45 Amazing Traditional Foods from Japan


 

Japan is one of the best if not the best country in the world. Recently in the world cup, Japanese fans became a phenomenon in Qatar when they started picking trash after a World Cup victory. How I wish we could borrow from them to become our best selves. Away from good manners and cleanliness, Japan also boasts of a rich and diverse traditional cuisine; Washoku, which is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes. The ingredients are seasonal owing to the diverse climate. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth.

I have a soft spot for Japanese food and limiting the list to 45 dishes is no easy task. Let’s also not kid ourselves, 45 dishes is quite a number, and to make it easier for you, I have grouped them into various categories:

Popular dishes

If you are a newbie to Japanese cuisine, start with these dishes:

1. Sushi

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Sushi is the most famous Japanese food. The Sushi rolls are small pieces of flavored rice, seaweed, and other ingredients wrapped around a piece of raw fish. They can be served either hot or cold. All types of fish can be used; tuna, salmon, yellowtail, mackerel, or freshwater eel. It is mostly accompanied by wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce. There are various types of sushi including makizushi, futomaki, uramaki, gunkan maki, nigiri, and others. Foreigners are more versed in nigiri sushi and maki sushi.

2. Sashimi

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It is thinly fresh sliced raw fish and served with wasabi or soy sauce. Other sea proteins that can be used are shrimp, scallops, or eel. The thin slices allow the flavors and the texture to steal the show. Unlike Sushi which can be served cooked, sashimi is always raw. Another version of sashimi is chicken sashimi, Yes raw chicken! It is made from a specific breed of Japanese chicken known as the blue foot chicken which has less risk of salmonella. Even with the reduced risk, for extra health cautions, a special license is required to serve raw chicken in Japan. If you are adventurous, then this is one dish to try as it is delicious.

3. Ramen

Ramen is common both in Japan and in the western world. It is a hot soup of fresh noodles made in a flavourful broth, pieces of pork, sometimes vegetables, and Ramen Eggs. Ingredients may vary but are all equally scrumptious. Ramen broth is mainly grouped into four; shio which is transparent and light with a distinctly salty taste; shoyu which is made based on soy sauce and thus has a light flavor and a light brown color; miso which is a thick opaque and spicy broth of soybean paste and tonkotsu which is cooked from pork bones for 12 to 20 hours; it has a rich flavor and somewhat dense texture.

4. Tempura

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Tempura is a traditional meal made of fresh shrimp, fish, and vegetables, coated in a light batter made with cold water and soft cake flour and then deep fried. Once it hits the oil, it blooms like a flower. It’s as beautiful as it is delicious! It is served alongside rice and side dishes, such as salads and pickled vegetables.

5. Unagi

Unagi is a freshwater eel. It is often steamed or grilled coated in a sweet tare sauce and then served with teriyaki sauce. Fried or smoked unagi is also used in miso soup and sushi. Unlike other fish, it is not consumed raw. Savor it slowly, bite after bite to appreciate this delicate and sweet flavor delicacy.

6. Wagyu

Any beef produced from Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Polled, and Japanese Shorthorn is known as wagyu. This beef is renowned for its buttery texture, subtle umami flavor, tenderness, and a concentration of nutrients. This makes it one of the most expensive delicacies of Japanese cuisine. The best way to appreciate this delicious and melt-in-your-mouth meat is to cook it on a grill or a teppan pan with minimal spices.

7. Kushiyaki/Yakitori

Both are popular bar foods that pair great with beer. They are skewers of grilled meat. Yakitori refers to skewered and charcoal-grilled chicken, while Kushiyaki covers all the skewered meats. In the bamboo or metallic skewers are also all kinds of vegetables including mushrooms, green onions, and peppers. Before cooking marination is done in a mixture of rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, and salt and served with tare sauce. The skewers are then grilled over charcoal and seasoned with a tare sauce.

8. Takoyaki

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Takoyaki is a popular snack and can be found all over the streets. It comes in the form of deep-fried balls of tender wheat flour batter filled with minced or diced boiled octopus, pieces of tempura, green onions, and pickled ginger inside. It is then topped with a sweet and savory takoyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, green laver, and bonito fish flakes. It is often cooked in a special takoyaki pan, which is a griddle made of cast iron with half-spherical molds.

9. Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is also a beloved snack. It is a sweet-savory pancake made of a special flour batter mixed with shredded cabbage, pork belly, scallions, shrimp, and sometimes meat. It is cooked on a griddle until it’s crispy and served with a variety of toppings like okonomiyaki sauce, Bonita flakes, Japanese mayo, and dried seaweed. The cooking techniques and types of toppings vary from city to city but the most famous ones are from Kansai and Hiroshima. In Kansai, all the ingredients are mixed and cooked together. While in Hiroshima, the ingredients are stacked one at a time rather than being combined. They are then topped with noodles together with eggs and lots of sauce.

10. Miso soup

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A traditional soup often served at the start of a meal, miso soup is also great for a hangover! The soup is made from dashi broth and miso paste obtained by fermenting soybeans. Green onions, wakame seaweed, tofu, sweet potatoes, daikon, shrimp, fish, mushrooms, or meat often make up this nutrient-packed soup. While either sweet or savory, it comes in many variations from the simplest to the most luxurious, which, for example, include crab meat.

Fish/seafood dishes

11. Kaisendon

Kaisendon’s literal translation is ‘seafood rice bowl.’  This dish is often made with raw fish and seafood sashimi topped with plain steamed white rice. The seafood includes different types of fish or other creatures, in thin slices.

12. Anago Meshi

Anago meshi is grilled saltwater eel served with rice. It is softer in texture, more subtle in flavor, and not quite as oily as the unagi. It is also glazed with a sauce that is not as sweet as kabayaki sauce. A Hiroshima specialty, Anago meshi is often paired with shoyu soba noodles.

13. Fukagawa Meshi

Fukagawa is rice cooked with clams. It was invented in Fukagawa, Tokyo, and thus its name. Clams are cooked in a broth containing sake, mirin, sugar, and salt, and then mixed with white vinegar and soy sauce then topped with rice.

14. Tako Tamayo

It refers to a glazed baby octopus stuffed with a quail egg on its head. Crazy, right? The baby octopus is grilled, the egg is boiled and both are skewered. It is often sold on the streets as a snack and is one of the best and most unique foods in Japan. They are just as delicious as they are bizarre!

15. Zuke

Zuke. Image by jetalone-Wikimedia

Before the era of refrigeration, there were methods to preserve food. Zuke is one of them. It is a traditional method of preserving raw fish by soaking fish fillets in a soy sauce mixture. Owing to the burst of vintage trends, the practice has resurged. Nowadays thin slices of fish are dipped in this soy sauce concoction not to preserve but to add flavor. The meals turn out to be tasty and full of flavor.

16. Fugu

Fugu is the Japanese word for puffer fish. You read that right, PUFFER FISH! This luxury fish is poisonous and contains deadly toxins tetrodotoxin and/or saxitoxin which can cause severe illness and death. They are so poisonous that they can only be served at restaurants in Japan where a qualified fugu handler works. It takes a minimum of least three years of training before being allowed to earn a license to prepare and serve the deadly fish. They are eaten in different ways, but the most common is sushi, sashimi, or in a winter hot pot dish known as fugu chirinabe. They say that the liver is the most delicious but it so happens that it is also the most poisonous thus serving it was prohibited since 1984.

17. Crab

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The Japanese love crab. They especially enjoy them in the winter. Many types of crabs are found here but one of the most sought-after is the King crab. Several crab dishes are prepared including Tempura which is a deep-fried seafood served as a side dish; shumai which is steamed dumplings filled with crab meat, kabayaki which is grilled crab legs over a bed of rice with ponzu sauce and oden which is soup with crab.

18. Oysters

Japan produces the largest amount of oysters in the world making oysters a major part of the Japanese food culture. The best time to enjoy the plumpest and juiciest oysters is in the first four months of the year. This delicacy can be enjoyed raw, grilled, steamed, deep-fried, smoked, or pan-fried.

Meat/Poultry dishes

In this category I have not left out vegetarians, there is plenty of tofu and veggie options, too.

19. Gyoza

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Gyoza is a type of half-moon-shaped dumpling filled with ground meat and vegetables wrapped in a thin sheet of dough. It is first steamed, before being pan-fried to get them crisp. There are many variations to the fillings but the most traditional ones include ground pork, onions, and cabbage. They can be enjoyed as a snack on their own or as a side dish to more substantial dishes like ramen.

20. Karaage

Karaage. Photo by Ocdp-Wikimedia

Karaage is deep-fried meat, poultry, or seafood. The ingredients are marinated to add flavor, coated in wheat flour, potato, or corn starch for a crunchy bite, and then deep fried. The difference between this dish and tempura is the coating, Karaage is coated in heavier batter.

21. Jingisukan

Jingisukan is a traditional mutton dish that is brought to the table raw and you are supposed to grill yourself. The cooking is done on a skillet or grill with a raised center. Typically, it is accompanied by onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and bean sprouts. It is a specialty in Hokkaido where sheep were a source of food for soldiers. The convex skillet represents a soldier’s helmet which was said to cook the food.

22. Japanese Curry

Japanese curry was brought by the British in the Meiji period but gained popularity in the 60s. It became so popular that today, Japanese curry rice is considered a national dish. Carrots, potatoes, and meat of choice all go in but the highlight is the Japanese curry. Customarily, it is served with curry rice, curry bread, or curry udon and eaten with chopsticks.

23. Korokke

The literal meaning of korokke is croquette. It includes minced beef/ seafood, shiitake mushrooms, and potato molded into a ball. It is then rolled in wheat flour, eggs, and panko breadcrumbs before being deep-fried to a golden brown. It is a delicious treat that can be enjoyed as a snack or as an accompaniment.

24. Yakiniku

Yakiniku is a cooking method that involves grilling meat and vegetables on small tabletop grills. It is a traditional method that was adopted from the Korean culture after WWII. Japan took it up and made a few adjustments and made it their own.  Raw meat and vegetables are brought to the table and you get to grill it yourself. All kinds of meats are grilled including beef, lamb, chicken, pork, fish, and shellfish.

25. Ton Katsu

Ton Katsu is a dish from the Nagoya prefecture. It refers to a 2-3 cm slice of pork loin coated with panko bread crumbs and then deep fried. It pairs well with rice, a savory sweet, shredded cabbage, and pickled vegetables. It is finished by topping it with tonkatsu sauce, which has a dark color, thick consistency, and a sour-sweet taste. It was invented back in 1899 but because the Japanese seldom consume pork, it was thought to be a western dish.

26. Motsunabe

Motsunabe is a hot pot dish that typically contains beef or pork offal. It was adopted by Korean coal miners after the war that would steam offals and chives flavored with soy sauce in shallow aluminum pots. The offal simmers for a short time and sauce, garlic, and chili pepper are added in. To finish off, cabbage, garlic chives, and champon noodles are added later. This combination makes a delicious stew full of collagen and which goes well with rice.

27. Basashi

basashi, raw horse meat. Image by Nesnad-Wikimedia

Basashi is a rare Japanese dish that is eaten in Kumamoto and Nagano prefectures. It refers to thinly sliced horse meat. Apart from sushi, it is served as croquette or in Japanese curry. Customarily, it is a cold dish as it is treated for bacteria and other parasites at -20°C for at least 48 hours. It is with soy sauce, garlic, and wasabi. It came up in the 17th century when Samurais sent to Korea had to eat their horses to avoid starvation. Due to their position in society, basashi became popular. An overabundance of horses in the 60s brought the culture back. Nowadays you can find horse-producing area farms all over Kumamoto.

28. Hida Beef Sushi

Photo by Marvin Sacdalan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cooked-food-on-white-ceramic-plate-13065204/

Hida beef sushi is just like normal sushi except fish is replaced with beef. It normally consists of thinly sliced wagyu beef. Apart from sushi, it can be served in a variety of dishes like burgers, croquettes, rice balls, and steamed buns. When you get past eating raw beef, the experience you get is like no other. Just like Kobe beef, Hida beef melts in your mouth!

29. Kakuni Manju

Kakuni Manju is the Japanese version of the Chinese gao pao. They are pork belly buns from Nagasaki. They consist of sticky dough wrapped around a filling of pork belly, which gives them a unique taste. They are a people’s favorite and are found in convenience stores across the country. The pork belly is simmered in dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake before being slow-cooked for several hours. The moist and tender meat is then sandwiched in a soft bun with scallions and cucumber. The delicious snack is often served out of bamboo steamers.

30. Tebasaki

Tebasaki is a chicken wings dish. The chicken wings are double-fried to achieve good crispiness. Various Japanese spices are used to season. Traditionally, they are coated in a sticky, savory-sweet glaze. Nagoya cochin, one of the best chicken breeds in japan, is used to make these flavourful treats.

31. Doteni

Doteni is a dish that consists of beef tendon, innards, and daikon radish. The ingredients are simmered in the show’s highlight, Hatcho miso sauce. The sauce is what elevates the dish to deliciousness. Together with tebasaki they are the main foods in Nagoya. Another similar dish is the dotenso, a type of soft tofu that is cooked until it becomes creamy. They both cook for a long period to become tender and juicy.

Noodles dishes

32. Udon

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Udon is eggless wheat noodles. They are 2 to 4mm in diameter and when cooked are tender and stretchy. They can be served hot or cold and can be enjoyed as a side dish to meat and vegetables. The most common is in a hot soup called Kake udon, with a mild broth called kakejiru made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. The soup is then topped with chopped scallions. Other common toppings include prawn tempura, mixed tempura fritter, sweet, deep-fried tofu pouches, sliced fish cake, and shichimi spice added to taste.

33. Champon

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Champon is similar to ramen. It is long and typically made by frying pork, seafood, and vegetables with lard, and then added to a soup made with chicken and pig bones. The noodles are then added to the mix before boiling. It was discovered by a Chinese restaurant in Nagasaki. It was inspired by a Fujian dish known as tonniishiimen. It was also created as an affordable and satisfactory option for Chinese students in Japan during the Meiji period.

34. Soba

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Soba noodles are one of the oldest dishes on this list. They were invented over 6000 years ago in the Edo period. They are also the most nutritious of noodles and eating them has been known to prevent nutritional deficiencies. They are made of buckwheat flour. They can be enjoyed either in a hot broth as noodle soup or cold with a dipping sauce called tsuyu. Hot soba is great for the wintertime. Customarily, eating soba while chilled is the best way to enjoy these noodles.

Other dishes

35. Okonomiyaki

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Okonomiyaki resembles a pancake but not quite. It is made of a special flour batter mixed with cabbage, scallions, shrimp, and sometimes meat then fried. The meat can vary from beef to fish. It is cooked to a crispy texture and is often served with a special Okonomiyaki sauce, Bonita flakes, and Japanese mayonnaise on top.

36. Chawanmushi

Chawanmushi is a popular traditional Japanese savory egg custard dish. The recipes and ingredients of this dish vary but typically involve, shiitake mushroom, parsley, ginkgo, lily, chestnut, chicken, and different types of seafood. The origin of this dish was traced to the 18th century. It was often served hot in winter and chilled in the summer. It is part of various dishes set in a buffet.

37. Oden

Oden is a winter comfort food that first came up in the Muromachi period. it started as a tofu stew but nowadays all kinds of ingredients are added in including oden broth, such as fish cakes, potatoes, boiled eggs, daikon radish, and other assorted vegetables. They are slow-cooked to enrich the dish. It is trendy and is often served with a side of Japanese mustard.

38. Onigiri

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Onigiri is also known as omusubi.  It is a traditional Japanese snack made from rice, seaweed, and a filling. They are called balls even if they are triangular. Unlike sushi which is handled by men, onigiri is often made by girls. It is popular and quite affordable. It has existed for around 2000 years when laborers and fishermen carried pressed rice balls for their lunch. Nowadays you will find it wrapped in edible seaweed. In the wrap, there are often salty fish fillings, pickled plums, or more modern additions like teriyaki chicken.

39. Monjayaki

Monjayaki is a classic Japanese dish. It is often made with runny batter just like a pancake. It is then pan-fried. Unlike a typical pancake that is solid, its texture resembles melted cheese. It is cooked on the table. Shredded cabbage is placed over the griddle and the batter is cooked on top. Other ingredients include pork, octopus, squid, shrimp, and other types of seafood. It is often scooped with a spatula to eat.

40. Natto

Natto is a dish that is hated and loved in equal measure. They are fermented soybeans that are often paired with rice, green onions, and raw eggs seasoned with soy sauce and karashi mustard. Their fermented nature is not loved by many. They produce a pungent smell and are goey and stretchy. It is a dish that is often eaten in the morning and studies have shown that it has medicinal properties.

Desserts and drinks

41. Matcha

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Matcha is an essential ingredient in Japanese cuisine. It is a finely ground powder of green tea leaves. Green tea originated in China. Traditionally, it was used central component in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. The priciest and strongest variety of matcha is used in these Japanese ceremonies. Currently, it is used in both desserts and drinks. It is packed with antioxidants so it is quite healthy. Items such as ice cream, cakes, cookies, beverages, cocktails, and milkshakes can be made of this ingredient. Matcha has a fresh sweet and creamy taste with a slight bitterness, a harmonious and pleasant aftertaste, and a delicate flavor.

42. Mochi

 

Mochi is a traditional Japanese sticky rice cake made from mochigome, glutinous short-grain rice in a labor-intensive process. The rice is pounded into a paste before being molded into balls. They are a New Year treat. The balls are then rolled them around in honey or sugar syrup. They are chewy, bouncy, and stretchy. They attract good fortune, and it is believed that long strands of freshly made mochi symbolize long life and good well-being.

43. Sake

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Sake is a traditional alcoholic drink iconic in Japan. It is a rice wine made by fermenting rice that’s been polished to remove the bran. It is made through a process similar to beer where you convert starch into sugars which ferment into alcohol. It is used in both cooking and drinking. There are premium sakes and lower-class ones. Most Japanese prefer lower-class ones. Premium varieties are served chilled and lower-class sakes are heated.

44. Castella cake

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It can be referred to as a Japanese sponge cake. It is made from flour, eggs, sugar, and starch syrup. It originated in Portugal in the 16th century and since then became a Japanese favorite. Portuguese merchants came through Nagasaki. The delicious dessert became and still is a specialty in Nagasaki and can be found in many shops in the city.

45. Wagashi

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Wagashi are traditional pastry sweets that mostly accompany tea. They are made from various ingredients including beans, rice, yams, chestnuts, spicy herbs, agar-agar, tea, and wasanbon cane sugar. They are decorations that often reflect natural forms and depend on the season. There are three categories of wagashi; Namagashi is a sweet made from raw ingredients. They are used during the traditional tea ceremony and are consumed only freshly prepared; Han-namagashi is made from heat-treated foods. These desserts can be stored for several weeks; Higashi is a dry sweet made from sugar, bean, or rice flour by pressing. They can be stored for several months.