Oishinbo 1: Japanese Cuisine
Posted: January 19, 2009 Filed under: Oishinbo 7 Comments »I’m only popping in briefly tonight to post this, which I probably should have posted a couple days ago. I’ll have more stuff tomorrow.
I should probably get this out of the way: I lack any sort of refined palate. Most people would either cry or slap me silly if I told them what I’ve eaten over the past week. Or month. Or year. This type of series is totally lost on me because I cannot appreciate the nuances and delicacies that are discussed at length. I don’t think I’ve ever even had sashimi, which is a focus in many of the stories. Most people who buy this are going to be reading it to learn how Japanese cuisine is prepared and/or composed, and how what they eat may differ from what things are supposed to taste like. I have no such frame of reference, so I’m just going to talk about what I enjoyed while I was reading it. It did make me hungry, for what it’s worth.
The format for the series seems to be that each volume has a different theme, which is an excellent way to present it, because quite frankly, 100 volumes of this would be extremely tedious. The stories are all taken from different points of the series, I gather, and the theme of this volume is “Japanese Cuisine,” or the basics of cooking Japanese food. “Japanese Cuisine” seems like a really broad topic for a series that I thought was all about Japanese Cuisine, but it makes more sense when you realize the next volume will cover only drinks, and I assume future volumes will cover more complex things.
There are quite a number of chapters that talk about sashimi. My favorites were the chapters that focused on the very, very basics. For instance, one chapter is about the importance of properly handling a knife (which is demonstrated in the end with how to properly cut sashimi). One chapter discusses only very basic miso and rice, and discusses how the care that goes into making it makes a difference in the flavor. Another discusses how one can enjoy a simple dish like properly served tea over the most luxurious dishes money can buy. A few go into detail on the types of plates and pottery the food is served on (two of the reoccurring characters are ceramicists). My favorite chapter discusses chopsticks at length, discussing the different materials and their affects on the flavor of food, and also shows in detail how wooden chopsticks are made, step by step. I’ve never seen anything like it.
The characters and plot are entirely secondary to theme of the food. The recurring characters are little more than brief sketches of personalities, and there is never very much more than a basic set-up for each of the chapters. That being said, I was surprised by the number of scenarios in the volume. Most have to do with meeting people, but there is even variety in that. The only two really important plot points are that the characters are all researching and/or involved with a newspaper column about the ultimate menu, and that the main character and his father hate each other’s guts and often run into each other at important culinary functions. The main character is a little bit of a jerk… not Jan Akiyama-level, but enough of a jerk that he stirs things up for the purposes of the chefs going into further detail about what is being prepared in order to explain themselves.
And there is an insane level of detail given on whatever is being prepared in each chapter. Iron Wok Jan is my only real frame of reference for detailed manga food preperation, but it just doesn’t compare to this at all. What tastes good together and why, how preparing the same dish two slightly different ways can produce a huge difference in flavor, and even things like etiquette are discussed at length.
Like I said, I have zero expertise and no frame of reference for the actual content of this manga. I read it because I was very curious about the borderline nonfiction nature, plus I’m always ready to try out a series like this, which is specifically to adults and perhaps even a non-manga audience. I had no interest whatsoever in the subject matter when I first started reading it, but I’m acutally curious to see how the drink stories are handled next volume. Knowing next to nothing about cooking has made me more curious, I think, because I can’t imagine the types of things that will be discussed. And… well, I also can’t imagine what other volumes will cover. I’m interested in it mostly as a novelty, but it is certainly on a different level from most any other manga series you can buy. If you have any interest in food or cooking whatsoever, it’s definitely worth reading.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Wow. I want to read this, or at least this volume. In the past year, I’ve been doing a lot more cooking, and do have an appreciation for how different flavors and textures can attain a sublime balance (um, not that I always reach that balance, but it is a worthy goal). Of course, I could probably only use select volumes of this. I wonder if the ‘drinks’ means alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, or both.
Speaking of Japanese food, have you ever tried natto? It’s the Japanees food which Westerners hate. Except me. And personally, the fact that most of my compatriots hate it makes it that much awesome. Alas, I cannot find any natto which does not have stupid bonito powder in it, and unfortunately I don’t know how to make my own, bonito-free natto…
It sounds like you’ll definitely get more use out of this than me. Balancing dishes is actually discussed at length, sometimes with obscene and scientific detail. My favorite explanation for subtle differences in flavors between sashimi was one where they talked about knife technique and how slicing the fish different ways made the cells to react differently, causing the flavor to break down or water to enter the cells and affect the flavor of the fish. It’s possible that tidbits like that are common knowledge, and I liked them because I’d never heard such things before, but the book is full of details like that. And it’s a very nice book. I forgot to mention this, but there’s actually a few color pages in the front with food photography and everything that talk about how to prepare two of the recipes from the book. I think the “drinks” volume covers mostly alcohol, but sounded like there might be a couple chapters that cover other things. I’ll have to get the exact description when I go home this evening.
I’ve never tried natto, actually. I’ve never had the opportunity, and I’d hate to try and prepare it myself for a first time taste. The texture and appearance do put me off a little bit whenever I see photos of it, but I’d still try it. It seems to be one of those foods that you either love or hate. Thanks to this book, I now know that bonito flakes are common elements in certain types of broth stock, but I didn’t know that you could mix things like that in natto. I thought natto was just… plain, I guess.
Ah, that’s too bad about the drinks. Not only am I underage, but I don’t like alcohol anyway, so I have no interest in the second volume. Still, I think I’ll try to get this first volume.
Yeah, I just read the second volume preview, it sounds like it’s mostly alcohol. I am curious as to some of the other subjects will be, though. I kind of wonder if they’ll go with specific types of dishes or different groups of food.
[...] recent reviews of vol. 9 of +Anima, vols. 1, 2 and 3 of I Shall Never Return, vol. 5 of Human Club, vol. 1 of Oishinbo: Japanese Cuisine, Wanted, vol. 6 of My Heavenly Hockey Club, vol. 26 of Detective Conan, and vol. 12 of Let Dai. [...]
Well, I bought this today. I’ve only read the first two stories, and I love it already.
I was worried about the emphasis on fish because, well, I don’t eat fish. However, while I refuse to eat it, I can still get pleasure from reading about seafood (which is not the case for other things). It helps that the fish-cutting action is pretty cool. Perhaps it’s because it adds a kick, however small, of violence to the story?
The stories just really hit the spot for me. What can I say?
It reminds me of the manga I read in “Bringing Home the Sushi”, which is actually about business rather than food. The tone, however, is similar. I really wish more of this type of manga (particularly business manga) got published over here. I know the UC Berkeley library has the bilingual edition of Kosaku Shima … some day, when I have a lot of time, I am going to have to go there and read it.
I thought about reading “Bringing Home the Sushi,” but I was so put off by the one volume of the Project X series that I read that I don’t know if I could do another business book. Though reading about 7-11 has always secretly sounded interesting.
But yeah, I liked Oishinbo despite not having any knowledge or particular fondness for Japanese food. It is kind of fascinating to watch them prepare the meals so intently. And the knife action is pretty satisfying.