THE JESUITS IN JAPAN AND THEIR LEGACY OF TEMPURA
THE JESUITS IN JAPAN AND THEIR LEGACY OF TEMPURA
Jesuit priests Francis Xavier, Cosme de Torres and brother Juan Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan on the Feast of the Assumption, 1549. With the consent of the Daimyo, they preached on the streets of Kagoshima, using a catechism written by St Francis and translated into Japanese by their companion, Anjiro.
St Francis Xavier departed Japan in 1551 to bring the Jesuit mission to China, following which the Japanese mission fell under the leadership of Father de Torres.
The success of the Jesuits in converting large numbers of Japanese people, however, aroused much animosity on the part of the Buddhist monks. Father de Torres debated with learned members of the Buddhist community, which were recorded by Brother Fernandez, basing his arguments on reason, believing that it would be highly effective against the Japanese who were, as he said, "led by reason just as well as and even more willingly than Spaniards." He especially attacked the Buddhist belief that the foundation and origin of the world was pure nonbeing. (1)
Father de Torres was forced to leave Yamaguchi when the city was taken over by the Mori clan in 1556, which was hostile towards Christianity and who destroyed the Jesuit mission. He was offered protection by the young Daimyo Otomo Yoshishige.
In 1562, Father de Torres moved to Yokoseura where he directed negotiations on behalf of the Daimyo Omura Sumitada for the establishment of a port for foreign trade in Nagasaki on the Daimyo’s behalf. The Daimyo donated a piece of land and a house to the Jesuit mission from his own personal property. The house was used as a Jesuit residence and Father de Torres established a Christian cemetery, as well as a hospital on the donated land. This cemetery was particularly important for the mission, since Buddhist temples refused to bury Japanese Christian converts. (2)
The Jesuit missionary Luis Frois recorded many incidents that demonstrate the missionary zeal and self-sacrificing nature of Father de Torres. Father de Torres never failed to offer Holy Mass, even if he was so gravely ill that he was unable to stand and had to lean against the altar. He greeted all visitors warmly, with ‘tears of love from his eyes’. According to Frois, his ‘modesty and religious maturity suited the nature of the Japanese so much that he won profound love and respect from them’. Father de Torres was so adored by Japanese Christian converts that many of them kept locks of his hair or pieces of his old clothing as treasures.” (3)
Father de Torrès's primary concern was the education of the Christian community. He encouraged his congregation to become familiar with the Bible and promoted this by organizing pageants to educate the new converts. He was also especially concerned with the education of Christian children. He held daily catechism classes for forty to fifty children who were taught to recite prayers in Latin. Father de Torres also organized Japanese classes for them, appointing a Japanese lay brother to teach them to read and write in their native language.
TEMPURA
Another, and extremely important, legacy of the Portuguese Jesuits was Tempura. Named for the abstinence mandated by the absence of meat, the deep-frying of fish and vegetarian meals became a Japanese delicacy, particularly loved by the Jesuit Shogun Tokugawa Isyasu. The word "Tempore" (Latin for 'Time"), refers to the fasting days of Fridays, Ember Days, (ad tempora quadragesimae), or Lent.
The practice of fasting was, of course, introduced by the priests as part of Catholic practice, together with the cooking methods of deep-frying, a technique hitherto foreign to the Japanese. (4)
TEMPURA PRAWNS
INGREDIENTS
• Sunflower oil, to deep-fry
• 24 large green prawns, peeled, tails left intact, deveined
• Soy sauce, to serve
• Wasabi paste, to serve
BATTER
• 150g (1 cup) plain flour
• Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
• 250ml (1 cup) iced water
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
METHOD
• Step 1
To make the batter, sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a medium bowl. Add the water and egg and briefly whisk until just combined but still lumpy (do not overmix). Place the bowl over a large bowl filled with iced water.
• Step 2
Add enough oil to a large saucepan to reach a depth of 5cm. Heat to 190°C over medium-high heat (when the oil is ready a cube of bread will turn golden brown in 10 seconds).
• Step 3
Holding prawns by tails, dip 6 prawns, 1 at a time, into the batter to evenly coat. Shake off any excess. Add prawns to the oil and cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer prawns to a tray lined with paper towel. Repeat, in 3 more batches, with the remaining batter and prawns, reheating the oil between batches.
(1) wikipedia
(2) ibid.
(3) ibid.
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