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January 30, 2014

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Try these Japanese eateries for uncommon fare

By Wu Huixin | January 30, 2014, Thursday | Print Edition

In Hangzhou, most Japanese restaurants are hidden in narrow lanes and have low-profile facades. Still, diners sniff them out due to their fresh food ingredients, great flavors and good reputation.

Some Japanese foods have become popular throughout China, including miso soup, shabu-shabu, sushi and udon. They can be found even in ordinary restaurants.

Japanese delicacies are divided into a couple of general varieties according to different historic periods and occasions. The most typical is Kaiseki, which originally referred to the food offered with the tea ceremony. Today, it usually contains one soup and three dishes on a square wooden tray.

Miso soup is an important part of Japanese culinary culture. It is named for a variety of Japanese seasoning made from fermented soybeans, which is similar to Chinese dou jiang (soybean paste). Shabu-shabu is the Japanese version of hotpot. 

Sushi is made of cooked, vinegared rice with raw fish or other seafood. Mixing the cooked rice with vinegar is key to making tasty sushi that retains the fresh mouthfeel of rice. Broadly speaking, sushi refers to any dish made with vinegared rice. But many of the ones people buy from roadside food stalls are Chinese versions adding shredded cucumber and dried meat floss.

Udon is a type of wheat flour noodles. It is usually served hot in a mild soup made of soy sauce and mirin (a Japanese seasoning) and topped with shrimp, fried tofu and fish cake. However, the Chinese-version udon is often cooked with ground pepper and beef. There is still much Japanese fare you can get only in authentic Japanese restaurants. Shanghai Daily picks three for you and recommends where to eat.

Tempura

Tempura is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been coated with a layer of batter and deep fried. It was introduced to Japan by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries during the 16th century, according to historic documents.

Originally, tempura was just a side dish. It was not until the 18th century that it was customarily eaten as a main dish. Usually, tempura is divided into three varieties: vegetable, seafood and poultry.

Ingredients for tempura vary by season. Asparagus and bamboo shoots in the spring, wax gourds and green beans in the summer, and crab and cuttlefish in autumn.

The taste of tempura depends on the batter, which is a mixture of water, wheat flour, eggs, baking powder, starch, oil and spices. In order to make tempura fluffy and crisp, the batter should be kept cold.

Recommended restaurants:

• He Le Ting Restaurant

Address: 39 Huansha Rd

Tel: (0571) 8707-0699

• Fugang Japanese Cuisine Restaurant

Address: 262-3 Nanshan Rd

Tel: (0571) 8707-0058

Sashimi

Sashimi consists of raw seafood or meat. It is served as the first or main course in Japanese cuisine, decorated with shredded radish, sliced lemon and green leaves of perilla, an herb in the mint family, and often placed on ice. Salmon and snapper are often used for sashimi.  

Some may not find sashimi appealing because it’s raw. However, the dipping sauce can counteract fishy smells and add flavor.

The only sauce usually used with sashimi is soy sauce mixed with wasabi paste, which is made with piquant green horseradish that has some antimicrobial properties.

Recommended restaurants:

• Shang Jing Restaurant

Address: 555 Fengqi Rd

Tel: (0571) 8779-1216

• San Shang Restaurant

Address: 179 Yan’an Rd

Tel: (0571) 8695-9757

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is known as Japanese beef hotpot. It is a winter dish common at year-end parties. Beef is the primary ingredient, and it should be simmered slowly at the table with vegetables and other ingredients added to it.

Sukiyaki was created by Japanese peasants in olden times. It is said they cleaned their spades, loaded them up with beef and cooked it over the fire.

Over time, sukiyaki has evolved into its present-day version. Diners boil the beef over small stoves and add cabbage, mushrooms and other ingredients to the soup blended with mirin and soy sauce.

Recommended restaurants:

• Wasabiya Restaurant

Address: 206 Dadou Rd

Tel: (0571) 8755-6032

• Wasabiciub Restaurant

Address: 5 Qianxizhi St

Tel: (0571) 8722-7867

 

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