Cuisine in Feudal Japan
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tayocham
- Shugyosha<Student Warrior>
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Cuisine in Feudal Japan
As someone who is always looking for something new to cook, I've recently been curious as to what kinds of foods people in Feudal Japan would have enjoyed. Of course, I know there's sushi (which I've made, with varying degrees of success) and pickled and assorted vegetables. I've also picked up some books, but most of them deal with modern Japanese cuisine that has been influenced by Western cooking methods and ingredients. Anyone have any information? It would be much appreciated!
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Cosmo
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Poor Tayocham, no one answered him... 
I guess the usual meals in medieval Japan are not very different from traditional Japanese meals as we know them. Though, râmen, those famous wheat noodles, originate from China and spread in Japan only from the Meiji era.
The noodles the Japanese used to eat were probably udon and soba. Soba are buckwheat noodles, they're more popular in Eastern Japan.
For most Japanese - peasants represented 85% of the population - rice was the basic food, eaten plain, as balls (o-nigiri or o-musubi) or as mochi (rice cake). It was the equivalent of bread in Europe. Because of the lack of pastures, people seldom ate meat, even poultry. Fish, seaweeds or shellfishes could act as complementary foods in coastal regions.
Vegetables and fruits like soya, beans - think of bean paste, daikon, plums, persimmons, melons, watermelons or citrus fruits were quite important too. Tofu has been introduced in Japan circa 800 AD, but I don't really know how popular it was. Several species of mushrooms were used, as Japan was and still is a densely wooded land : matsutake, shiitake...
Tea was of course the basic drink, just like beer or wine in Europe. Remember that plain water was not always drinkable. Pouring tea on his rice bowl seems to have been usual.
I guess the usual meals in medieval Japan are not very different from traditional Japanese meals as we know them. Though, râmen, those famous wheat noodles, originate from China and spread in Japan only from the Meiji era.
The noodles the Japanese used to eat were probably udon and soba. Soba are buckwheat noodles, they're more popular in Eastern Japan.
For most Japanese - peasants represented 85% of the population - rice was the basic food, eaten plain, as balls (o-nigiri or o-musubi) or as mochi (rice cake). It was the equivalent of bread in Europe. Because of the lack of pastures, people seldom ate meat, even poultry. Fish, seaweeds or shellfishes could act as complementary foods in coastal regions.
Vegetables and fruits like soya, beans - think of bean paste, daikon, plums, persimmons, melons, watermelons or citrus fruits were quite important too. Tofu has been introduced in Japan circa 800 AD, but I don't really know how popular it was. Several species of mushrooms were used, as Japan was and still is a densely wooded land : matsutake, shiitake...
Tea was of course the basic drink, just like beer or wine in Europe. Remember that plain water was not always drinkable. Pouring tea on his rice bowl seems to have been usual.
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Stan Sakai
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As Cosmo said, lots of vegetables and very little meat. Rice and barley were staples.
Tempura, the battered and deep fried dish which is now so closely associated with Japan, originated by the Portuguese. "Tempura" was probably derived for the latin phrase "ad tempora cuaresmae" or "in the time of Lent" when the Portuguese would eat fish instead of meat. So seafood tempura is very common, as are vegetables.
Tempura, the battered and deep fried dish which is now so closely associated with Japan, originated by the Portuguese. "Tempura" was probably derived for the latin phrase "ad tempora cuaresmae" or "in the time of Lent" when the Portuguese would eat fish instead of meat. So seafood tempura is very common, as are vegetables.
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Cosmo
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Hm. I don't think that Buddhism was the main reason for vegetarianism in feudal Japan, but it was probably an additional factor. As I said, the lack of available pastures was the main reason : it made meat extremely expensive and rare, and it is still in contemporary Japan.
Even in 17th-century France, yet a fertile, vast and well-cultivated land, simple peasants rarely ate meat. Once a week, if they could afford ; if not, once a year.
Note that fish meat wasn't strictly forbidden by Japanese Buddhism. Fish had been an important source of proteins for centuries, and commoners couldn't really do without it. Rules had to be relaxed.
Even in 17th-century France, yet a fertile, vast and well-cultivated land, simple peasants rarely ate meat. Once a week, if they could afford ; if not, once a year.
Note that fish meat wasn't strictly forbidden by Japanese Buddhism. Fish had been an important source of proteins for centuries, and commoners couldn't really do without it. Rules had to be relaxed.