BIG IN JAPAN... AND NOW IN YOUR KITCHEN
Intimidated by the thought of cooking Japanese meals at home? Kimiko Barber talks to ELLA WALKER about why we should give it a go
JAPAN is really having a moment right now after hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2019, and the Tokyo Olympics this summer. Back in the West, meanwhile, Japanese cuisine is arguably more prevalent than ever.
“I never dreamt of seeing takeaway sushi,” says cook and food writer Kimiko Barber, who has watched the slow diffusion of Japan into the cultural food stream, adding with a laugh: “They’re not that good, compared to what you can get in Japan – but that’s not fair.”
Kimiko was born in Kobe and moved to England in the early-Seventies as a 15-year-old.
“I really ought to thank the dreadful school food which spurred me on to cook,” she says.
“It was absolutely dire. After the first term, I went back to Japan for Christmas and New Year.
“I stood in front of my mother and she didn’t recognise me because I’d lost so much weight.”
Despite later being side-tracked for a while by an investment banking career, Kimiko has always loved food, having been inspired by three of her grandmothers, each influenced by their homes in Kobe, Kyoto and Shikoku.
She ended up giving banking the slip and wrote a practical guide to making sushi before going on to write a slew of cookbooks – she is now celebrating her latest, Japanese in 7.
There are roughly five “very, very Japanese” seasoning ingredients that can be used to easily add a “Japanesey taste or flavouring”, she says. They are: miso, soy sauce, sake, mirin and rice vinegar.
Just add fresh, everyday ingredients: “Chicken breast is chicken breast, whether you buy it in Japan or here in Waitrose,” says Kimiko, who is intent on demystifying Japanese food for home cooks.
Even making one miso soup as a starter is something to be proud of if you’ve never attempted it before.
“There isn’t a set-in-stone definition of any cuisine, it’s very organic and should move on and be adjusted to reflect the time and the tastes of the people who are using, cooking and eating it,” says Kimiko, explaining that many of the most familiar Japanese dishes have been tinkered with or borrowed from elsewhere.
Like tempura, for instance, which actually originates in Portugal; sushi, which is generally thought of as super-fresh but was originally a fermented slow food using preservation techniques; and chicken katsu curry – “that’s a relatively new dish”.
What you will need to jump on a flight for though is truly wonderful tofu.
“You can get it here, but it’s nothing like what you can get in Japan,” says Kimiko, putting it down to Japan’s soft water.
■ Japanese in 7 by Kimiko Barber, photography by Emma Lee, is published by Kyle Books, priced £17.99.