Breakfast is one of the basic Japanese meals. Japanese cuisine is known to be one of the healthiest in the world as the Japanese put great emphasis on the quality of their food and the products they use to prepare it. Japanese breakfast, just like other meals, is a combination of balanced tastes. It is also filling, giving you the strength for the rest of the day.
Japanese breakfasts consist of several dishes. They are usually based on rice, accompanied by several distinct additions (e.g. pickled plums, i.e. umeboshi). There is always one hot dish (e.g. miso). Every dish is served in a separate bowl, which is placed on a special breakfast tray. Meals are always eaten with traditional Japanese chopsticks (in restaurants and hotels cutlery can be served as well). Additions to hot dishes include: umeboshi, natto (fermented soybeans) and marinated vegetables, which are often served in sour seasoning. Fruit, noodles and salads are also present on Japanese tables. The food is accompanied by cold green tea.
Natto, that is fermented soybeans, is a popular component of Japanese breakfasts. Its taste is very distinctive, rarely appreciated by tourists. The characteristic, intensive smell and the chewy and viscous consistency are not particularly aesthetic. Still, the dish is tremendously popular with the Japanese. In the past, the opinions in this respect used to be divided: the Kanto community enjoyed natto, while the Kansai did not like it. Due to its nutritional values, fermented soybean is served increasingly often.
Another Japanese breakfast dish is Tamagoyaki – a rolled egg omelette with soy sauce, an alternative to the Western and European scrambled eggs. Ikanago, that is small sweet dried fish, is another addition to a Japanese breakfast. The Japanese eat it together with head, eyes and the crunchy skeleton.
The Japanese value quantity. In addition to the dishes listed above, there are also small bowls that contain smoked eel or udon served cold. A Japanese breakfast often resembles a European dinner – it is very filling and incredibly nutritious. Japanese cuisine is considered to be among the healthiest in the world so perhaps we should use it as an example and a source of breakfast inspirations.