From Japan, with love

With special menus and street food festivals, the Japanese Food Season seeks to debunk myths that the country's cuisine is more than just sushi

Tender slices of sashimi, crisp fried tempura and silky Miso soup - these are just some of the signature Japanese dishes that will be served in eateries across Delhi and Mumbai in the coming months. This epicurean initiative, to last till February 2014, is part of the Japanese Food Season that has been organised by Ambassador of Japan to India Takeshi Yagi and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Government of Japan.

Oishii Japan is the first among the many culinary events that await gourmets in the two cosmopolitan cities. Through tie-ups with popular restaurants, malls and plush retail stores, the festival aims at exposing Indians to the delicate flavours of Japanese food. According to Yagi, cooking in Japan is nothing short of an art form. Preparing an elaborate Japanese meal involves choosing from the finest ingredients and creating versatile dishes. "Oishii in Japanese means delicious, just like swadisht in Hindi," he says.

In fact, Yagi believes that Japanese flavours can be mixed and matched with local ingredients to suit Indian palates. It is with this view that MAFF has come up with a cooking contest that encourages participants to create their own interpretations of a signature Japanese dish, while using at least one of the ingredients mentioned in the terms and conditions.

In the past, people who have wished to whip up Japanese dishes in their kitchens have had to scour high and low for ingredients. Thanks to this festival, high-quality ingredients like udon noodles, barley grains, sweet soy sauce and kinako flour will now be available at popular stores like Godrej Nature's Basket and Reliance Fresh in Delhi and Mumbai.

Five restaurants in Delhi and six in Mumbai have started offering a special Oishii menu for three weeks. So you will find special menus at eateries like Asia 7, Guppy by Ai, Izakaya, Megu and Sakae Sushi. Megu, the award-winning restaurant at the Leela Palace, New Delhi, will also serve an à la carte menu featuring select dishes like the katsudon or pork and chicken in a soy broth and kasien chirashi, an assortment of sashimi and rice. The other four restaurants in Delhi offer a six-course set meal, starting with a signature miso soup and ending with delicacies like green tea and wasabi ice-creams.

The festival also chooses to bust myths that Japanese food is only about raw fish. To further highlight the versatility of the cuisines, especially its vegetarian delights, each participating restaurant will offer fare laden with tomatoes, asparagus and tofu.

The other misconception about Japanese food is that it is steeply priced because of its expensive ingredients and thus, less popular. Hakuei Kosato, managing director of La Ditta - a consultancy headquartered in Tokyo - is of the belief that this will be tackled with the reasonably-priced set menus. He also adds that locally sourced ingredients can work well while they remain easy on the pocket. Added to this, the food season will also host "Washoku by Oishii Japan", a street food festival in January 2014, bringing Japanese food out of the fancy interiors of fine-dine restaurants.