Japanese Chinese cuisine

Japanese reinterpretation of Chinese culinary traditions

Japanese Chinese cuisine, also known as chūka, represents a unique fusion of Japanese and Chinese culinary traditions that have evolved over the late 19th century and more recent times. This style, served predominantly by Chinese restaurants in Japan, stands distinct from the "authentic Chinese food" found in areas such as Yokohama Chinatown. Despite this difference, the cuisine retains strong influences from various Chinese culinary styles, as seen in the shippoku cooking style. A significant number of these dishes were introduced to Japan either by Chinese immigrants or Japanese soldiers returning from the invasion and colonization of China, creating a unique gastronomic landscape that reinterprets Chinese cuisine through a Japanese lens. This style of cuisine has found its expression in three main types of restaurants: ramen restaurants, dim sum houses, and standard Chinese style restaurants. The resulting adaptations span various regional Chinese cooking styles and techniques, from Sichuan's spicy stir fries to Zhejiang's slow cooked stews, contributing to the rich and diverse character of chūka.

Chūka (中華) is the adjective for Japanese style "Chinese" dishes, or the restaurants in Japan which serve them. Chuka dishes originated in China, but have become modified over the years to suit Japanese taste, often with Japanese or even Western foods. Japanese cooking styles have been added, such as in the case of miso ramen. In other cases, only the noodles are "Chinese", as in the case of hiyashi chūka, which was invented in Sendai in 1937, and uses Western food influences such as sliced cured ham. As meat (other than fish) was not common in Japanese cooking until recently, many meat dishes, particularly pork dishes, are of Chinese origin or influence. Though formerly Chinese cuisine would have been primarily available in Chinatowns such as those in port cities of Kobe, Nagasaki, or Yokohama, and a number of the dishes are considered meibutsu (regional specialties) of these cities, Japanese style Chinese cuisine is now commonly available all over Japan. As Japanese restaurants are often specialized to offer only one sort of dish, cuisine is focused primarily on dishes found within three distinct types of restaurants: ramen restaurants, dim sum houses, and standard Chinese style restaurants.

Ramen, a dish of noodles in broth, usually with meat and vegetable toppings, is occasionally referred to as chuka soba (中華そば, lit. "Chinese noodles.") In Japan, ramen is one of the most popular fast food options. Though every Japanese city has numerous inexpensive ramen restaurants specializing in these noodles, numerous varieties of instant ramen (much like the Japanese equivalent of the frozen TV dinner) are available. The ramen primarily derives from the noodle soups of noodles in Cantonese cuisine but these noodles have changed much since their origin in China. Four main types of ramen are widely available in Japan: shio ("salt"), shōyu ("soy sauce"), tonkotsu ("pork bone") and miso ("soybean paste"). While the toppings used in ramen are generalized based on the broth type, this can vary from shop to shop. As complements to the noodles, ramen restaurants also commonly offer Japanese style fried rice and gyoza (pan fried dumplings).

Dim sum (点心 tenshin or 飲茶 yamucha in Japanese) in Japan is often very different from that which has been popularized in Chinatowns in the United States and Canada. In Japan's Chinatown areas, restaurants in which numerous dishes are brought around to diners’ tables on carts do exist. But, in general, dim sum items have only recently begun to gain popularity around Japan. Instead of carrying full menus of authentic, Chinese oriented items such as stewed chicken feet or tripe, Japanese dim sum restaurants, now found in larger cities such as Osaka and Tokyo, seem to promote a cafe like atmosphere. At these cafes, tea and snacks often become the focus, instead of full meals. In general, the menus seem to focus on cafe items, such as shumai (燒賣, minced pork or shrimp dumplings), sho lon po (小籠包, steamed dumplings with juicy meat inside) and the like. These are usually served alongside of pots of oolong or jasmine tea.