In my mind, Japanese Cuisine is typified by having a few ingredients, but maximizing the contrast between them: contrast of flavor, texture, and even temperature.

Take buffalo wings. Properly made buffalo wings.

You have a wonderful crispy skin contrasted with moist and beautifully soft chicken meat. The sauce is spicy and midlly sour, but is contrasted with the sweetness of the butter. Finally, you dip the piping hot wing in a cool bluecheese dipping sauce, which is both colder than the wing, and plays against the heat of the sauce.

When you look at a buffalo wing, though, you think, “It’s amazing how much I love such a simple thing.”