Mention Japanese food culture to most people, and they are likely to think of things like sushi and tempura. But in fact, people in Japan enjoy dishes from all over the world. This can be seen not only in the dazzling array of international cuisines on offer in the restaurants of Japan’s cities, but in the kitchens of private homes, where the shelves are often stocked with ingredients from a wide variety of cuisines, and where the daily menu incorporates much more than just Japanese dishes. The rich variety of different cuisines enjoyed in Japan is reflected in the wide range of cooking utensils that can be found in most Japanese homes, from items familiar to generations of Japanese to the latest hi-tech devices. The variety of utensils found in the average household speaks volumes for the passion many people in Japan have for food.

Japanese Kitchens, International IngredientsAlong with Japanese staples like rice and miso (bean paste) soup, meals cooked in Japanese homes incorporate a remarkable variety of ingredients from around the world.

Culinary expert Inagaki Tomoko suggests that Japanese people have a strong curiosity about food. “Rather than just sticking to traditional recipes, people in Japan are quick to take new dishes and adapt them to their own tastes,” she says.

As a result of these diverse tastes, kitchens in Japanese homes tend to be stocked with a wide assortment of cooking utensils. One item found in most households in Japan is the oroshigane, a flat metal utensil used to grate vegetables and other ingredients. Unlike the round graters commonly used in the West, the Japanese grater has a flat surface made from copper or stainless steel and lined with numerous tiny blades of different shapes and sizes. This simple design makes it easy to grate different kinds of ingredients without getting them stuck in the grater. The Japanese grater is ideal for making the grated radish garnish often served in Japan with grilled fish, and for zesting lemon or orange peel. For grating wasabi, a spicy and fragrant root vegetable used as a mustard-like condiment with sashimi, sushi, and other dishes, special graters made from shark skin are often used for smoother results. Another familiar cooking utensil in Japan is the suribachi grinding bowl. The inside of the ceramic mortar has a rough surface, against which a wooden pestle called a surikogi is used to grind up ingredients. Another common item in Japanese kitchens is a small, thin grill fitted into most gas stoves, used mainly to grill fish.

Hi-Tech Cooking Devices The modern age has brought a dazzling array of hi-tech cooking utensils. One example is the induction-heating pressure rice cooker. The inner cooking pan is heated directly with electromagnetic force, ensuring that heat is conveyed evenly throughout the pan. Using pressure also makes it possible to raise the temperature inside the pan quickly, resulting in fluffier rice. The fact that these new rice cookers have proved a big hit in Japan despite their substantial price tag (three or four times the price of ordinary models) shows how passionate Japanese people are about good rice. A major aim for rice cooker manufacturers has been to recreate the special flavor of rice cooked over a traditional kamado (wood-burning stove). Other new rice cookers allow people to prepare a variety of dishes other than rice, including stews and cakes. Quite a few Japanese households also have special bread-making machines at home. A much-talked-about item at the moment is a new kind of “home bakery” that uses rice as an ingredient for making bread.

Dishwashers are becoming more common in Japanese homes, with special compact designs being developed to suit Japanese living spaces. Despite their compact size, Japanese dishwashers offer outstanding capacity and functionality, accommodating cleaning and efficiently the wide range of cooking utensils used with different cuisines. As well as porcelain and glassware, these include items not commonly found in the West, such as rice bowls and bowls for miso soup. Another recent innovation is garbage-processing machines, which use warm air to dry out organic garbage. These machines eliminate unpleasant odors; the compost that is created from the garbage can be used as an organic fertilizer in some models.

For centuries, the Japanese people have come up with new cooking utensils and devices suited to different types of ingredients and cooking methods. Step into a kitchen in Japan today and you are sure to encounter all kinds out-of-the-ordinary cooking tools for cuisines from around the world—from the most traditional of tools to the most technologically advanced modern hi-tech gadgets. (March 2011)