Soshoku: Traditional Breakfast

For Sunday brunch, we made traditional Japanese breakfast:

Rice, Miso soup with Daikon raddish, Komochi Shishamo(Grilled smelt), Mentai(Spicy cod roe), Natto(Fermented soybeans) and egg.

Traditional Japanese meal is very simple, and it usually contains rice, soup and one or few side dishes.

We call this style of the meal Soshoku 粗食(Frugal food), and menu is descriped as Ichiju Issai 一汁一菜（One soup, one dish） or Ichiju Sansai 一汁三菜（One soup, three dishes) depending on the number of side dishes.

The word Soshoku originally means the meals for Buddhist monks in Zen temples, but the tradition of simple meal can be traced back to really, really long time ago.

People in Yayoi period(300 BC to AD 300) were reported to eat cooked sticky rice, soup and dried fish. Hmm, almost the same as what we had for brunch.

Soshoku is widely popular in Japan as a balanced diet which is low in fat, high in fiber, less-processed and nutrition-packed, and helps to prevent lifestyle diseases associated with eating habits.

 Also, probiotic foods such as miso, natto and pickles contains powerful bacteria beneficial for building strong immune system and maintaining better digestion.

Besides great health benefits, it is absolutely delicious. It's surprising to see how simple things can work in harmony and create such good flavors.

Enjoying Soshoku -- Simplifying our meal, decorating nicely, eating slowly to appreciate the aroma, colors and taste of each bite will give good rest to our digestive system, and probably, calmness to our minds.

I still want to explore diverse culinary culture in NYC or indulge myself with ice cream, and occasional soshoku helps me to balance my diet, overall health of my mind and body.

Gochisousama!