Yuuji/Getty Images
If you ask an indie pop fan about Japanese Breakfast, they may start spewing song titles like “Boyish,” “Be Sweet,” and other hits from the band by that name. Without the second capital letter, however, the phrase simply refers to stuff that people in Japan eat for a morning meal. As to what that might be, it varies from household to household, just like it does in the United States. Some may stick with coffee or tea, others may swing by “Makudonarudo” (McDonald’s) for an Egg McMuffin. However, according to Japanese food blogger and sauce seller Kimono Mom MOE, the two foods most often eaten at breakfast in Japan are rice and miso soup.
“There’s a saying, ‘Miso keeps the doctor away,'” she tells The Takeout. The reason, she explains, is that miso soup in the morning contains tryptophan, which the body converts into melatonin to help with sleep quality. “It also warms the body, boosts metabolism with B vitamins, and, together with carbohydrates like rice, fuels both body and brain for the day,” she says.
Miso soup is made with miso paste and any kind of broth, and might also include meat, tofu, vegetables, or leftovers. A breakfast of soup and short-grain rice may be served in several small bowls, although a plate and cup will also work. As Kimono Mom MOE says, “The most important thing is to keep it healthy, balanced, and easy to continue without stress.”
There are plenty of other Japanese breakfast foods
koalakko/Shutterstock
Morning meals in Japan aren’t always as spartan as soup and rice. “In traditional breakfasts, rice and soup are included, but to add enough protein, dishes like grilled fish, tamagoyaki, and natto are also standard,” says Kimono Mom MOE. She suggests salmon as an accompaniment to the rice and miso combo, though natto — a nutritious bowl of fermented soybean — remains a perpetually popular breakfast dish, despite the fact that its pungent odor and slimy texture make it polarizing for both Japanese people and those from other countries. (Some love the stuff, while others are disgusted.)
As Kimono Mom MOE suggests, the sweet rolled omelet known as tamagoyaki is a less challenging breakfast dish, but there’s also ogura toast, a dish that makes white bread anything but boring. It consists of toasted, buttered milk bread spread with ogura,a sweet red bean paste that’s sometimes topped with whipped cream to make it fun and festive.
Heartier eaters may enjoy the breakfast known as “ichiju sansai,” which translates to “one soup three dishes” and may be Japan’s answer to the “full English” of baked beans, bacon, and eggs. The soup is, of course, miso, while the three other foods are usually composed of some kind of fish with two vegetable sides, such as cooked, seasoned eggplant or spinach or a cold cucumber salad. In addition to these four items, there may also be embellishments like pickled daikon and the sheets of dried seaweed known as nori. And rice, of course — though rice, while an important part of a well-balanced Japanese breakfast, doesn’t usually count as one of the vegetables.
AloJapan.com