The Japanese alphabet is made up of a series of consonants, following by vowels. For example, the way to express the ‘s’ characters is sa, shi, su, se, so. This is the third line of the 51 Japanese syllables, and it also happens to relate to the seasonings used in Japanese cooking, which are applied to dishes when cooking in an exact order, and are based on scientifically proven logic. The principle is that bigger particles, such as those of sugar, cannot penetrate foods when obstructed by smaller particles, such as those of salt. So the following seasonings should always be used in the correct sequence.

Sa stands for sato, which is sugar and sake. Sugar is widely used in marinades and sauces. Sake is used to soften an ingredient or to rid it of odours.

Shi stands for shio, which is salt. If salt is applied too early, it tightens the cell structure of an ingredient and makes it more difficult to cook, so it must be added at the correct time.

Su stands for the same sounding word su, which is vinegar. Vinegar evaporates when heated and loses its flavour, so it is vital that it is not added at too early or too late a stage of cooking.

Se stands for seuyu or shoyu, which is soy sauce. Soy sauce is one of the most important seasoning ingredients of Japanese cuisine. It is added near the end of cooking and is also used for dipping to preserve its unique taste, flavour and aroma.

So stands for miso. Like soy sauce, miso is used to impart added flavour to many dishes.

If all these sound difficult and strange concepts to grasp, there is no need to be disheartened, because even most young Japanese today would struggle to articulate the washoku philosophy, let alone describe the set of five principles. Perhaps modern Japanese don’t discuss the guidelines for preparing a nutritiously well-balanced, aesthetically pleasing meal, yet when it comes to choosing items from a restaurant menu, selecting ready-prepared food from a deli or buying prepared food from a supermarket to take home, most Japanese people, by instinct, employ the five principles to achieve a culinary harmony. It seems to be in their blood.

Selecting ingredients at their best, buying locally available food from both the land and the sea, engaging all the five senses, using a collage of colours, using different methods of cooking, the presenting and serving – the washoku approach to cooking provides the opportunity to be creative in every sense, to satisfy your own aesthetic yearnings while providing nourishment and sensory pleasure to family and friends.