Japanese

We know it best for sushi, ramen, and teriyaki chicken, but Japanese cuisine actually encompasses a vast range of dishes and flavors. Japan may be a relatively small island nation, but its topography is peppered with snow-capped mountains, broad agricultural fields, and plenty of seashore. Pasture land is at a premium, so the diet tends to be low in animal fats and relies heavily on locally sourced vegetables, grains, sea plants, and fish, with recipes adapted to the country's diverse regional preferences. But before you write it off as complicated and intimidating, know that you can complete your Japanese pantry with just a few staples, and most dishes are designed to be prepared in under an hour — perfect for a weeknight meal! Ready to learn more about turning your kitchen Japanese? Get started when you keep reading.

Japanese gets creative with this high-concept dish of sea urchin, shrimp, salmon roe, quail egg, and fermented soy that Yoo Eatz recently discovered.

Oishiiiiiiii!! A few months ago, I grabbed drinks and dinner after work with a good friend at Hecho. We were intrigued by the restaurant's izakaya-meets-tequila bar concept, and we were not disappointed. The highlight of the meal was a dish called bakudan, meaning "bomb," and boy was it an explosion of flavors. The artfully constructed dish contained uni (sea urchin), amaebi (raw shrimp), ikura (salmon roe), uzura (raw quail egg), and natto (fermented soy bean) that you briskly stir into a delicious soup, roll up in a rectangle of roasted nori, and munch away for a beautiful bite of the sea.

Hoping to expand your palate? Check out her blog for more adventurous eating — then share your creations with us in our Savory Sights community group!

My idea of a dream gift isn't an expensive piece of jewelry or a fancy new bag; it's a food-related souvenir from another country. So when Emily from SavvySugar paid a visit to Japan and brought back some instant noodles for me, I was over the moon. Two of my favorite things — travel gifts and ramen? It was almost too much to bear.

Emily couldn't read the package but found the instant noodles noteworthy because of an additional condiment: mayonnaise. (Yes, you heard that right.) It sounded questionable, but my curiosity meant that I had to give it a try. See what I thought of it when you keep reading.

Lauren has shared her preferred Sake with the community and you should do the same!

Do you have a delicious photo to share? Put it in the Savory Sights group. It could be featured here on YumSugar!

On the final day of the South Beach Food & Wine Festival, wine expert Joshua Wesson and Nobu Miami executive chef Thomas Buckley held a seminar of pairing wine with sushi, a fairly apropros way to end the celebration after four long days of indulging in burgers and grilled cheese.

There, I sampled pairings like sashimi tacos with Alsatian Crémant, vegetable rolls with Greece's Moschofilero, and black cod butter lettuce wraps with a light-bodied Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

What impressed me the most, however, was the simplicity of preparation involved in making the European- and South American-influenced Japanese cuisine that's so storied at Nobu Matsuhisa's restaurants.

For some of chef Buckley's tips for re-creating Matsuhisa's dishes at home, keep on reading.

Recently I sat down with a group of people to conduct my first-ever sake tasting. The event was hosted by SakeOne, a craft sake brewer that's based out of Oregon and known for producing award-winning and fun-flavored sakes.

The tasting paired 15 sakes with different artisan cheeses also from the beaver state. As I took my first sip of the grassy, smooth, vanilla-ish Momokawa Diamond, I realized that I didn't know very much about sake.

Here are 10 facts that I learned from the experience.

1. Contrary to what I was taught in college, the appropriate way to sip sake is not hot and dunked into a mug of beer, but rather, cold. In Japan, sake is served chilled. Because heating it will mask the flavor, if sake is offered hot, that means it's poor quality, bad-tasting sake.
2. All sake needs a special mold to ferment. It's called the koji mold. At SakeOne, they hand-mix the koji into the rice to help break down the starches.
3. The water that's used to make sake is more important than the rice. Only the purest of water can be employed, as it directly affects the taste and quality of the sake.
4. Although sake is known as rice wine, its production is more similar to beer than wine.
5. To make a batch of sake, the entire process of brewing, fermentation, and maturing takes three weeks.

Keep reading for more things you may not know about sake!

• A conversation with Ina Garten. — Epicurious
• What Americans can learn from Japanese cuisine. — The Atlantic
• Harold McGee's top 10 Thanksgiving tips. — Serious Eats
• 12 beloved regional American foods. — Woman's Day
• Make your own amaretto. — Chow
• David Chang has confirmed he will be opening a Momofuku in a Sydney casino. — Eater
• Harold Dieterle's five favorite Thai ingredients and tips for using them. — Eatocracy
• How to maximize space in a small kitchen. — Huffington Post Food