The cuisine of Japan.

Japanese cooking lives on balance: clear broths, a few well-chosen ingredients and great care with the doneness of each thing. From the ramen bar that opens in the small hours to the gyoza counter on a Tokyo street corner, the dish of the day usually fits in a single bowl.

For those who cook in Brazil, the good news is that much of the pantry is already at home: soy sauce, ginger, scallions, rice and eggs. What is missing, like mirin and gyoza wrappers, has a simple supermarket swap. And Brazil is home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan, which makes oriental ingredients easy to find, especially in São Paulo and Paraná.