The importance of Japanese food is not only the taste but also the presentation. For Japanese people, enjoy food visually is as important as the taste. I must be quite spoilt in this sense and seeing one-plate-meal, especially a massive plate makes me full only by looking at it.

In Japanese cooking, there are many little tricks to make the food prettier. Making rabbits with apple is something any parents would do for their kids, even my lazy mother would make them for me.

 

She also did something like this on the pumpkins. It wasn´t so perfect like the photo which look like leaves.

 

 

 

Finding octopus sausages in the lunch box made my day.

These are very simple example of the way of cutting that anyone would do at home.

This extra work is not only for the visual effect but at the same time it makes difference in the texture and the taste of the food. And this little technic can reach some shokunin level.

 

One day I went to eat sushi with the family. It was a relatively sophisticated place, I mean not the one sushi comes on the belt conveyor.

We sat at the counter and a bamboo looking leaf was put in front of each of us. Then the sushi chef dropped a little orange flower like this photo and on this, he put a finger tip of wasabi.

This is made of carrot, that is quite thin and forms like a little cup shape. What a detail, I was impressed.

 

This is turnip pickles and it looks like a chrysanthemum flower. Imagine a bowl full of this turnip flowers.

 

 

 

Even sushi can be decorated.

This is a squid which looks like a pine tree.

 

 

 

Looking at ryouri shokunin (料理職人, master chef / great chef) cooking is amusing. This video shows us a shokunin cutting a Japanese radish. Usually after doing this, they cut in stick but finer, so fine that it feels like a cloud when you put it in the mouth.

This technic is called, Katsura-muki (桂剥き). At the end, you can roll it up again.

 

 

The same technic can be used for cutting carrots, which seems to be even more difficult.

 

 

This sushi chef is cutting cucumber decoratively. He doesn´t even look at his hands. It makes me want his knife.

 

Now at the end, ryori shokunin´s life, knife (houchou ”包丁” in Japanese). To cut sashimi or veggies, it has to be well sharpened. So this is how they sharpen houchou. Actually I´ve found quite meditating.

 

 

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