 calorie for each serving. A great idea for weight loss, right?

Here are just a dinner recipe. For breakfast, lunch, and snack recipes with under 500 calories, let us visit. I am sure that you would choose a suitable and scientific diet! Well, there is no reason for you to hum and haw. It is the right time to start weight loss journey!

View the original article here

HsinTungYan - Traditional Chinese Style Beef Jerky - Fruit Juice Sweet (No MSG, Product of US) - 8.0 Oz

If you love Chinese sweet sauce, this is beef jerky for you, only better. Sweeten with real fruit juice, it is sour and sweet. Very tasty and delicous. Beef jerky is an extremly popular snack widely enjoyed in China and Taiwan. Made by HsingTungYang USA here in US, with high quality beef with no MSG added. Packaged in a gift box, ready to be enjoyed by yourself or as a as a gift

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HsinTungYan - Traditional Chinese Style Beef Jerky - Hot & Spicy Fruit Flavored (No MSG, Product of US) - 8.0 Oz

If you love Thai's sour, sweet and spicy sauce, this is beef jerky for you, only better. Sweeten with real fruit juice, it is sour and sweet. In additional to it, it is hot and spicy! Very tasty and delicous. Beef jerky is an extremly popular snack widely enjoyed in China and Taiwan. Made by HsingTungYang USA here in US, with high quality beef with no MSG added. Packaged in a gift box, ready to be enjoyed by yourself or as a as a gift

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Traditional Taiwanese Pineapple Cake Butter Cookies - 16 Pieces

Traditional Taiwanese Pineapple Cake Butter Cookies - 16 Pieces are soft cookies with pineapple paste that are rich and sweet with fresh Pineapple fragrance. This is a product of Taiwan and is suitable for vegetarians.

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Haw Flakes - 10 Rolls (4.4 Oz) - Traditional Chinese Fruit Candy

Box of Natural Green Brand 3 Ballerina Tea with 30 Tea Bags.

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HsinTungYan - Traditional Chinese Style Beef Jerky - Five Spices Flavor (No MSG, Product of USA) - 8.0 Oz

Five spice powder is a very complex, delicious blend of fennel, cloves, and cinnamon, along with star anise and Szechuan peppercorns. Five spiced beef jerky is an extremly popular snack widely enjoyed in China and Taiwan. Made by HsingTungYang USA here in US, with high quality beef with no MSG added.

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