Product of traditional Japanese cuisine. Japanese food: names (list)
Japan has always been considered one of the most mysterious and attractive countries in the world for tourists. We don't know much about her cuisine, but we all know what sushi and rolls are.
Minimalism is the main criterion for the Japanese. The food they eat does not require special cooking or any processing. And if you are lucky enough to visit Japan, then visit not only the famous Mount Fuji, but also some local restaurant to try Japanese cuisine. And no matter what the choice is, check out 12 traditional Japanese dishes!
Dish number 1. Sushi and rolls
Not surprisingly, sushi and rolls are at the top of the list of traditional Japanese dishes. The proposal to visit Japan in order to try the dishes, the recipes of which every provincial chef knows, seems strange. Today, in a restaurant with any cuisine, you can find "Gunkan-maki", "California" and "Philadelphia" without issuing a visa and a passport. The best taste qualities can only be demonstrated by sushi and rolls with the freshest seafood, and these are served exclusively in Japan. Each restaurant has an aquarium or even a pond with live fish, which are caught directly to the table.
Dish number 2. ramen
The second line of traditional Japanese dishes is occupied by ramen. In Asia, thick soups are very popular: Thai Rad Na soup immediately replaces the first and second courses. Japanese ramen is its close relative. It is sold by both street food vendors and gourmet restaurants. Ramen is a kind of assortment, because in its composition any component can be replaced by another. The base is a meat broth made from chicken, pork, and sometimes fish. Broad wheat or rice noodles are boiled in the broth, seasoned with eggs, green onions and seaweed. The skill of a ramen chef in Japan is measured by checking the texture of the meat in the soup: it should resemble mashed potatoes.
Dish number 3. Tempura
Another traditional Japanese dish rightfully occupies the third position. Residents of the Land of the Rising Sun do not understand the popularity of American fast food - in particular, french fries. The Japanese spied on a recipe for a lenten dish from the Portuguese missionaries and made a cult out of it. In every house in the country you can find a special pan for tempura, which is taken out before parties, friendly gatherings. Fresh shrimp, fish, vegetables and even fruits are fried in it with a small amount of oil. A special taste is given to it by a batter made from an egg, ice water and flour, beaten to the state of air bubbles.
Dish number 4. Okonomiyaki
The Japanese also found a replacement for burgers: they call it okonomiyaki, which means “fish cake”. Grated cabbage or pumpkin, flour, cheese, egg and water are used as the basis for the flatbread. The ingredients are mixed and poured into a thin layer in a pan to bake a pancake. Finished traditional Japanese dish okonomiyaki is soaked in thick soy sauce and sprinkled with chopped tuna pulp. The size and filling of tortillas in each region of Japan is different: in Kansai they are much larger than in Tokyo.
Dish number 5. Shabu-shabu
This traditional Japanese dish gets its name from a type of kitchen utensil. A shabu-shabu is a deep metal plate that can be heated in an oven or over an open fire. Broth with vegetables, tofu and noodles is poured into it. Separately, cold cuts of duck, pork, lobster and chicken fillet are served: its pieces are dipped in warmed broth immediately before use. Shabu-shabu is such a hearty dish that it is only served on the table during the cold season.
Dish number 6. Miso
Miso soup is served as a side dish to any dish other than desserts. It is made from miso paste made from fermented soybeans and tuna dashi broth. This base mix is topped with tofu pieces, wasabi, onions, sweet potatoes, seaweed, carrots, and radishes. It is never used as a main dish: miso is always served with at least one type of soup or two rice side dishes with different sauces.
Dish number 7. Yakitori
The Japanese could argue with the Caucasian peoples for the right to be called the inventors of barbecue. Since ancient times, they have been roasting meat on coals, stringing it on bamboo sticks. For Japanese barbecue, both fillets and entrails marinated in a mixture of rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and salt are suitable. When frying, the meat is poured with the same mixture, which is called "tare". Yakitori is sold in small shops found on every corner. The Japanese do not consider it necessary to spend personal time preparing dinner after the end of the working day: before returning home, they buy yakitori and beer or sweet carbonated drinks.
Dish number 8. Onigiri
If yakitori is purchased instead of dinner, then for breakfast in Japan they order home delivery of such a traditional dish as onigiri. Rice balls stuffed with beans, shiitake mushrooms or pork in a variety of flavors are eaten as snacks, including during work breaks. In Japan, they are more popular than sushi due to the fact that their preparation does not require special skills. The onigiri is prepared by the girls: they place the rice and stuffing in the palm of their hand, and then roll the mixture into balls. In restaurants located in Tokyo, you can try a variety of onigiri such as umeboshi - a plum filling with salt and wine vinegar.
Dish number 9. Soba
Wheat udon can be seen on the menu of any Asian country, so the Japanese decided to come up with their own kind of noodles. This traditional Japanese dish is made with buckwheat flour, which gives the pasta its grey-brown color. Soba is boiled, thrown into a colander and mixed with vegetables and meat, disassembled into fibers. In small cafes and fast food establishments, soba is added to chicken broth to get an almost instant soup. Eminent restaurants serve buckwheat noodles with crabs and lobsters.
Dish number 10. gyudon
Translated from Japanese, this word means "a bowl of beef." A spicy traditional dish, popular with Japanese men due to its high calorie content and satiety, is not inferior in spiciness to Thai culinary masterpieces. What distinguishes gyudong from soba is the amount of meat: when serving, two or three tablespoons of rice and a few handfuls of stew with wine are placed on a plate. Garnish topped with raw chicken yolk. The restaurants of the Japanese capital serve a variety of gyudon - katsudon with a chop weighing at least 500 grams.
Dish number 11. Yakiniku
Japanese men gather in a company, compete in the art of cooking fried meat on a grill. The brazier is installed on a clay pot with red-hot coals. Each man has his own recipe for yakiniku, which he does not share with anyone. In restaurants, this traditional Japanese dish is also prepared by a male chef using top quality marbled beef.
Dish number 12. Suama
Desserts are not very popular in Japan, but neither an adult nor a child can resist sumama. This cake is made from rice flour and fine cane sugar: the components are ground in a mortar, adding pink dye. The color of sakura petals symbolizes this country, so cooks are not allowed to change the shade of the dye.
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Japan is an elusive, paradoxical island country and truly one of a kind. Over the years, Japan has managed to intrigue the entire globe by embracing modern advances while maintaining tradition. This is not only technology, but also cuisine.
When Japan opened its doors to the world in the 19th century, a lot changed. The simple home style and seasonal ingredients have been redesigned to meet modern standards while maintaining their traditional appeal. This has made Japanese cuisine unique - its traditional and modern sides are combined to satisfy the taste of any gourmet, and combine sweet, sour, spicy or even spicy.
Here is a list of 10 dishes and foods worth trying!
1. SUSHI
Sushi is a gift from Japan to the world, a delicate explosion of taste buds. Every gourmet dreams of trying this dish made from fresh ingredients, cut by the deft hands of a master. The dish has many variations, but the most popular is raw fish tucked into a roll of vinegared sticky rice rolled on seaweed. This delicious dish also comes in a rectangular shape with beef or fish.
2. Wagyu 
Another form of steak, wagyu, is now popular even in the West. It is also a healthier option as it contains high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The meat just melts in your mouth, and some of the fat left on the steak adds to the feeling of delicious and tender meat. Compared to other steaks, wagyu contains more fat, but it is definitely healthier and more proper fats.
3. TEMPURA 
Another Japanese favorite, tempura, is also familiar all over the world. This dish, along with sushi, might be Japan's culinary export, but it has its origins in Portugal! Portuguese missionaries arrived in Nagasaki in the 16th century and brought their deep frying technique, which the Japanese liked and stayed with!
It soon became a nationwide hit, and now tempura is one of the essential Japanese dishes. The tempura technique allows you to reduce the amount of oil, while leaving the food as tasty and crispy as conventional cooking. Whether it's kisu fish, or scallop, or asparagus, with the help of tempura, any ingredient can be made not only tasty, but also healthy.
4. RAMEN 
This dish has been featured in many books and films. Ramen is the only noodle dish popular all over the world. Ramen is traditionally noodles with seasonal vegetables and meat in a salty, fatty broth. It is not only healthy, but also delicious! The various combinations that include ramen only add to its fans!
Ramen is made using wheat and the broth is usually meat or fish, with additional sauces such as soy or miso to give the dish a more intense flavor. Sirircha or miso with plain bacon and egg will appeal to absolutely everyone!
5. YAKITORI 
Yakitori is grilled meat with different flavors. This dish is a popular summer snack and a favorite picnic in Japan. The most preferred version of this dish is grilled chicken. Street versions of this dish are served with soy sauce, mirin or rice wine, but real gourmets add only salt. The most valuable pieces of meat in yakitori are skin, liver and breast, while wasabi is the most popular addition.
6. Taiyaki 
Taiyaki is one of the most famous and beloved confectionery in Japan. Waffle-like cookies stuffed with chocolate or bean paste are a sweet treat. Taiyaki is shaped like a fish! The story goes that the biscuits began to take this form after they were introduced to poor people who could not afford the expensive Thai fish. A rarer but more expensive version of taiyaki is stuffed with sweet potatoes!
7 SOBA 
The favorite dish of the Japanese is buckwheat noodles, or soba. It is either served hot, in broth, or cooled with sauce. Soba noodles are an inexpensive fast food option, which is why they are so famous at train stations. The main advantage of this noodle is that it can be eaten both in summer and in winter! Soba is mostly served with a sauce, mainly dashi or mirin. Hot soba is served with fresh onions and togarashi shihimi mixed with chili powder. Popular variations of the dish are kake soba, tororo soba, sensei soba, and kitsune soba.
8 Okonomiyaki 
These are delicious pancakes that have a variety of ingredients - from cheese to pork, shrimp and even octopus! Okonomiyaki's name means "as you like it!", and the name fits the dish very well because of the variety of fillings it contains. The dish is usually grilled and made right at the table! You can cook some options at home, but a dish prepared by professionals will definitely suit your taste.
9. ONIGIRI 
Onigiri are rice balls that are the most popular fast food in Japan. Onigiri are versatile in that they can be served in a variety of combinations such as spicy cod, pickled vegetables, roast beef, and even matsutake mushrooms! They have become so popular that they are available in every department store in Japan! And the most popular addition to this dish is mayonnaise!
10. SANUKI UDON 
Delicious and tender sanuki udon is very popular in Japan. This is a very satisfying and tasty noodle! In this dish, you can also combine ingredients, only noodles remain unchanged. Sanuki udon is best served with tempura or dashi.
Japanese cuisine has adapted to the times, but its main selling point is the unique use of seasonal ingredients and vegetables in a way that is not only tasty but also healthy. Freshly prepared side dishes such as pickled vegetables, fish and broth not only enrich the dish, but also enhance its taste. The meat was not used in Japan before, but its modernization has led to dishes such as tonkatsu.
Until recently, Japanese cuisine was associated exclusively with sushi and rolls, but gradually other dishes of the Land of the Rising Sun are gaining popularity around the world. In today's article, we will briefly talk about 50 dishes that you should definitely try if you find yourself in Japan.
1. Sushi / Sushi
Sushi is a dish that combines Japanese rice and seafood (although other ingredients are sometimes used). There is also a type of fermented sushi known as nare-zushi, but the most typical types of sushi are nigirizushi and temakizushi.There are many other ingredients for those who don't like raw fish, including boiled shrimp and fried eel.
You can find sushi all over Japan, but from high-end restaurants such as those in the Ginza area or close to the fishing ports are especially delicious. If you want to eat inexpensively, then you should go to the kaitenzushi sushi restaurant or sushi conveyor, where you can enjoy them for only 100 yen per plate.
2. Tempura
Tempura is a dish in which seafood, fresh vegetables and other ingredients are first dipped in flour and egg batter and then deep fried. Although you can enjoy tempura in many restaurants, if you want to taste a particularly tasty and fresh dish, then it is better to visit a specialized restaurant where tempura is prepared. In such an institution, dishes are served on the table immediately after preparation.
3. Sukiyaki / Sukiyaki
Sukiyaki is a dish in which meat and vegetables are stewed in an iron pot. The sauce added to sukiyaki, known as warishita, is made from soy sauce and sugar.
There are many variations of the ingredients and ways of eating this dish depending on the region. For example, in some areas, a beaten egg is mixed with sauce to create a milder flavor. In general, if you want to enjoy a lot of beef, then this dish is definitely for you.
4. Ramen / Ramen
Ramen is a wheat noodle dish that has become incredibly popular. Initially, the soup was prepared with chicken, but in recent years pork, beef and seafood have also been added. In addition to the traditional version, curry-flavored ramen is also available today. It is worth mentioning this type of ramen, where noodles and soup are served separately, it is called tsukemen.
5. Curry rice
If we talk about curry seasoning, then it appeared in India. But in our case, we mean a unique, localized dish based on curry that came to Japan from the UK. It is made with meat and vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onions, etc.), seasoned with curry, stewed and served with rice. Sometimes pork cutlets can also be added on top of the dish. You can taste this dish both in specialized curry restaurants and in an ordinary restaurant.
6. Tonkatsu / Tonkatsu
Tonkatsu is a dish consisting of pork cutlets, as they are prepared in the West, that is, when a thick slice of pork is dipped in flour and beaten egg dough, then coated with breadcrumbs and fried in oil. It is best to try tonkatsu at a specialty restaurant.
7. Soba noodles / Japanese Soba
A dish of noodles made from buckwheat flour, eaten with soy and sugar sauce, and toppings such as egg, tempura, etc. Soba noodles, which you can buy in the store, are especially delicious, but at the same time very expensive, so we recommend try soba in the restaurant. There you can easily decide on the toppings that are listed on the menu.
8. Udon noodles / Udon
Udon is a noodle made from wheat flour. It is eaten in the same way as soba, with soy and sugar sauce. You can taste udon in a variety of restaurants, but, again, the most delicious is prepared in specialized udon restaurants. And in winter, we advise you to try the delicious noodle stew, known as nabe yaki udon.
9. Karaage / Karaage
Karaage is chicken seasoned with soy sauce, salt and a number of other spices, sprinkled with starch and fried in oil. The dish is similar to the Japanese version of fried chicken, but it tastes very different.
There are many different variations of karaage in Japan, depending on the region. For example, nanban chicken in Miyazaki, where karaage is seasoned with tartar sauce, or tebasaki in Nagoya, where karaage is served with a sweet and spicy sauce. They are definitely worth a try.
10. Yakitori / Yakitori
Yakitori is grilled chicken on skewers and seasoned with sweet or soy sauce. We also recommend trying pork skewers (Japanese yakiton).
11. Yakiniku / Yakiniku
Yakiniku is beef soaked in sauce and grilled. It is very important to use the freshest meat for this dish. By lightly grilling the dish, you can enjoy the mild taste of Japanese beef.
The most popular yakiniku are loin tenderloin (known as rosu in Japanese) and kalbi (Korean-style marinated meat). At yakiniku restaurants, you can taste all kinds of meats. The price of meat depends on the quality, so if you want to try a real yakiniku, we recommend going to an upscale restaurant.
12. Sashimi / Sashimi
Sashimi is a traditional Japanese dish of raw fish cut into pieces. Served with soy sauce. By adding seasonings such as wasabi or ginger, sashimi becomes even more delicious.
You can enjoy sashimi in other countries, but the degree of freshness is likely to be lower. If you want to try inexpensive sashimi, then order a set of food in any restaurant near the fishing port. But if you are willing to spend a little more, then you should visit a sushi restaurant or a traditional Japanese restaurant. If you stay at a ryokan or a traditional Japanese inn, you will most likely get sashimi for dinner.
13. Robatayaki / Robatayaki
Robatayaki is not really food, more like a restaurant. In the restaurant, fish and vegetables are cooked over an open fire in front of customers. Dishes are cooked directly on charcoal, which gives them a unique flavor.
14. Shabu-shabu / Shabushabu
A dish in which meat and vegetables are boiled in water flavored with konbu and other ingredients. The typical sauce for shabu shabu is ponzu or sesame sauce. And the main point is the light immersion of meat in water before eating it.
You can order shabu-shaba with both beef and pork. Sometimes udon noodles are added to the dish at the end of the meal. Unlike some other dishes, you won't find shabu shabu in non-specialized restaurants, except in a few sukiyaki restaurants.
15. Gyutanyaki
This dish comes from Sendai, where beef tongue (gyutan) is cooked in a special way that softens the meat. You can find this dish only in special restaurants.
A typical gyutanyaki contains rice cooked with barley (mugimeshi), and beef soup along with beef tongue. Mugimeshi is usually served with tororo, or shredded sweet potato, along with various pickles such as cabbage or chili peppers. Be aware that in gyutan specialty restaurants, the beef tongue is quite thick.
16. Kaiseki Ryori
Kaiseki-ryori is again not a dish, but a style of eating most suitable for a banquet. In such a case, the menu usually consists of:
- ichijusansai (soup, sashimi, fried dish),
- snacks (otooshi),
- fried foods (agemono),
- stews (mushimono),
- japanese salad (aemono), marinated dishes.
And at the end of the meal, it is customary to serve rice, miso soup, pickles (konomono) and fruit (mizugashi). Naturally, such food is only available at special kaiseki ryori restaurants, and reservations are usually required. It is also worth mentioning that the price of kaiseki ryori is often very high.
17. Gyudon
This dish is rice with beef. Gyudon, or beef bowl, has already become a popular dish around the world, but the gyudon made in Japan may be slightly different from the gyudon made in other countries. First, the quality of the rice is different. Also, the quality of beef may be different. By the way, if you want to try a really tasty gyudon, we recommend pouring a beaten egg over the beef.
18. Chankonabe
Chankonabe is cooked in a large pot of highly nutritious meat and vegetables. This dish is popular with sumo wrestlers who use it to gain weight. If you want to try a real chankonabe, then head to a restaurant run by a former sumo wrestler.
19. Motsunabe / Motsunabe
A famous Fukuoka dish in which beef and pork are cooked in a pot with various vegetables such as cabbage and Chinese leeks (nira in Japanese). Other ingredients can be added while cooking. After the main course, Chinese chanpon noodles or rice are usually added to the soup. You can find motsunabe restaurants in Tokyo, but it's better to try the original motsunabe in Fukuoka.
20. Onigiri
Onigiri is a ball of boiled rice, lightly salted and often with ingredients such as umeboshi (dried plum), salmon or cod, wrapped in a sheet of nori (dried seaweed). The21.re - specialty onigiri stores. However, you can buy them in other stores. This dish is very popular with foreigners.
21. Unagi-no-kabayaki
Unagi-no-kabayaki is eel ("unagi" in Japanese) covered in sauce and grilled over charcoal. In some regions, it is steamed rather than fried. There is a type of kabayaki that is not dipped in the sauce before frying, it is known as shiroyaki, however, as a rule, the eel is dipped in soy and sweet sauce before frying.
You can enjoy unagi both as an independent dish and with rice (the second option is more popular). In Nagoya, there is a unique way of eating unagi known as hitsumabushi, which is when tea is poured over rice and then eaten.
22. Kani (crab) / Kani (Crab)
Kani, or simply crab, is found in all parts of the world, but the crab in Japan is special. Hairy crab (kegani in Japanese) has exquisite meat and a deep taste. The Japanese especially love that part of the crab called kanimiso. It is a dark green paste from the intestinal cavity, which has a slightly bitter taste.
If you want to try crab, we recommend the Red King Crab (tarabagani in Japanese), which can be found in Hokkaido restaurants and specialty restaurants.
23. Yakizakana / Yakizakana
Yakizakana is a traditional grilled fish dish over an open fire, which makes the fish crispy. Most often, mackerel (aji), saury (sanma), mackerel (saba) or salmon (shake) are chosen for this dish. You can enjoy yakizakana throughout Japan, and if you stay at a ryokan or a traditional Japanese inn, you will be served this dish for breakfast.
24. Nizakana
Nizakana is fish boiled in soy sauce. For this dish, mackerel (saba), right-eyed flounder (karei) or alfonsino (kinmedai) are usually used. Another popular dish is buridaikon, which is when fish is boiled with daikon. You can enjoy nizakana at a variety of restaurants, including izakaya.
25. Fried dishes from western-style restaurants
In addition to tonkatsu, there are a number of fried foods that are prepared similarly to tempura. These include korokke (croquettes), menchikatsu (deep fried mince pie), ebi fry (fried shrimp), kani cream korokke (crab croquettes), and kaki fry (fried oysters). You can enjoy these delicious dishes in Western style restaurants. The way the food is served depends on the particular restaurant.
26. Jingisukan
This is a local dish from Hokkaido and Iwate Prefecture. Jingisukan is meat and vegetables cooked in a special pan with the central part raised. The meat is cooked in the center of the pot, allowing the juices from the meat to drain and soak into the vegetables on the sides. Please note that lamb has a very distinct smell, so you may not like the dish.
27. Kansai-style Kushi-katsu
In the Kansai region, a dish in which meat and vegetables are put on skewers and then fried in a batter like tonkatsu is popular. There are many different types of kushikatsu, so you can enjoy a wide variety of flavors if you wish.
Before eating kushikatsu, dip it in Worcestershire sauce. But please remember that the sauce is shared with other customers, so you should only dip the kushikatsu in it once. Also note that non-specialized kushikatsu restaurants in the Kanto region serve deep-fried pork and onion skewers as kushikatsu.
28. Oden / Oden
Although there are often large differences in cooking between Japanese regions, a typical oden is a dish in which daikon, meat and fish balls, boiled eggs and other ingredients are boiled in a dried bonito or konbu broth mixed with soy sauce. You can try oden in specialized oden restaurants, and this dish is also sold in ordinary stores.
29. Okonomiyaki
This dish consists of vegetables, meat, seafood and other ingredients mixed with wheat flour and eggs and cooked on the stove. In some regions of Japan, ingredients are layered on top of the flour and egg mixture instead of being mixed with them.
It should be mentioned that in most regions chefs in restaurants prepare okonomiyaki themselves, but in the Kanto region there are many restaurants where the client does it himself. However, if you are not confident in your abilities, you can contact the restaurant staff and they will do everything for you.
A special sauce is a common flavoring, and adding mayonnaise to a dish makes it even better. You can also find okonomiyaki stalls at various festivals and events.
30. Buta-no-shogayaki
Buta-no-shogayaki consists of thinly sliced pork and ginger, while soy sauce and sake (Japanese rice wine) give it a special taste. This dish can be found on the menu of any restaurant.
31. Katsudon
This dish consists of tonkatsu and onions boiled in soy sauce and topped with beaten eggs. Freshly roasted tonkatsu is delicious on its own, but katsudon is a whole new taste. Katsudon can be found not only in special tonkatsu restaurants, but also in regular restaurants. However, to enjoy the best katsudon, we recommend visiting the tonkatsu restaurant.
32. Fugu
Puffer fish is a poisonous fish that can only be legally cooked in licensed restaurants. This is a rather expensive dish. At fugu restaurants, you can enjoy a variety of fugu dishes such as fugu hot pot, fugu karaage, and fugu sashimi.
33. Gyoza
Gyoza are traditional Chinese dumplings. In China, suigyoza, or boiled gyoza, is mainstream, but in Japan, yakigyoza, or fried gyoza, is more popular. Another difference is the use of garlic in fried gyoza. Gyoza dumplings are usually dipped in soy sauce, Chinese chili sauce, vinegar, and other sauces of your choice.
34. Nikujaga
This is one example of traditional Japanese home cooking where potatoes and meat are boiled in soy and sugar sauce. Sometimes carrots and shirataki (konnyaku noodles) are also added to the dish. This typical dish can be found in izakaya restaurants as well as regular restaurants.
35. Takoyaki
To prepare takoyaki, a mixture of wheat flour, water and broth is poured into a special frying pan with semicircular shapes. Then the stuffing is prepared from chopped squid, cabbage and dried shrimp, which are added to the resulting mixture, and then fried. After some time, the pan is turned over to fry the other side.
Takoyaki tastes similar to okonomiyaki. Drizzle with sauce before serving. A plate of takoyaki in restaurants costs about 500 yen (almost 300 rubles).
36. Sauce Yakisoba / Sauce Yakisoba
Yakisoba sauce is a dish of fried noodles, pork, cabbage, bean sprouts and other ingredients seasoned with Worcestershire sauce. Yakisoba sauce is usually garnished with red pickled ginger and topped with dried green seaweed. You can find Yakisoba sauce in stalls or okonomiyaki restaurants, as well as in stores.
37. Rice omelet / Omelette rice
To prepare this dish, you need to fry together rice, chicken and onions seasoned with ketchup, and then pour a thin layer of omelet. The resulting dish is usually poured on top with demi glace sauce. Rice omelet is very popular with children, but adults also love it. This dish can be found in Western style restaurants and set menu restaurants.
38. Napolitano / Napolitan
Napolitano are sausages, onions and green peppers fried with boiled pasta and seasoned with ketchup sauce. The result is a Japanese version of spaghetti with tomato sauce, but with a completely different taste. You can find Napolitan pasta in Western style restaurants and cafes.
39. Kamameshi
Kamameshi is a dish in which individual portions of rice are cooked in an iron pot called kama with soy sauce, mirin (sweet sake for seasoning), and other ingredients. Before cooking, rice, chicken, seafood, vegetables, etc. are also added to the pot. Salmon roe is added after cooking. The finished dish is not eaten from kama, but served in bowls. You can enjoy kamameshi at special kamameshi restaurants.
40. Tamagoyaki / Tamagoyaki
Tamagoyaki is a type of rolled omelet. This delicious dish is very easy to make. In some cases, soy sauce or broth, known in Japan as dashi, is added to tamagoyaki. Tamagoyaki with dashi is called dashimaki tamago, and although it looks like a regular tamagoyaki, it tastes very different. You can find tamagoyaki in both regular stores and specialized tamagoyaki stores.
41 Potato Salad
Japanese version of potato salad. This dish uses Japanese mayonnaise, which has a slightly different taste than European mayonnaise, so the potato salad also has a different taste than abroad. Corn, cucumber, carrots and onions are also often added to this salad.
You can find potato salad in stores, but we recommend trying it at a restaurant or izakaya, where its homemade taste is truly fantastic.
42. Misoshiru (Miso soup) / Miso-shiru (Miso soup)
Mishoshiru (miso soup) is a standard Japanese soup. It is prepared by mixing miso paste, bonito flakes, konbu and other ingredients. Common ingredients in miso soup are also tofu, wakame, and daikon. By the way, there is a dish called buta-jiru (buta-jiru), which is prepared almost exactly the same as misoshiru, but it also adds pork (buta nike in Japanese), daikon, carrots and taro (satoimo in Japanese) .
43. Tofu
Tofu has become well known overseas, but while you're in Japan, be sure to try real tofu. A very simple dish that uses tofu is hiyaakko. This is when bonito flakes and ginger are placed on tofu, and soy sauce is poured on top of it. You can try it at izakaya and other restaurants. We also recommend tasting dengaku, which is sliced tofu cooked on the grill and sprinkled with miso.
44. Chawanmushi
A dish in which various ingredients such as chicken, white fish, shrimp, fish paste (kamaboko) and gingko nuts (ginnan) are added to a mixture of eggs and dashi in a bowl (chawan) and steamed. You can order chawanmushi in traditional Japanese restaurants. Outwardly and in texture, the dish is similar to custard, but has a unique flavor.
45. Tsukemono
Tsukemono are vegetables aged in salt, vinegar or sake. Usually tsukemono is served in traditional Japanese restaurants, and tsukemono from specialty stores is a real delicacy. There are many different types of tsukemono that you should definitely try.
46. Tamagokake gohan
This rice dish is made by mixing a raw egg with soy sauce and pouring the mixture over hot rice. Recently, tamago kake gohan has become so popular that you can even find tamago kake gohan restaurants in Japan.
47. Edamame
Edamame are young soybeans boiled directly in their pods in lightly salted water or steamed. This is an excellent snack for beer, which is often ordered at the bar. Edamame, although it has a simple taste, is nevertheless liked by a lot of people.
48. Chazuke / Chazuke
This is a dish in which tea is poured directly onto rice. It is often eaten at the end of a meal. It has a very light and refreshing taste, so you can eat it even if you are already full. Fillings such as dried seaweed, cod roe and salmon are often sprinkled on top of the dish.
This Japanese snack is very popular abroad. It is said that there are no children in the world who would not love umaibo, which cost only 10 yen. There is a wide range of flavors including salami, takoyaki and cheese.
50. Kasipan / Kashipan
A type of sweet bun that can be bought in shops or bakeries. There are different flavors of kashipan and various fillings, such as anpan (with sweet paste) and curry (with curry sauce), as well as flavored ones, such as melon). They usually cost around 100 yen, so they are definitely worth a try if you find yourself in Japan.
There are not so many cuisines of the world classified as a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage. The pearl of this collection is Japanese cuisine. Small plates of various shapes on the table, small pieces of food that are convenient to grab with chopsticks and put into the mouth, the clear appearance of the ingredients that make up the meal - this expresses the Japanese desire for elegance in design and aesthetics. Japanese attention to detail can also be seen in their attitude to food: young people are served larger portions than older people due to different metabolisms, food in the winter season is different from summer, the presentation of dishes turns into a real art.
Simplicity, ease of preparation, freshness of products are the foundations of Japanese cuisine. An ordinary grocery store on the corner or a high-end restaurant in the city center will offer their customers equally fresh food. In Japan, packaged and offered food has a shelf life of no more than a day. It's hard to believe that the universally loved and famous Japanese cuisine was once closed to the world due to a policy of national seclusion until 1868.
History of the kitchen
The earliest evidence of Japanese cuisine dates back to the Mesolithic and Neolithic times, when the main diet of the Japanese of that time was fish, various types of millet, and shellfish. Even then, the Japanese used pots in which all kinds of stews were cooked. The well-known Japanese dish shabu-shabu, which is also called the “one-pot dish”, dates from just that period. Archaeologists who excavated in Japan noted that even then people used natural refrigerators in the form of deep pits and preserved food with salt.
The main product of the cuisine - rice - began to be cultivated in Japan in the 3rd century BC. e., and rice was not only a food product, but also a monetary unit, a measure of remuneration for samurai until the end of the 19th century. Stocks of rice spoke of the financial solvency of the family. In the 6th century, China influenced Japanese cuisine and laid the foundations for the tea ceremony.
In the same period, Buddhism penetrated the country, and therefore, already in 675, a law appeared prohibiting the consumption of meat. Violation of the ban was punishable by death. True, the ban itself did not apply to all types of meat. For example, the meat of wild pigs and deer could continue to be eaten with impunity. In 752, fishing was also banned. The fishermen were left without work and a source of food. But to prevent the fishermen from starving to death, the imperial household dated them with a certain amount of rice each year. Chopsticks are not a Japanese invention. The Japanese borrowed them from the Chinese, just like the recipe for soy sauce and udon noodles.
“Rice was not only a food product, but also a monetary unit”
With the beginning of the aristocratic era, which began in 710 after the founding of the permanent capital in Nara, Japanese cuisine takes on its inherent features. The dishes at the imperial court are elegant and understated, the refinement and external aesthetics of dishes are valued, and not their abundance. Everything that is on the plates acquires a certain symbolism, the color of the dishes is determined by the season and the events taking place.
Before the appearance of the first Portuguese in Japan in 1543, sweets, as such, were absent from the diet of the population. Although sugar was discovered by the Japanese in the 8th century, it was considered a cure for lung disease and was not eaten. Most often, fruits, chestnuts, honey were sweet for tea. Everything changed with the arrival of Europeans in Japan. Sweet candy, caramel, biscuits and lollipops are the "sweets of the southern barbarians", with which they tried to persuade the Japanese to Christianity. Japan is again closed off from the whole world in 1639 and opens to the West only after 1868. Bakeries, steakhouses, breweries, ice cream and chocolate shops, coffee and wine shops - all this came to Japan and became cosmically popular among young gourmets and intellectuals. Cheeses, milk and butter did not appear until the 1970s due to the popularity of the cheesecake dessert.
But American hamburgers were not destined to flood the market. Back in 1958, Ando Momofuku came up with a revolutionary instant noodles in plastic cups that all of Japan, and not only, fell in love with. Japanese food traditions are losing relevance in their own country, but suddenly the Japanese discover that it is their cuisine that inspires the entire modern world. Applicants from all over the world poured in for an internship with Japanese chefs. After all, the line in your resume that you have been trained by a Japanese chef increases your competitiveness.
japanese catering
Eating out became popular during the Edo period in the early 18th century, when the population of the city (which would later be renamed Tokyo) was twice the population of what was then Paris, and the bulk of the inhabitants were unmarried men and visiting provincials. Many of them huddled in small rooms and there was simply no place to cook. This gave a powerful boost to the fast food industry. In 1751, the world's first restaurant opened in Edo. The ability to understand the quality of food was considered a matter of honor. In Edo, Osaka and Kyoto, the first booklets with restaurant ratings began to be printed.
In modern Japan, the main feature of public catering, which distinguishes it from the rest of the world, has become the tradition of displaying showcases with models of main dishes and their prices at the entrance. Green tea will be served with food, and tips will be considered an insult - it is not customary to leave them here. You can often see a picture of a Japanese waiter catching up with a European on the street in order to give him a tip, which he left out of habit.
“You can often see a picture of a Japanese waiter chasing a European on the street to give him a tip that he left out of habit”
All active life in big cities flows around metro stations and train stations, so most cafes and restaurants are concentrated there. Prices for food can be both quite reasonable and obscenely high. It all depends on the level of the restaurant, the range of dishes and the quality of service.
An inexpensive and tasty option for a tourist to have a bite to eat will be sushi establishments organized according to the conveyor principle, where small plates pass by you and you can take what you like right from the tape. The cost of dishes is determined by the color of the plate. After the end of the meal, the waiter counts the number and color of the plates, fixes them in the settlement receipt, which you pay at the checkout when you leave the establishment. The order is usually made using an electronic display installed near each table.
It happens that a cafe offers only options for complex meals and it is impossible to change anything in the declared combinations. For example, if you want a bowl of soup with meat and vegetables, but without a bowl of rice, do not even hope that they will understand you and fulfill your wish or adjust the price. There is a menu and everything, no other positions are provided.
“Back in 1958, Ando Momofuku came up with a revolutionary instant noodles in plastic cups that all of Japan, and not only, fell in love with”
Superstitions / habits / signs
There are a number of rules associated with chopsticks in Japan. For example, women can only eat food with chopsticks, while men are allowed to eat some food with their hands. You can’t insert chopsticks vertically into food, especially rice, this is done only at funerals. Chopsticks do not move plates, do not point, do not clamp them in a fist and do not put them across the bowl. Before asking for more rice, chopsticks should be placed on the table.
Before a meal, "bon appetit" is always said and a moist, warm, and sometimes hot, oshibori towel is served to rub the hands before eating. Getting up from the table with half-eaten rice in a bowl is impolite, rice is eaten to the last grain.
Dishes
Japanese cuisine can be roughly divided into three groups: rice dishes, noodle dishes, and fish and meat dishes. The degree of heat treatment varies from very raw meat and fish to products fried in batter over high heat.
There are three types of Japanese noodles: ramen, udon, and soba.
ramen brought to Japan from China. Basically, it's noodles in broth. Most often, in chicken, but it also happens in pork or seafood broth. Recently, vegetarian ramen has also been gaining popularity. Ramen noodles are made from wheat flour with the addition of eggs.
noodles udon made from wheat flour, but without the addition of eggs. Due to its composition, it takes a little longer to cook than ramen noodles, but it is also more nutritious. Unlike ramen, udon noodles are consumed both as an independent dish with soy sauce and as part of a soup.
sobu made from buckwheat flour, sometimes with the addition of wheat. It has been a famous dish since the Nara era, when it was served at tea ceremonies. Soba is usually consumed cold with seasonings and soy sauce, but is sometimes added to hot broth.
When eating noodles of any kind, it is customary in Japan to smack your lips, thus showing that the dish is tasty.
Tempura- shrimp, fish and seasonal vegetables fried in batter. It is served with soy sauce broth. This crunchy dish was brought to Japan by Christian missionaries.
Sukiyaki- "dish from the boiler", as well as shabu-shabu, is cooked in a saucepan right on the table. Thin slices of beef, noodles, tofu and vegetables. Nothing complicated, but the taste is very refined.
Shabu-shabu- the principle of cooking is close to sukiyaki, although here a thin piece of meat is dipped into a pot of boiling water, due to which excess fat is removed from the meat and the calorie content of the dish is reduced. The broth with meat is traditionally seasoned with onions, cabbage and vegetables.
Sushi, known and loved by everyone, initially looked completely different. Previously, rice and fish were carefully marinated and left for at least a year, and most often for three, before being eaten. The modern look of sushi was given by samurai, who appreciated the taste of raw fresh fish. It was thanks to their taste preferences that sushi became a bun of rice and a piece of fish. Typically, sushi is dipped in soy sauce and seasoned with "Japanese horseradish" wasabi. We are used to seeing wasabi on the table in a separate bowl, but in Japan, wasabi is placed immediately inside the sushi. It is believed that different types of sushi should be eaten with pickled ginger in order to fully experience the different tastes.
Sashimi- chopped fillet of raw fish of various types, which is eaten dipped in soy sauce. Daikon, a Japanese radish, is often served with sashimi, which helps to fully reveal the taste of the fish.
Japanese Curry- the only rice dish that is eaten with spoons. The dish came to Japan from India and was positioned as English (at that time India was a British colony). In the future, the Japanese transformed the curry sauce to their taste and now this dish cannot be called a fusion version of the Indian one, the taste of the sauce is completely different.
Yakitori- a favorite snack for alcoholic drinks in Japan. Grilled chicken meat, vegetables and mushrooms on bamboo skewers. Mini kebabs are offered at the many izakaya pubs.
Tonkatsu- a super popular dish in Japanese cafes. Just like tempura, it is deep-fried, but it is a pork chop and is served not with soy, but with a different, slightly sweet-tasting sauce.
It is impossible to ignore the delicacy - puffer fish, which is considered food for lovers of extreme sports. After all, only a drop of poison, contained mainly in the liver of a fish, can lead a gourmet to complete paralysis and death. All chefs preparing puffer fish have a special license for its preparation. According to Japanese tradition, a cook who poisoned a client is obliged to make himself hara-kiri, however, is this true today? That is the question.
The second famous Japanese delicacy is considered marbled meat. The meat of gobies turns out to be especially tender and soft due to the fact that they are almost never let out of the stall and are generously drunk with beer.
And, of course, wagashi- all kinds of Japanese desserts based on rice, legumes, agar-agar. It is difficult to call them sweet in the usual sense, but once you get used to and discover the taste of wagashi for yourself, it is already difficult to refuse them.
Alcohol
The technology for preparing the most famous alcoholic drink - sake - is similar to brewing beer, but the amount of alcohol in Japanese sake vodka is three times the "degree" of beer. Sake is also called rice wine because of the rice and water it contains. Sake is drunk warm - to achieve quick intoxication, or chilled, which is more familiar to Europeans. Sake is considered a drink for the smart, as research by Tokyo scientists suggests that daily drinkers have higher IQs than those who abstain from it.
No less popular alcohol in Japan is beer, which ads are usually decorated with cute smiling Japanese women in short skirts. Also won favor came from outside the whiskey. Low-alcohol fruit drinks are popular among young people. Fruit and berry wines, which we contemptuously call "ink", in Japan are made from plums - unlike ours, they have their own sophisticated interesting taste.
Fast food
The most popular Japanese way to snack is to buy onigiri. This is a triangular-shaped rice cake with filling (salmon, chicken, caviar, egg, vegetables, and so on). Once upon a time, peasants took onigiri with them to the fields, but now children take them with them to school and for a walk.
Okonomiyaki is Japanese pizza. Only her base is not made of dough, but of chopped cabbage, fastened with raw eggs. In the form of a filling, noodles, seafood, vegetables are used. A quick and economical meal topped with a sweet sauce and sprinkled with dried fish.
Takoyaki are small balls of flour with pieces of octopus meat inside. The sauce and dried fish are the same as in okonomiyaki. Usually takoyaki are sold in packs of 6 or 9. It seems that this snack can only "kill a worm," but despite its size, takoyaki is a very satisfying meal.
“Many of them huddled in small rooms and there was simply no place to cook. This gave a powerful boost to the fast food industry.”
Bento is a camping lunch option. It is a box divided into sections, each of which contains different ingredients. Initially, bento was sold at train stations for travelers who had a long journey ahead of them. The basis of bento is rice and various mini-dishes (meat, fish, vegetables). Previously, caring wives and mothers were engaged in their preparation, now they can be bought at any supermarket. However, taking a wooden bento box out of Japan as a souvenir will not work. They are considered a national treasure and are prohibited from export.
In addition, Japanese street food is represented by fried squid, fried corn, French crepe pancakes, fried chestnuts, steamed dough buns with niku-man meat filling, kushi-yaki chicken on a stick, skewers of various types of meat and fancy forms of tofu. You won't go hungry in Japan!
Photo by Lady and Pups , I am a Food Blog, Fitness on Toast
Stories box.
Japan is replete with many dishes that are popular in this country, but have not spread beyond its territory. Perhaps because many of these dishes do not taste or look like the culinary tastes of foreigners. Let's take, for example, Yunsai (junsai) a plant similar to a water lily, whose buds are used to make light broth or sauces: dishes with this additive can cause disgust, because they are covered with mucus.
Next we have a rare and tricky ingredient:
Fugu.
The Japanese love this potentially poisonous fish, which requires special skills and certification to prepare, as one wrong cut can kill diners. However, during the puffer season, lovers of this fish eat everything without a trace, thus showing their trust in the cook as well.
Traditional meal.
In contrast to the above, traditional dishes are put in, thanks to which you can also experience the uniqueness of the cuisine of this country. Let's take, for example, shojin ryori, a ritual dinner with a variety of vegetarian dishes, which was prepared by monks and priests in Buddhist monasteries. Although this dish is widespread in many Japanese cities, it is most loved in the ancient capital, where it came from. A classic shojin ryori style lunch is served in a room sent from which you can see (an integral attribute of which will be a pond with floating carps). You will sit on a woven mat in the seiza position, dinner will be served on a beautifully laid out lacquer tray that is placed on the floor (unless, contrary to the Western tradition, there are no tables in the restaurant). The waitress, dressed in , will serve portions of freshly prepared dishes from seasonal vegetables, as well as pickles, rice, soups and a variety of tofu dishes. At the end of your meal, you will enjoy tea with delicious sweets or pieces of fruit.
Changing national eating habits.
Culinary delights like shojin ryori- and even oden may become rare over time. While it has been strong for decades, the country has been immune to outside influence. Now young Japanese are consuming McDonald's food alongside traditional oden. While the older generation of Japanese prefer traditional sweets such as daifuku- red bean paste sprinkled with rice powder - a cake that is prepared for the birthday, the younger generation prefers biscuits topped with whipped cream and strawberries, which can be bought in countless French pastry shops.
The influx of foreign products, especially fast food, has led to a sad change in the diet and health of the Japanese people. The traditional diet of rice, vegetables and seafood and a small amount of meat has been changed; now the Japanese eat a lot of meat, dairy products and foods high in fat.
But it's all worth it to take the chance and try
