ABSTRACT
Most Japanese cuisine is dominated by seafood, coupled with plant foods such as rice, soy, and tea that are quite familiar to people in the Western World. Two exotic §avoring herbs especially found in Japan, perilla and wasabi, are treated separately in this book. Most Japanese vegetables are variations of Chinese and Western vegetable species. For example, the “daikon,” often considered the most common of all Japanese vegetables, is a giant radish. The four plants highlighted in this chapter are decidedly unfamiliar to most English-speaking people and are among the most important vegetables of Japan. Although none is of dominating importance, collectively they well represent the special vegetable cuisine of Japan.
