Period+1+Japan+Food

=**Japanese Food**= By: Elena Buzzatto and Kaelyn McLaughlin media type="youtube" key="JFpz5H_6qfQ" height="385" width="480"

Egg consumption in Japan is higher than in America (40 pounds per person per year, versus 34 in the US).10 The Japanese consider eggs to be a brain food. The story is told of a woman whose husband was killed during the war. She had an infant son and throughout the following years she gradually sold off all of her furniture to provide her boy with one egg per day, "so that he could go to college." The boy grew up to be an intelligent child and, in fact, did go to college in the postwar years. Eggs are consumed as omelets, custards and in soups. They are also an important ingredient in noodles and batters. Another brain food in the Japanese diet is seaweed, added to soups and used for wrapping sushi. It is also served as a vegetable. Agar-agar, a gelatin-like product used extensively in Japan, is derived from seaweed. Seaweed provides an abundance of minerals, particularly iodine so vital for normal thyroid function. Normal thyroid function is, in turn, vital for normal brain function. It is the presence of adequate iodine in the traditional Japanese diet that makes it possible for the Japanese to consume soy products on a daily basis without adverse effects on the thyroid gland. The typical Japanese meal consists of a bowl of rice (**gohan**), a bowl of miso soup (**miso shiru**), pickled vegetables (**tsukemono**) and fish or meat. While rice is the staple food, several kinds of noodles (**udon**, **soba** and **ramen**) are cheap and very popular for light meals. As an island nation, the Japanese take great pride in their seafood. A wide variety of fish, squid, octopus, eel, and shellfish appear in all kinds of dishes from sushi to tempura. Sticky, short-grained rice is the staple food in Japan. Uncooked rice is called **kome**. The cultivation of rice in paddy fields traditionally required great cooperation between villagers and this is said to have been central to the evolution of Japanese culture. Their are several thousand varieties grown in Japan, with Koshihikari and Akita Komachi being among the most popular. Rice is also used to make **mochi** (rice cakes), **senbei** (rice crackers) and **sake** (rice wine). Rice can also be cooked with red beans (**sekihan**), seafood and vegetables (**Takikomi gohan**) or as a kind of watery porridge seasoned with salt (**kayu**) which is very popular as a cold remedy. **Onigiri** are rice balls with seafood or vegetables in the middle, usually wrapped in a piece of dried seaweed (**nori**). They are traditionally part of a packed lunch or picnic. Individually wrapped onigiri, usually a trianular shape, make a good snack and are available at convenience stores. Udon are a thick wheat noodles that is usually served hot, often in soup. Soba is a thinner, buckwheat noodle that is often served cold, but occasionally comes in a hot broth. Somen, usually eaten cold, are a thin wheat noodle. Ramen is a wheat noodle usually served in a hot, meat-based broth. Every region has its own variant on ramen. It is also a popular instant food

Picture and Facts from: __[|www.buzzle.com/articles/interesting-**facts**-about-japan.html] __ __ http://www.westonaprice.org/Inside-Japan-Surprising-Facts-About-Japanese-Foodways.html __