Obanzai: The Frugal Wisdom of Kyoto's Home Cooking

Overview

Obanzai are the frugal side dishes that grace dinner tables daily in Kyoto - the home of washoku, or Japanese cuisine. Cooked to make the staple dish of rice taste delicious, they use only simple ingredients. The wisdom in the preparation is eco-friendly; scraps are reused, none are discarded. The menu handed down in the Sugimoto clan for more than 200 years embodies the spirit of obanzai. Washoku was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013, and obanzai is in the spotlight.