Have you ever thought about or noticed what the anatomy of a Japanese meal looks like? For those who don't know anatomy, it's the structural organization, maybe you've noticed that Japanese dishes, the way they eat and the culinary art are very different from Western foods. In Brazil we simply fill our plate with food, mix it all up and eat. In Japan this is quite different, so it's worth taking a little study.
We should not generalize and say that in Brazil or in the West we simply fill our plates with food, without any aesthetics or order. In restaurants, for example, we are served with a light appetizer, then the main dish, and finally the dessert; this is an organization. Our diet is based on rice, meat, and beans, in addition to greens and vegetables. The 朝ごはん common is bread with butter and coffee, sometimes a delicious cheese bread or roll.
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The traditional Japanese meal
In Japan, things are served separately. The traditional Japanese meal is served in small bowls, separating the cooked rice from other dishes. A soup, which is usually 味噌汁, comes in a separate bowl, where we can delicately drink directly from the bowl or with a ladle. Things like fish, meat, and salad can come along with the rice or in separate bowls.
The noodles, soba and somen can be separated and pure, so they can be dipped in a sauce or mixed manually with other foods. Rice is most often the main dish. The side dishes are called okazu. The most common okazu are high in protein like grilled fish or meat.
The most common way to eat a Japanese meal is by holding the bowl in your hand and using the hashi. Occasionally, you place the rice bowl down and take a sip of soup. Dessert is not usually a tradition in Japanese meals. Most of the time, a meal ends with a cup of hot tea. Japanese people tend to eat sweets as snacks or at other times. Of course, the influence of the West has caused these customs to change; while a traditional Japanese breakfast usually includes rice and fish, nowadays many people eat bread or a simple snack.
The art of Japanese cuisine
Some think that the Japanese eat a lot of food, due to the amount of bowls, options and dishes in a meal. Others believe that the Japanese eat little precisely because the bowls are small. The Japanese usually eat the meal slowly to enjoy and do good health.
The traditional Japanese cuisine is an art, we can notice this in the way sushi is made, in the obentos prepared for students and in various Japanese inventions and dishes. This difficulty in preparing and separating Japanese foods leads thousands of Japanese people to resort to restaurants that are cheap and there are thousands of options. Many Japanese families do not wish to go through all this work and opt for quicker and cheaper options.
It's sad to imagine that if you google Japanese cuisine, you'll find loads of sushi pictures. I like to end by making it clear that Japanese cuisine is much more than sushi. The Japanese eat sushi just like the Brazilians eat pizza and hamburgers.