Japanese Ingredients in American food

The following are Japanese ingredients that are typical of a Japanese meal in America. They are particularly popular in the upscale Japanese restaurants that specialize in sushi.

Wasabi is a rare vegetable that can be compared to a combination between English mustard and horseradish. Wasabi is a Japanese plant widely used in Japanese cuisine as a condiment for seafood dishes. Its unique flavor has caught on in Western cuisine due to its unique hot and spicy flavor. In Japan, wasabi is used to garnish raw fish and noodle dishes for both its taste and color contrast (which are both important in Japanese food preparations) (Lang).

Seaweed is a popular and widespread ingredient because it is good for your health and easy to farm. Seaweed-based food additives are commonly used in prepared foods and fat foods. Marine algae is also used as a fertilizer and food supplement for livestock. There are three kinds of seaweed-they are all are easy to digest and are rich in vitamins and minerals. Seaweed is often called the "vegetable of the sea." It is a historic staple of the Japanese diet. Westerners, unlike Asians, are unable to assimilate it, so it can be considered a low-fat food for Americans (Boukhari).

Saki, or Japanese rice beer, is brewed from rice and it comes in four types. These include sake that is big in flavor, light and smooth, rich and fragrant, and aged and spicy aroma rare (Regan). Each is recommended with a different food. In America there are two categories of Saki drinkers. Those who drink cheap warm sake and a few people who "know" and drink whole expensive bottles of chilled ji-sake (Regan). The art of drinking Saki is as extensive as choosing the appropriate bottle of wine from France to compliment a particular meal. The culture of saki drinkers in Japan is mimicked only slightly in America. Americans are only just beginning to appreciate the different types of saki that are common in Japan.