Travel-wise, our wings may be clipped but our tastebuds can still soar, and helping to set us off on fresh culinary adventures, Today with Claire Byrne began a new segment about travelling through food.
The foodie du jour was entrepreneur and founder of the 'Fused' brand Fiona Uyema, with advice about dipping our toes into Japanese-inspired food – in honour of the start of the Olympics. Uyema isn't your average Tipperary surname, so Fiona explained:
"My husband’s grandparents are Japanese – from an island down south of Japan called Okinawa [...] I met my husband when I was a student in Japan [...] he was born in Brazil but grew up in a very strong Japanese cultural environment in Brazil. "
The couple met when they were both working in Japan and while Fiona's husband, Gilmar, had a cultural connection to the country, what brought Fiona there?
"When I was in school, thinking about what I’d do in college, nothing was really standing out to me, to be a nurse or a teacher or a doctor. So, I remember thinking, I know I'm hungry to learn about different cultures and travel so I studied International Business and Japanese in DCU."
And finally, in her third year of college, Fiona headed to Japan: "I had a bit of knowledge of the culture before going there as a student, [...] but reading about it and living it were certainly two different things."
Fiona was placed with a family to help her acclimatise to life in Japan for her first three months, but even this soft transition came with its challenges: "In one way it was nice to have a family for the security but in another way, around the clock you were completely immersed into that Japanese culture."
It was this immersion that kick-started her love for Japanese food and food culture: "Breakfast was at 6am. Basically it was the leftovers from dinner the night before because in Japan leftovers are reused."
This was one of the key tenets she saw taught at home and cultivated at school too, when Fiona worked as a teacher for two years:
"[The students] all take part in making lunch. They have charts on food waste, on labels, so they really get an understanding of food and a passion for it from a very young age, which is phenomenal."
So, the Western notion (and obsession) with 'clean food’ is actually fundamental to the food culture, with seasonality, providence and a minimal amount of processed food at the core of home cooking.
And for Fiona, images of young Irish kids eating sushi with chopsticks fills her with optimism about our expanding tastes:
"There’s definitely an appetite for Japanese food and trying it. I even noticed with my own business, so many more people wanted to try something different. They were cooking more at home and they wanted to try their favourite restaurant dishes in their own kitchen... "
So, should we take the plunge and whip out the fugu and nori?
"When I'm teaching Japanese cooking to groups I always say start with something simple, because if you go straight into the most complicated sushi roll, if it's a disaster you're never going to try it again."
Fiona recommends easing yourself in with a sushi wrap – folding it into four squares and filling it with familiar flavours like cooked chicken or smoked salmon, and using whatever veggies are in the fridge.
A lot of Japanese home-cooked dishes are really delicious and actually really easy to make once you have some key ingredients in your press like soy sauce. Like, teriyaki is so easy to make at home, you can make it with just soy sauce and honey and kids love it.
Fiona and Claire also discussed the relative merits of katsu curry (a comfort-food, not for everyday consumption) and ramen (slurping is encouraged) but one fail-proof recipe Fiona recommended was her instant pot-noodle, made in a glass jar:
You have your wok-ready noodles, [...] finely chopped veg. You have a dollop of miso paste, that's your secret ingredient, that’ll give all the flavour – a Japanese-style miso paste, a really delicate light coloured one, and you can really then add what you want – peas, sweetcorn, simple ingredients.
And with so many fans of food prep, this is right up their alley – the jar can be left in the fridge for a few days and when you need it, simply add boiling water and leave it for 5 minutes and you can just top it off with some chilli, soy or whatever takes your fancy.
For anyone considering a trip to Japan in the future, Fiona has key tips to avoid any cultural faux pas; from tipping, to bowing, to chopstick protocol. And you can hear the full interview here.
