History of Yoshoku, the Japanese Version of Western Food
Katsu, katsu, and more katsu
Sushi and udon are popular Japanese dishes, but have you ever eaten Napolitan spaghetti (spaghetti rinsed in cold water and stir-fried with vegetables in ketchup) or menchi katsu (deep-fried breaded hamburger) at a Japanese restaurant? The New York Times profiles yoshoku cuisine, the Japanese take on Western food that originated in the mid-1850s and has since become an integral part of Japanese cuisine. Besides ketchup-ed spaghetti and deep-fried hamburger, yoshoku cuisine includes curry (thick and stew-like), omu rice (an omelet stuffed with ketchup-flavored rice), and tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet).
