Heian-era delicacies

Historical insights into washoku (Japanese cuisine) and the quest to re-create ancient Japanese dishes:

A group of researchers led by Takayuki Mifune, a professor at Tokyo Healthcare University, is trying to reproduce the dishes eaten by the Japanese people 1,300 years ago based on historical and archaeological evidence. One of the dishes they are working on is katsuo irori, a bonito broth boiled down into a seasoning used during the Nara Period. Bonito holds a special place in washoku as it is the source of dashi, the soup stock that brings out the umami in many dishes. However, ancient Japanese also had unhealthy diets, eating too much rice and salt. They preserved fish with salt, causing high blood pressure and other severe life-threatening conditions such as myocardial infarction, cerebral haemorrhage and kidney disease.

Mifune applies a method known as experimental archaeology, replicating how food was prepared and eaten using historical documents and historically accurate technologies. Besides the mokkan tablets that have been excavated, one source he turns to frequently is the Engishiki, a collection of texts completed in 927 that compiles the rules and procedures for implementing penal and administrative codes and supplementary laws. Comprising 50 scrolls, it's considered an excellent reference concerning all matters related to aristocratic government in the Heian Period due to its highly detailed provisions. In the Engishiki, for example, bonito appears as a tax item offered to the aristocracy, indicating its high value among the elite.

Click to expand...

Read more on the history of washoku and Prof Mifune's experimentation here: