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In Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese language, Japanese: ) is based on rice with m ...
, , often shortened to ''robata'' (ろばた in hiragana
is a Japanese language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''.
It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...
), refers to a method of cooking, similar to barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
, in which items of food are cooked at varying speeds over hot charcoal. Many Japanese restaurants, both in Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and abroad, specialize in this style of food preparation.
Traditionally, the food consists of a combination of morsels of seafood and vegetable
Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...
s, but other kinds of food that are suitable for grilling may also be offered. The robata cooking style is different from other Japanese charcoal cooking in that it uses a wide, flat open fireplace in the style of an irori, rather than a shichirin or other type of charcoal cooking implement.
History
''Robata'' originates from a centuries-old country style of cooking by northern Japanese fishermen around a communal hearth () that serves as a cooking area and a source of heat, found on the northernmost island of Japan,Hokkaido
is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...
. The fishermen needed a way to cook on the boats, so they encased binchōtan coals in a stone box to protect the boat from the intense heat. After a government campaign depicting Hokkaido as an idyllic rustic area, this style of cooking became popular all over Japan. The first ''robata'' restaurant (named "Robata") opened in Sendai
is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan.
...
, Miyagi Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...
. Proving a successful formula, soon more ''robata'' restaurants followed, starting in Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
. As of 1965, there were more than 10,000 such restaurants across the country.
In the fishing village of Kushiro on Hokkaido, many restaurants specialize in this style of cuisine. The Fuki-ya restaurant once owned by Junko and Richard K. Diran in the Japan Center (San Francisco) is said to have been the first robatayaki restaurant in the United States.
Cultural connotations
While the setup varies, a common arrangement has the grill in a central position, whether as a hearth in a sandpit as for the traditional ''irori'', or on a raised dais, around which the customers are seated. In Japan, where the ''robata'' restaurant is often also a male-dominated drinking establishment ('' izakaya''), this evokes a highly prized nostalgic feeling among the clientele.See also
* Teppanyaki, another style of grilling in Japanese cuisine using a hot iron surface * KushiyakiReferences
{{reflist Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine terms Japanese restaurants Cooking techniques