Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community
The theme of the 11th edition of Nikkei Chronicles—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community—takes a look at several questions, such as: How does the food you eat connect your Nikkei community? What kinds of Nikkei recipes have been passed down from generation to generation? What is your favorite Japanese and/or Nikkei dish?
Discover Nikkei solicited stories related to Nikkei food from May to September 2022. Voting closed on October 31, 2022. We received 15 stories (8 English; 1 Japanese; 6 Spanish; and 1 Portuguese) from Brazil, Canada, Peru, and the United States, with one submitted in multiple languages.
An editorial committee chose a favorite story in each language. In addition, a Nima-kai favorite was determined by online community voting. Here are the selections!
Editorial Committee’s Favorites
- ENGLISH:
Food for Thought—TikTok & Tamagoyaki - By Kyra Karatsu
- JAPANESE:
Intercultural Communication Through Sushi
By Keiko Fukuda - SPANISH:
Nantu, the Mochi from Uchina
By Roberto Oshiro Teruya - PORTUGUESE:
Japanese-Brazilian Food: Japanese Cuisine with a Brazilian Touch
By Meiry Mayumi Onohara
Nima-kai Favorite:
- 18 Stars
Japanese-Brazilian Food: Japanese Cuisine with a Brazilian Touch
By Meiry Mayumi Onohara
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*Logo design by Jay Horinouchi
Stories from this series
Canadian Nikkei Comfort Food
Sept. 4, 2022 • Chuck Tasaka
I previously wrote an article on Nikkei food that was uniquely Japanese Canadian: kan-ba-lando chow mein that evolved in the coal mining town of Cumberland, B.C., and Denbazuke from New Denver internment camp. Fuki is symbolic of Japanese immigration. In the late 1800’s, when poor people from rural villages came to Canada or Amerika, for some reason they brought this insignificant root that is grown on the hillside of Japan. My theory is that perhaps these villagers thought that there …
Butadofu
Aug. 26, 2022 • David Sato
I grew up in an essentially white community. My exposure to Japanese culture was limited to my parents, as my friends and community were not Japanese. Growing up in the 60’s, I was admonished to assimilate and not to be different. What did maintain my link to Japanese culture was food. Growing up, I remember my mother, Irene, cooking a lot of Japanese dishes, most from memory without measuring ingredients. She cooked many Japanese and Hawaiian dishes: tonkatsu, hot rice …
Ramen and its pioneer in Peru, 11 years later
Aug. 22, 2022 • Enrique Higa Sakuda
When Tokio Ramen restaurant opened in 2011, Japanese noodle soup was unknown in Peru. Today, eleven years later, former dekasegi Juan Carlos Tanaka estimates that more than 30 restaurants in Lima offer it. A pioneer in the spread of ramen in the Peruvian capital, the Nikkei chef observes with satisfaction its popularization in a situation marked by the blows of the pandemic and the future opening of a new establishment. While preparing his rentrée, still recovering from the impact of …
Intercultural Communication Through Sushi
July 18, 2022 • Keiko Fukuda
A Variety of Sushi Chefs As a writer based in the United States, I’ve interviewed quite a lot of sushi chefs. Some came to America after finishing their training or gaining experience in Japan, and others became sushi chefs after they came to America. Some had pride in sticking with the traditional Edo-style, and others were more free from traditions and flexible in making the sushi that their customers would request, the different style of sushi such as rolls that …
Leonardo Oyakawa: cooking his way
July 13, 2022 • Javier García Wong-Kit
When he lived in Lima, no arrow or sign indicated to him that the path to his professional future would be in the kitchen. Although he liked to make desserts, as soon as he finished school he moved to Florida, United States, and started working as a cashier at a gas station. “My first experience in the kitchen was as a waiter, when the Peruvian Nikkei chef Oscar Noborikawa invited me to see how he prepared sushi.” His skill with …
Umeshu: Drinking Past and Present
July 11, 2022 • Cody Uyeda
Every summer I drive to the local Japanese markets to look for them—the small, green ume that are only in season a couple weeks each year. Through the cool blast of air from the store’s sliding doors, I make a beeline for the produce section feeling excited and nervous, never knowing whether the ume will actually be in stock yet, or if I’ve miss-timed my arrival by a few days or a week. Sometimes the mission is a failure and …