Tomato

I cooked sauce bolognaise and bread with tomato and basil today. Both include tomato. Tomato has glutamic acid. Glutamic acid is important factor of Umami which means fifth category taste. Kombu is the one of famous food includes glutamic acid. Washoku, Japanese cuisine is characterized by Umami. The most famous Umami food is Kombu or dried bonito. Kombu has Glutamic acid and dried bonito has Inosinic acid. Dashi which is based on Washoku is made from Kombu, Glutamic acid and dried bonito, Inosinic acid. Tomato has Glutamic acid as Kombu. So I think sometimes Italian cuisine may have the same root of Japanes cuisine.

Menchi-katsu

Menchi-katsu means fried cake of minced meat. Firstly you add minced onions to minced meat and mix them thoroughly. Then you shape them into an oval. You make them be worn with wheat four, beaten egg and bread crumbs. Finally you fry them in salad oil. It looks like a hamburg steak. But Menchi-katsu is originally made in Japan.

Mechi-katsu is called Minchi-katsu in Osaka. People in Osaka call minced meat “Minchi” in Japanese. So to call fried cake of minced meat “Minchi-katsu” is reasonable. Actually I did not understand what “Menchi-katsu” is for the first time in Tokyo because I came from Osaka. To understand dialect is so difficult.

Kitsune-don

Kitsune-don is rice with a piece of deep-fried tofu. The deep-fried tofu was simmered with dashi, sweet sake and soy sauce before it is put into rice. Dashi is made from kombu which means sea cabbage and small pieces of sliced dried bonito. So the simmered deep-fried tofu has a bit sweet and salty.

It is simple and easy to cook Kitsune-don. I sometimes cook Kitsune-don when I come back late and dishes are not prepared. I went to the concert today evening. Since I came home late, I cooked Kitsune-don. I enjoyed very well both the concert and Kitsune-don.

Kashiwa-mochi

Kashiwa-mochi is a rice cake wrapped in an oak leaf. Japanese people eat Kashiwa-mochi on May 5th every year. May 5th is Children’s Day, national holiday in Japan. Japanese people pray for the healthy growth of children on this day. Originally May 5th is the day called Tango-no-sekku when there are many events praying for the healthy growth of boys. Having Kashiwa-mochi is one of these events. Kashiwa-mochi includes red bean paste. There are two type red bean pastes on Kashiwa-mochi. One is strained red bean paste and the other is coarse red bean paste.

Honestly I did not like Kashiwa-mochi in my childhood because it is very sweet. But now I like Kashiwa-mochi and buy both type o Kashiwa-mochi, strained and coarse at a Japanese sweets shop. The custom of eating Kashiwa-mochi on the day may be for adult in reality.