Japanese Equivalents of Filipino Favorites

CEBU, Philippines - Many people believe that Japanese and Filipino cuisines are entirely two different animals. And they think that sushi and sashimi are what Japanese cuisine is about. Not quite right. Sushi and sashimi are merely entries in Japan’s expansive culinary repertoire – and there are Japanese and Filipino dishes that bear certain similarities.

Here are a few examples of Japanese specials that many Filipinos enjoy, dishes that may be considered as the Japanese equivalents of certain Pinoy favorites.

The name translates to “one-night dried” or fish dried overnight. Ichiya Boshi is a dried fish dish that’s traditionally served for breakfast in Japan.

Prepared in different recipe variants, a basic Ichiya Boshi recipe entails marinating raw fish meat strips in a salt brine (between 40 minutes to an hour), then letting the strips dry in a nested container overnight. The strips are then grilled the next day, served with rice and a bowl of miso soup.

Given the salting and drying involved in its preparation, the dish is popularly equated as Japanese equivalent of the Philippines’ “buwad” or “tuyô”.

Teriyaki is not exactly a type of dish; the term actually refers to a Japanese cooking method.

Coined from the Japanese words “teri” (a reference to the luster or shine of the cooked sugar content) and “yaki” (referring to “broiling” or “grilling”), a teriyaki dish is typically prepared with grilled/broiled meat (either fish, chicken, pork, beef or lamb) glazed in mixture of soy sauce, mirin (a Japanese condiment) and sugar.

Believed to have been developed sometime in the seventeenth century, the sugar and soy sauce component of teriyaki variations qualify it as the Japanese equivalent of the Filipino “humba” – a sugared pork dish that is closely linked with the “adobo”.

Traditionally, Kakigori is prepared with ice shaved using handheld ice shavers, and then blended with a basic mix of flavorings and condensed milk. Contemporary variations of this popular cold dessert entail blending it with a range of ingredients like ice cream and sweetened red beans. Other variations include flavoring it with fruit-based syrups like grape, melon, cherry, sweet plum, strawberry and even green tea.

Given that it is a cold treat prepared by blending shaved ice with various ingredients, the kakigori has been equated as the Japanese equivalent of the Philippines’ ever-popular “halo-halo”. (FREEMAN)