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Expert rues deterioration in Japanese cuisine

Japanese cuisine is undergoing a makeover — and not for the best, according to a Japanese seaweed merchant.

Jun’ichi Doi (right) giving a demonstration of making a traditional soup using kombu at the Japanese Consulate in Dubai on Saturday. — KT photo by Leslie Pableo

Junichi Doi, young president of Kombu Doi, a company that has been promoting the use of ‘kombu’ seaweed or kelp in the making of soup stock, or dashi, voiced his concerns over the “deterioration” of traditional Japanese cuisine, when he spoke with Khaleej Times in Dubai on Saturday.

“The young in Japan now eat a lot of international foods like hamburgers, and other cuisines, which is slowly causing the deterioration of authentic Japanese food. Over the years, the diet customs have changed. There is also a slight deterioration of nutritional values in the foods,” said Doi, who was in town to host a Japanese cooking workshop on Saturday at the residence of Japanese Consul-General Matsunaga Daisuke.

While bento boxes full of portions of beautifully crafted traditional food and delicious morsels of sushi have become the international symbols of Japanese food, that is not traditional Japanese cuisine, according to Doi.

Dashi forms the basis of traditional foods like Miso soup, clear broth or noodle broth.

Doi talked about the prevalence of traditional foods that are now being sold pre-packaged and often include the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG), a practice that he condemns.

“The increased use of MSG...is slowly causing the deterioration of authentic Japanese cuisine. Especially in dashi,” said Doi.

Dashi kombu — dried kelp for soup stock — is made from kelp that can reach up to a length of two metres. The kelp is harvested by using a device to see under water, called a hydroscope, to peer at the ocean floor attached to a pole which is twisted to cut off the kelp.

Doi has been travelling across the globe promoting the use of authentic kombu to make soup broth. According to Doi, Japanese culture is largely defined by flavours of umami. “Umami, a savoury flavour found in kombu kelp, is regarded as one of the five basic tastes. Previously, there were only four basic tastes, but kombu kelp possesses a taste that could not be categorised in any one of those tastes.”

Umami was discovered in Japan and came into the mainstream after the First International Symposium on umami in 1985. Kombu seaweed contains glutamic acids, which are the basis of umami. Japanese combine kombu dashi with meat, bonito fish flakes, or eggs to prepare soup stock. “The secret to great cooking lies in combining umami. However, I am against the use of processed packages of dashi, which is not authentic,” added Doi. -dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com