Japanese are made from…
What is a commonality in them?
Yeah, they are Japanese food product, and then….
They are made from “soybeans”!!
(1) Soy sauce: “しょうゆ, 醤油, Shoyu”. As you know, it’s a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans.
(2) Miso: “みそ, 味噌” The precursor for soy sauce, is also a fermented Japanese food product of soybeans. It’s used in foods such as miso soup.
(3) Tofu: “とうふ, 豆腐” It’s a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks.
(4) Abura-age; “あぶらあげ, 油あげ”: Fried bean curd, It is produced by cutting tofu into thin slices and deep frying it.
(5) Natto: “なっとう, 納豆” A weird food in Japan ;) fermented soybeans. Please read the article, “Welcome to sticky food world!” for more details ;)
“Edamame” that everyone in the world loves is “soybeans” as well. (“Edamame” （えだまめ） is superb!!” for more details.) And we take bean sprouts called “Moyashi” as well.
“Soybeans” is called “daizu”（大豆, だいず）in Japan.
Soybeans contain many kinds of nutrients, such as protein, and soybean products are said healthy foods. Natto and miso are said to prevent cancer.
Food products made from soybeans are necessaries of life for us. I think it’s one of the reasons that Japan has the highest average life expectancy in the world. Female and man’s average in Japan is 82.9 years old! (2009 from WHO)
We Japanese dine on tofu, natto, fried bean curd in miso soup, tofu hamburger, and soy sauce.
Japanese are made from Soybeans, right?