Rice & Noodles

Rice is the most important food in the Japanese diet, and in Japan you see rice paddies nearly everywhere—even across the street from the supermarket in Shohei’s hometown! Children are weaned on thin rice gruel, and a bowl of rice accompanies nearly every meal. Donburi, a bowl of hot rice topped with meat, fish, or vegetables, came about from the old tradition of pouring leftover soup over rice to make a meal and has evolved into a wildly popular one-dish meal. Rice is so central to the Japanese table that I usually keep some warm rice in the rice cooker or cook extra batches and freeze it so I can always put together a meal quickly.