Magazine Extols Japanese Fare

If there is any question that food mania has rubbed off on the Japanese as well as Americans, just take a look at Palate Pleasers of Japan, the first--and probably only--Japanese food magazine for Americans printed in the United States.

Only 2 years old, and with Volume 3 just hot off the press, the magazine is drawing notice from aficionados of Japanese cuisine.

Palate Pleasers, sold primarily in bookstores, specialty stores, health food stores and through mail order, reaches the entire United States, according to publisher Keishi Hirano, president of Apcon International Inc., which also publishes a directory for Japanese doing business in the United States.

“At first we thought it would hit only metropolitan cities where most of the Japanese restaurants exist, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. We have subscribers from remote cities in Idaho and Louisiana,” said Susan Sera-Hirano, Japanese-American wife of the publisher who is listed on the masthead as editorial manager.

What prompted such a magazine? Was Hirano a visionary, a social philosopher?

Actually, the answer is far more practical.

It’s estimated that there are 2,500 Japanese restaurants in the United States, a whopping increase from the handful of mom-and-pop stores emanating from a broken wartime culture after World War II. Within a decade, the rise in Japanese restaurants in California has been coincidental, not only with the revolutionary rise in food mania that has taken over most affluent societies around the world, including Japan, but also with the latest wave of well-to-do Japanese immigrants to our shores.

Today’s Japanese restaurants bear an aura of elitism, and one can guess, if not really know for sure, that many of today’s operators are big business conglomerates with merchandising know-how, money and stamina to brave the transplant. Nor is the restaurant fare found these days (especially in California) limited to the westernized sukiyaki and tempura of the old Japanese restaurant haunts.

Today’s Japanese restaurants are introducing Americans to much the same fare as is found in affluent modern Japan--everything from familiar sushi, okonomiyaku (pancakes), kushikatsu and yakitori (kebabs) and ramen (Chinese noodles) to less familiar gourmet kappo specialties (appetizers) prepared in the ancient Kaiseki culinary style, which has lately made its appearance in top-quality restaurants here.

Enter Palate Pleasers of Japan to translate Japanese food culture and report Japanese culinary trends to Americans, who may, thinks Sera-Hirano, need some help along those lines.

“After visiting many Japanese restaurants and watching Americans dine on the Japanese cuisine, we realized that Americans are not at all familiar with the true way of enjoying the cuisine,” Sera-Hirano said.

What you get from Palate Pleasers of Japan is a palate-pleasing approach to educating Americans on Japanese cuisine with food lore, glossaries, sketches and how-to recipe stories using Western models to drive the point home.

Common to all issues, however, are listings of restaurants both here and in Japan, with reviews of selected restaurants, which the Hiranos regard as an extension of their business directory.

This is how Palate Pleasers of Japan stacks up so far.

Vol. 1 in 1985 set the mood and intent of the magazine with an introduction of the staple foods of Japan--seafood, meat, vegetables, pickles, dried foods, seafood and soups. Seasonings, such as miso, rice and sauces are explained, and a rationale for the healthful approach to cuisine revealed. The traditional dishes that have been already introduced to the West, such agemono, sunomono, yakimono, nabemono and sushi are covered. In a primer on sushi, the reader is not only given the origins, but the history of the development of sushi bars in the United States.

“Even in 1975 there were only about 300 sushi houses to be found in the entire United states. By 1980 the number had zoomed to more than 1,500,” an article stated.

The articles give a run-down of types of sushi, how it is prepared, and where, on both coasts, to find the best sushi. And true to focus, there is a listing of Japanese restaurants in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, San Francisco Bay area, San Diego and Hawaii.

It was a good start, and the second issue in 1986 had more to say about Japanese vegetables, but this time, the vegetables were accompanied by illustrations and definitions that are worth saving.

A story on sake is a treatise on the brew from its spiritual beginnings to its present-day pasteurization process. Tofu is explained with recipes, and a list of contemporary and traditional Japanese restaurants in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles is reviewed.

In Vol. 3/1987, there is a stunning piece by a Western art gallery owner on Utsuwa, Japan’s ancient dinnerware. In the same issue, seaweed and its uses are discussed with scholarly finesse, along with yakitori, the Japanese version of shish kebab.

The third volume, oddly, however, departs sharply with a story on sumo wrestling, which, say the publishers, introduces another aspect of Japanese culture about which Americans hear much but know little. Only time will tell if this abrupt departure from food topics is wise.

Palate Pleasers of Japan already has attempted to correct blunders commonly practiced by Americans dining on Japanese foods.

Putting soy sauce on rice is one of them. “Don’t,” says Sera-Hirano. “It’s not approved of because Japanese foods are flavored to go well with rice. It’s ignoring the overall taste of a dish and indirectly insulting the chef’s discretion.”

Avoiding Sushi Mistakes

Other faux pas commonly occur at the sushi bar. Instructions for eating sushi and avoiding “mistakes” made by Americans are delicately put. “When the rice patty is dipped in soy sauce, its flavor is spoiled and the patty tends to break up. In order to apply soy sauce to the topping only (and a saucer is essential in the case of such raw toppings as tuna, squid and shellfish), grab the sushi so that your index finger is on top. Then turn your hand over and dip only the topping into the soy sauce. Although there are always some people who prefer to eat nigiri sushi with chopsticks, it really doesn’t make much sense. Incidentally, soy sauce should never be used with any ingredient that has already been seasoned, or with the omelet topping.”

Sera-Hirano also expressed some regrets over the unpalatable habit of many Americans of filling the plate with soy sauce at sushi bar. “It doesn’t matter if you’re using a shallow plate or not. You’re not supposed to fill it to the rim. Fill it only enough to dip food lightly. Most people dab sushi with too much soy sauce as to distort the flavor of the rice and the fish,” she said.

Another sore point? Adding rice to miso soup. “It’s not a culturally acceptable thing to do in public,” Sera-Hirano said. Nor should you pour tea into rice. “Americans probably picked up the practice after having a dish called cha zuke, rice topped with condiments such as salmon, pickled plum, cod roe, nori , over which which hot tea is poured, but that’s an exception and acceptable for that particular dish only.”

Standing Chopsticks

Chopsticks are used to pick up, not to poke, foods, Sera-Hirano points out in Vol. 3. “Don’t stand chopsticks upright in a dish. It’s all right to place them on the side of your plate, or tip them on the side of the dish or lay them on a chopstick holder (hashioki), but don’t stand them inside food,” she said.

The unused end of the chopstick should be used when taking food from a common platter. “It’s considered bad manners to pass food from one chopstick to another,” Sera-Hirano said.

Reporting on trends is a goal, and future issues will cover them in detail, Sera-Hirano promises.

What’s in the offing?

Don’t be surprised if you begin hearing about izakaya restaurants, a craze currently in Japan. Izakaya have already taken a foothold in Los Angeles and will, predicts Sera-Hirano, be on the rise nationwide in time. (One such place located in Honda Plaza in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles is called Yoro-no-taki. Most such places are distinguished by large red lanterns in front.)

“Izakaya have been around for a long time in Japan, but the reason for the boom in Japan is that it has changed in personality to a sort of ‘in’ cafe bar, much as revival art does. It soon becomes a comfortable place for the young people, who would not be caught dead in those places a few years back,” Sera-Hirano said.

The izakaya are much like the kappo bars featuring artful and exquisitely expensive appetizers to go with drink ( kappo bars also seem to be increasing in numbers in Los Angeles), but they are less formal and, happily, less expensive. “These are casual, walk-in restaurants with counters where one can stop for sake and appetizers,” Sera-Hirano said.

As presentation goes, although far from competitive with American magazines, “Palate Pleasers” seems to improve with every issue. The food shots are appetizing enough, some extraordinary, if hardly consistent in style. The copy tends to lack the kind of editing which provides style and consistency to the pages, and recipes as well as topics featured in one issue may be repeated in the next. Generally, however, the issues are absorbing and informative.

And that’s a good first step.

Here are some recipes from the various volumes.

CREAMY CORN SOUP

1 (10 1/2-ounce) package tofu, drained

1 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth

1 (17-ounce) can cream-style corn

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon basil, crumbled

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine tofu and milk in blender container. Whirl on low speed until completely smooth. Set aside.

Saute onion in butter in medium saucepan until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, corn, salt, basil and pepper. Bring to boil. Slowly pour in tofu mixture, stirring until well blended. Heat through. Makes 1 quart.

YAKI-UDON

3 strips bacon

1 onion, sliced

2 cups shredded cabbage

3 packages pre-cooked udon (fat Japanese noodles)

4 to 5 tablespoons tonkatsu sauce

Pepper

Cut bacon into thin strips and fry until slightly crisp. Add onion and cabbage and stir-fry until tender. Rinse udon under hot water to soften. Add udon to stir-fry mixture. Mix in tonkatsu sauce. Sprinkle with pepper and fry until ingredients are well blended. Makes 4 servings.

Note: Tonkatsu sauce is available in Oriental counters in supermarkets or Japanese food stores.

To order Palate Pleasers magazine, send $4.95 plus $2 postage and handling per copy to APCON International Inc., 420 Boyd St. Suite 502, Los Angeles 90013.