It’s a great please to see more and more Japanese restaurants in Australia and many thriving all over the world. Many chefs, both Japanese and non-Japanese, all around the world, are creating exciting cutting edge food that puts Japanese cuisine in the mainstream of world cuisine. It’s an even greater pleasure to see locals in Australia filling the restaurants once kept busy only by homesick Japanese tourists and businesspeople. Many Japanese ingredients, formerly regarded as strange and hard to find, are now readily available in supermarkets. Also, increasing numbers of farmers are growing Asian vegetables, which are becoming available in supermarkets.

Thirty years ago, it was beyond anyone’s wildest dreams to see packaged sushi lunch boxes on sale next to sandwiches in supermarkets. Things have now changed so much. However, compared to more ‘established’ Asian cuisines such as Chinese and Indian, Japanese food is still a relatively new arrival and is yet to make a home in most Western home kitchens. Japanese food to many people is still shrouded in mystery and see as a difficult style of cooking. It is a simple fact that restaurant chefs and home cooks are catering for two different audiences – chefs are expected to excel, they are trained, have access to well-equipped kitchens with staff and a wide range of ingredients; home cooks aim to nourish their family and friends and keep them well fed, happy and healthy.

As palates become more adventurous and sophisticated, informed diners are seeking food that is not only tasty but also healthy. They want food that is low-fat, low-cholesterol, less dependent on meat and dairy products and more on vegetables and fish. In fact, the Japanese way of eating is exactly how modern Westerners are trying to eat today.

It is well know that Japanese women and men have the longest life expectancy in the world. Japan has the lowest incidence of heart-related disease among developed nations. Obesity is almost unheard of yet (‘yet’ because Japanese eating habits are changing rapidly), and with the exception of sumo wrestlers, it is hard to spot a fat person. Although the evidence is still tentative, there is a number of research findings that link the low incidence of menopausal symptoms among Japanese women with a soy protein-based diet. Breast cancer is also rare. It is not recommended to radically change your diet to Japanese food alone, but it might be good to explore the Japanese way of cooking and eating because it is delicious, healthy and surprisingly easy.