Basic ingredients of Japanese cuisine: Sa-Shi-Su-Se-So

Japanese food is extremely popular and if you plan to cook some yourself, then learn about the basic ingredients of Japanese cuisine, easily remembered as "Sa Shi Su Se So" "Sa Shi Su Se So" is basically one order of Japanese letters, but in the culinary world, "Sa Shi Su Se So" stands for the basic ingredients of Japanese cuisine. In this feature, we will discuss the basic ingredients of Japanese cuisine "Sa Shi Su Se So" in detail!

“Sa” Sato（砂糖）

"Sa" stands for Sato（砂糖）which means sugar. Sugar comes first in the order as it is more dense than salt and takes longer to penetrate into the other ingredients.

“Shi” Shio（塩）

"Shi" stands for Shio（塩）which means salt. Its function is to strengthen the taste of food and is added after sugar to balance flavor. Strong penetration and high absorption of salt makes it necessary to add it earlier than other ingredients. It is also used to soak moisture from vegetables and get rid of smell in fish.

“Su” Su（酢）

"Su" stands for Su（酢）which means vinegar. Vinegar has a function to prevent food from absorbing too much salt. Further, if you add the vinegar at an earlier stage, it won't seep into vegetables due to too much moisture.

“Se” Seuyu / Shoyu（醤油）

"Se" stands for Seuyu/Shoyu（醤油）which means Japanese soy sauce. Shoyu is added at the end as its most susceptible to be affected by heat.

“So” Miso（味噌）

"So" stands for Miso （味噌）which means soybean paste. Miso is added at the end of cooking as a final touch, with the intention to enrich the taste of the cuisine. Besides "Sa Shi Su Se So", Japanese people also often use "Sake" (酒) and "Mirin" (みりん)/Sweet Sake. Sake is usually added before sugar and mirin is added last. Most sauces use at least three of the above ingredients and there are many regional variations. So are you ready to try and cook some Japanese food?

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