20 Dishes You Must Try When You Come to Japan

Japanese food is now attracting attention around the world.

Many foreigners who travel to Japan come mainly for the food.

Japanese food is characterized by the use of seasonal ingredients, an emphasis on soup stock, and a variety of cooking methods.

Each region has its own unique food culture.

Here are 20 typical Japanese dishes that you should try when you come to Japan.

Sushi

It is probably the most famous food in Japanese cuisine.

Sushi is a combination of vinegared rice and seafood or other ingredients. In Japan, raw fish is the most common type of fish used.

There are many varieties of sushi, including nigirizushi, makizushi, and chirashizushi.

The taste of sushi is different whether you eat it at a restaurant, buy it at a supermarket, or make it at home.

If you have come all the way to Japan, you should try sushi made by a sushi chef at a restaurant.

---

Tempura

Tempura is a Japanese dish consisting of ingredients such as seafood, vegetables, and wild vegetables, coated in a flour-based batter and deep-fried in oil. Tempura is usually eaten with tempura sauce or salt to taste.

Tempura sauce is made from a base of soy sauce, mirin (sweet cooking rice wine), and dashi broth.

There are various types of tempura, but the most common are shrimp, squid, sweet potato, eggplant, pumpkin, carrot, onion, shiitake mushroom, and Shishito (green pepper).

---

Soba (buckwheat noodles)

Soba are noodles made by kneading ground buckwheat flour with water, forming it into long, thin strips, and boiling it. Soba is a highly nutritious food containing carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals. In particular, it contains more protein than wheat-flour noodles.

Soba noodles are eaten in a variety of ways, but the most common ways are to eat cold soba noodles dipped in soba-tsuyu (buckwheat sauce) or to eat soba noodles with warm soba-tsuyu (buckwheat sauce).

---

Takoyaki

Takoyaki is a food that originated in Osaka, Japan.

It is a Japanese flour-based dish with ingredients such as octopus and other ingredients in a dough, baked into a spherical shape, and is often eaten as a snack rather than as a meal. Takoyaki is rarely eaten in restaurants, and is best eaten freshly cooked at takoyaki specialty shop in the streets of Japan.

---

Yakitori

Yakitori is a dish of grilled chicken meat on skewers. Standard yakitori include chicken thigh, chicken breast, chicken skin, gizzard, hatsu (heart), and liver.

Yakitori is usually eaten as it is skewered. You can choose to grill it with salt or sauce.

Prices are inexpensive, ranging from 100 yen to around 200 yen per skewer.

---

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish consisting of beef and vegetables stewed in a sweet and spicy sauce. It is cooked in an iron pot and served with a beaten raw egg.

The flavor of sukiyaki depends greatly on the quality of the beef. The more marbled the meat, the tastier it will be.

Sukiyaki restaurants are all reasonably expensive. Therefore, many Japanese cook and eat sukiyaki at home.

---

Miso soup

Miso soup is one of the soups in Japanese cuisine, consisting of vegetables, tofu, bran, seafood, and other foods in a broth seasoned with miso. It is rare to drink miso soup by itself, it is served as a side dish with rice.

When you go to a Teishoku restaurant in Japan, miso soup is often served as a set meal.

★ Teishoku is one of the meal forms served at a diner or restaurant, and refers to a set menu consisting of a main meal, main dishes, side dishes, and soup.

---

Eels (Unagi)

Eels are broiled and eaten with white rice. Kabayaki is grilled eel skewered and coated with sweet soy sauce sauce.

Eels are expensive, so it is not a dish that is eaten that often.

There are many restaurants specializing in eels, so the best way to enjoy eels is to eat them there.

---

---

Wagyu

Wagyu refers to the four breeds of Japanese beef raised in Japan: black, brown, hornless, and Japanese shorthorn, as well as hybrids of these breeds, and is the pride of Japan’s premium food products. It is very popular all over the world for its good balance of fat and lean meat, tenderness, and beautiful marbling. It is served as steak, grilled meat, shabu-shabu, sukiyaki, etc. Steak is the best way to savor the full flavor of Wagyu beef.

---

Karaage

Karaage is a dish in which chicken is seasoned, coated with flour or potato starch, and deep-fried in oil. It is one of the most popular home-style dishes throughout Japan.

The seasoning of fried food varies from region to region and from household to household.

Since it is deep-fried, it is easy for foreigners to eat.

---

Bento

Bento in Japan is a portable meal consisting of rice and side dishes. It is carried in a special container to take to school or work, or to eat outside on excursions, cherry blossom viewing, etc.

Bento can be bought at convenience stores, supermarkets, and sometimes Japanese restaurants sell bento. Especially when going on long trips, bento are often eaten on the Shinkansen bullet train, so there are many different types of bento available at train stations.

Japanese bento are often colorfully prepared.

---

Gyoza

Yaki-gyoza is one of the most typical Japanese home-style dishes. Derived from Chinese yaki-gyoza, it is a dish consisting mainly of pork, cabbage, chives, etc., wrapped in a flour skin and baked.It is eaten dipped in soy sauce, vinegar, or Chili Oil.

Gyoza and beer go great together!

---

Udon

Udon is a type of Japanese noodle, a food made by kneading wheat flour and cutting it into long strips. It is characterized by its firm elasticity and smooth, slippery texture.

There are various ways to eat udon, but the most common way is to eat it in warm tsuyu (soup), or in cold tsuyu (cold sauce) for the portion of cold udon to be eaten.

---

Onigiri

Onigiri is a Japanese food made by forming rice into a triangle, bale, or cylinder shape and wrapping it in nori (seaweed). They are often filled with sour or salty ingredients such as pickled plums, kelp, or salted salmon in white rice. Because they are highly portable and can be eaten by hand, they have been valued as portable food and lunch boxes in Japan from ancient times to the present day.

In daily life in Japan, onigiri is eaten more often than sushi.

Everyone loves onigiri made by mothers.

---

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a flour-based pancake made with a mixture of vegetables, meat, seafood, and other ingredients.

There are many variations depending on the region. Hiroshima-style and Kansai-style okonomiyaki are the most famous.

The okonomiyaki is then topped with a sweet, thick sauce, mayonnaise, and dried bonito flakes.

At restaurants, iron plate is available at each table, allowing customers to experience the experience of grilling their own okonomiyaki.

---

Ramen

Japanese ramen is a dish based on Chinese noodles combined with a variety of soups and ingredients. There are a wide variety of types and soups, including soy sauce ramen, miso ramen, salt ramen, and tonkotsu ramen.

There are many ramen lovers in Japan, so popular restaurants are lined up.

---

Japanese Curry rice

Curry rice in Japan is so familiar that it can be called Japan’s national dish.

Japanese curry is mild and not so spicy, and is often made with roux It is eaten with Japanese rice.

It can be made with any ingredients.

It is also the number one favorite dish of children.

---

Oyakodon

Oyako-don is a type of bowl of rice topped with stewed chicken meat and beaten egg. The name “oyako” comes from the use of chicken meat and egg.

Oya → Parents

Ko    →Child

It is a slightly sweet food. Eggs are usually finished in a semi-cooked state.

---

Yakniku

Japanese yakiniku is a dish in which beef, pork, or other meats are grilled over charcoal or gas stoves. In addition to grilling meat, vegetables and seafood are also grilled.

The grilled food is served with sauce.

Japanese yakiniku is not limited to standard cuts of meat such as ribs and loin, but also includes rare cuts of meat such as tongue and hearts.

Yakiniku restaurants are ubiquitous and easy to find. In restaurants, each table is equipped with a stove and it is common to grill the meat yourself.

---

Tonkatsu

Tonkatsu is a Japanese dish consisting of thick pork loin or fillet, coated with a flour, egg, and breadcrumb batter, and deep-fried in oil. The sauce can be tonkatsu sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or any other sauce you prefer.

Tonkatsu is served with shredded cabbage.

Pork cutlet is often served as a set meal menu item with rice, a side dish, and soup.

---