Beside anime and manga, Japan also exported their food to the world. For example, Lawson and Family Mart is now got franchised all over the world and serving Japanese konbini food. And as you know, Japan have four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Each are different and so does the food.
When it comes to spring, of course people will talk about Hanami. But what do people eat when viewing Sakura? And what are Japan Spring's seasonal dishes?
Hanami and Food
Before we talk about the food, what is 'Hanami' by the way?
Hanami is a Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers. Flowers here refers to Sakura or Cherry Blossoms. Sakura bloom all over Japan from the end of March to early May. Sakura in full bloom only last for around two weeks. So hanami is a special occasion where people gathering in a park for picnic under the cherry blossom tree.
What do people bring and eat to hanami in Japan?
Onigiri: A staple in the Japanese diet, onigiri are tightly packed rice balls that travel easily. Some are plain or lightly salted, while others have a savory filling; pickled plums, cooked salmon pieces and tuna with mayonnaise are common fillings. Onigiri are usually white , but some will dye the rice pink in honor of the sakura trees.
Bento: Some people don’t have time to prepare hanami food at home, so they purchase lunch boxes known as bentos. Bentos are available year-round at department and convenience stores, but during April, stores will sell special hanami bentos featuring colorful, seasonal food like sakura mochi, pink onigiri and red bean treats.
Miso: Miso, or soybean paste, is another staple found in Japanese cuisine. A picnic might be accompanied by cups of miso soup. Miso comes in either white or red variations, and both colors are utilized to celebrate the hanami holiday.
Meat and Vegetables: families often bring grilled or fried dishes to the picnic, such as karaage and seasonal spring vegetables tempura, or yakiniku. People can also buy food from street vendors near the park if available.
Colorful Side Dishes: People usually bring various Wagashi (Japanese desserts) made from anko (red bean paste), dango, or mochi (Japanese rice cake). There are also seasonal desserts such as sakura mochi and other varieties.
For the drinks, people usually bring sake, beer, or soft drinks.
Spring's Seasonal Dishes
Springtime in Japan lasts from February through April, and is the most popular time for seasonal decorations, foods and other cultural-type things. Spring is extremely important, representing birth, growth, new starts, freshness, emerging from the darkness of winter.
During spring, the overall taste, appearance and selections of ingredients focus on items that are new, young, simple, and extremely fresh. Throughout the desolation of winter, fresh ingredients are definitely something to look forward to. Sprouts, plant buds, young vegetables and fish all bear a light, sweet, or slightly bitter taste to bring the taste-buds back from the perceived slump of the long, cold months
Here are some of Spring's seasonal dishes:
Sakura flavored dish
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| Sakura Mochi |
Since spring in Japan is about sakura, there are many dishes usually sweets using sakura as a seasonal flavor. A simple example is sakura mochi. This type of mochi is using sakura leaves as it's cover, and the mochi is dyed with pink color.
Famous food products such as Haagen Dazs, Kit Kat, and Starbucks also have Sakura flavored foods and drinks. Western desserts such as macaron and baumkuchen are also mixed with Sakura flavor. These Sakura sweets are popular as souvenirs in Spring season.
Pickles, Salad, and Stir-fry
Since Spring is the time where many new vegetables grow, Japanese people usually make them into pickles or salad. Pickled daikon, umeboshi, turnip, cucumber, and winter cabbage are among the favorites to be eaten with rice.
Spring cabbage are usually made into salad or stir fry. Salad and stir fry are usually made with seasonal vegetables.
Hinachirashi
It's a kind of chirashizushi (scattered sushi) which can be served for Hina Matsuri (Japanese Girl's Day celebration) on March 3rd. This kind of chirashizushi use many colorful toppings to make appealing to kids. Chirashizushi is known as scattered sushi and is served on plates or bowls with colorful toppings. It's often cooked for celebrating special occasions
Conclusion
Based on what I've read, Spring dishes are made with seasonal ingredients such as seasonal vegetables and fish. The food are usual, but the seasonal ingredients make it different from what the usual taste is. There are also festive food such as Hinachirashi which is served in Hina Matsuri.
Sakura flavored dishes are also popular when it comes to Spring. Many sweets in Japan have sakura flavor. Even Western sweets like baumkuchen and macaron also got their sakura flavor.
Seasons and trends are some decisions that made people to eat certain food. The image of the season is also one of the reason. Because the image of spring in Japan is Sakura and Hanami, no wonder why there is a trend of Sakura flavored dishes.
This is an interesting matter to discuss. I would love to search further about this matter but for now I'm short of sources in English or Bahasa Indonesia. Please do contact me if you have some reliable resources of information about this matter ^^
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