“In 1543, a Chinese ship with three Portuguese sailors on
board headed to Macau, but was swept off course and
ended up on the Japanese island of Tanegashima. Antonio
da Mota, Francisco Zeimoto and Antonio Peixoto – the first
Europeans to ever step on Japanese soil – were deemed
‘southern barbarians’ by the locals.
The Japanese were in the middle of a civil war and eventually
began trading with the Portuguese, The Portuguese remained
in Japan until 1639, when they were banished because the
ruling shogun Iemitsu believed Christianity was a threat to
Japanese society. As their ships sailed away for the last time,
the Portuguese left an indelible mark on the island: a battered
and fried green bean recipe called “Peixinhos da Horta”. Today, in Japan, it’s called tempura and has been a staple of the
country’s cuisine ever since.