Japanese food, sushi, and culinary traditions.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Sushi diners traditionally eat pickled ginger between pieces to:
Called gari, the sweet-tart ginger resets the palate so one topping's flavor does not blur into the next.
At a soba restaurant, what is soba-yu?
Diners mix soba-yu into leftover dipping sauce to turn the salty concentrate into a warm drink.
In Japan, toshikoshi soba is traditionally eaten on which occasion?
The noodles' length symbolizes a wish for long life as one year gives way to the next.
How is zaru soba traditionally served?
The name "zaru" refers to the bamboo basket traditionally used to drain and serve the noodles.
Soba is a traditional noodle from which country?
The name "soba" also means buckwheat in Japanese, the plant whose flour gives the noodles their nutty flavor.
Yakitori cooks season skewers with salt or tare, a sauce based on which ingredient?
Tare adds sweetness to soy sauce, and cooks dip or brush the chicken skewers before grilling them.
Why does dashi made with both kombu and katsuobushi taste especially savory?
Kombu supplies glutamate and bonito supplies inosinate; together they create stronger umami than either alone.
Why does Japanese etiquette avoid passing food directly from chopsticks to chopsticks?
At cremations, relatives use chopsticks together to place bone fragments in an urn, linking the meal gesture to mourning.
Which regional ramen style pairs thin noodles with cloudy pork-bone broth and kaedama refills?
Hakata shops serve thin noodles quickly, then kaedama lets diners add more noodles while the broth stays hot.
Classic washoku tableware harmonizes with the food and which other factor?
Color, shape, and material let a plate carry seasonal meaning before diners taste the food.