The Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality of food, quality of ingredients and presentation.
It is based on combining staple foods, typically rice or noodles, with a soup and okazu - dishes made from fish, meat, vegetable, tofu and the like, designed to add flavor to the staple food. These are typically flavoured with dashi (type of soup stock), miso (paste used for sauces and spreads), and soy sauce, and traditionally tend to be low in fat and high in salt.
A standard Japanese meal generally consists of several different okazu accompanying a bowl of cooked white Japanese rice, a bowl of soup and some tsukemono (Japanese pickles). The most standard of meals consist of three okazu and is termed ichijū-sansai ("one soup, three sides"). Different cooking techniques are applied to each of the three okazu; they may be raw (sashimi), grilled, simmered, steamed, deep fried, vinegared, or dressed.
Sushi, a slice of raw fish or seafood on an oblong of boiled rice is a particular favorite and so is Sashimi. Other typical Japanese dishes are Tempura (deep fried vegetables and seafood in a batter), Sukiyaki (thinly sliced beef and vegetables in a pan over a brazier), yakitori (meat barbecued on a bamboo skewer) and Teppanyaki (tender beef, seafood and vegetables grilled at the table, before diners).
The famous Japanese Sake' is a rice wine that contains 15% alcohol and is made from fermented rice.
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The Korean cuisine is based on the traditional foods and preparation techniques of Korea. From the complex Korean royal court cuisine to regional specialties to modern fusion cuisine.
The ingredients and preparation are richly varied, and many dishes are becoming internationally popular.
It is based largely on rice, noodles, vegetables, meats and tofu (dubu in Korean). Traditional Korean meals are notable for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany the ubiquitous steam-cooked short-grain rice, soup, and Kimchi (fermented, spicy vegetable banchan, most commonly cabbage, radish or cucumber). Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan.
Korean food is usually seasoned with sesame oil, doenjang (fermented soybean paste), soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger and gochujang (red chili paste).
At traditional Korean restaurants, meats are cooked at the center of the table over a charcoal grill, surrounded by various banchan side dishes and individual rice bowls. The cooked meat is then cut into small pieces and wrapped with fresh lettuce leaves, with rice, thin slice of garlic, ssamjang (mixture of gochujang and dwenjang), and other seasoning.
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You may also want to read about other Asian cuisines in Singapore...
Indian cuisines
Peranakan (Nonya) cuisine
Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines
Thai and Vietnamese cuisines
