Japanese cuisine is fresh, healthy and exhibits bold, enticing flavors that often deliver that umami food experience. If you thought Japanese food couldn’t get any better, you haven’t yet discovered the exciting culinary world of Japanese fusion. Chefs across the nation have been incorporating the distinctive flavors and ingredients of Japanese culture into other dishes for years. Recently, Japanese fusion restaurants have really hit their stride. The current Japanese fusion trends are flavorful, exciting, unique and not too hard to cook in your own kitchen!
What Is Japanese Fusion?
Put simply, Japanese fusion is a new take on familiar dishes, such as burgers, pasta and burritos, that incorporates Japanese cooking techniques or ingredients. The fusion of two different dishes or cooking styles results in a new umami food experience that gets people talking and craving more.
Making Your Own Japanese Fusion Recipes
Of course, you don’t have to find a restaurant to enjoy the fusion. You can make your own fusion recipes at home.
Simply take some of your favorite comfort foods, such as meatballs and spaghetti, and see how you can transform it into a fusion dish using Japanese ingredients and flavors. Simply adding a few Japanese seasonings to dishes is enough to tantalize and satisfy taste buds.
Perfect Ingredients for a Japanese Fusion Dish
Whether you’re seeking something brand new in the world of Japanese fusion, or you just want familiar, healthy comfort with bold flavors, these Japanese seasonings and ingredients are ideal for helping you achieve an umami fusion experience!
Shio Koji
This simple seasoning packs big umami flavor. The combination of salt, water and malted rice is used to tenderize meat and fish. It also enhance the natural flavors of food. It is ideal as a marinade or a sauce, such as a delicious and easy to cook Shio Koji tomato sauce.
Miso
More than just a popular, comforting soup, miso paste works perfect with meat, fish, and vegetables. Made primarily from fermented soybean paste, the versatile ingredient can be used in a wide variety of recipes, from salad dressings to meatballs. A miso chicken recipe is particularly tasty.
Matcha
A staple of the Japanese diet, matcha is made from green tea leaves that have been milled into a fine powder. Healthy as well as flavorful, the most common way to use matcha is to make some tea. But the powder has other culinary uses as well. Simply add a pinch into any dough or batter, like this matcha pancakes recipe, and you will have a tasty matcha flavored dish!
There are of course many more Japanese seasonings, sauces and spice mixtures you can find in Asian supermarkets, but the above make a great start to any kitchen pantry.
