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There’s more to eating in Japan than sushi, tempura and teriyaki (delicious though they are). For travellers seeking to immerse themselves more fully into Japanese cuisine, enjoy our in-depth guide and learn about all the fantastic food and drink to be enjoyed in Japanese cuisine. Contents
- Japanese Snacks and Appetizers
- Japanese Soups, Stews, and Hot Pots
- Japanese Seafood
- Japanese Noodles
- Japanese Rice Dishes
- Japanese Meat Dishes
- Japanese Combination Meals
- Japanese Sweets and Desserts
- Where to Eat in Tokyo
- Kisoji, Tokyo
Japan has a huge variety of appetizers and easy to make Japanese snacks that make on-the-go quick bites. Here are some of the most popular Japanese snacks.
Miso Soup
Miso is an important staple in Japanese food, and it is used in hundreds of Japanese dishes. It is savory and has a slight tang that will whet your appetite before a big meal. Miso soup is everywhere in Japan, from takeout restaurants to fine dining establishments. It can also be enjoyed on its own to warm you up during cold weather. It usually has tofu in it, but you can add in any ingredients you like.
Suimono Soup
Suimono means “food you can sip” in Japanese. It is a clear soup that’s often served at the end of a meal. The ingredients are usually seasonal, so they change throughout the year. Suimono is a really interesting dish because it’s so simple to make, but nearly impossible to master. The flavors are so delicate that it’s easy to go overboard with them. Menya Kisouin Tokyo is famous for serving the best suimono in Japan.
Shabu Shabu
Shabu Shabu isn’t only one of the most popular Japanese foods, it is a full-on dining experience. It is a hot pot dish with a lot of different meats and vegetables, that you can cook yourself in a boiling hot soup served to your table. Shabu shabu actually got its name because of the sound the ingredients make while they’re splashing around in the water!
Seafood is a staple in Japanese cuisine and you can’t travel Japan without having some seafood. Any Japanese restaurant you visit will surely have some of these seafood dishes.
Most people know ramen and udon noodles, but there are hundreds more types of noodles in Japan And do you know the difference between different Japanese noodles? Each type of noodles is cooked in a different style in Japan. Here are some of the best Japanese noodle dishes.
Rice is one of the foundations of Japanese cuisine. It’s used in many popular Japanese foods. Preparing the perfect rice is an art though, and when it’s done correctly, rice can take any dish to another level! These are some rice dishes you need to try on your next trip to Japan!
Japanese cuisine is all about using the highest quality ingredients and transforming them into beautiful and delectable dishes. Japanese meat dishes play a big part in this, and your mouth will be watering after seeing this Japanese foods list!
Bento Set
Traditionally, a bento set is a Japanese lunchbox. But it is so much more than what most of us would consider a simple takeaway lunchbox. The set typically includes a series of ingredients: rice, salad, tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette), meat or fish, and pickled vegetables. A proper bento lunch is crafted with care and should be a complete meal with a variety of tastes, textures, and food groups.
Yakiniku
Yakinikurefers to the Japanese technique of cooking bite-sized pieces of meat and vegetables on a table grill. It can also refer to a number of dishes cooked using the same technique. Traditionally, you grill these raw, thinly sliced meat and vegetables on the table yourself and dip them in sauces. The most popular meat for yakiniku includes beef, pork, chicken, and a variety of shellfish.
Kaiseki Feasts
The most upscale meal you can have in Japan, Kaiseki is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner consisting of beautifully assembled dishes. Originally presented to the royal noble classes, a kaiseki meal today can cost up to $100. I was lucky enough to experience the kaiseki several times during my press trip in Japan. Most traditional ryokans (Japanese inn) will serve the kaiseki with dessert and a matcha tea ceremony. 1. Sakizuke — an appetizer served with sake 2. Nimono — a simmered dis...
Mochi
This is my absolute favorite Japanese dessert! Mochi, the tiny cakes made out of glutinous rice, are an important part of Japanese cuisine and culture. Making a mochi is a time-consuming process that involves pounding boiled rice until it forms a thick and homogenous paste. The best place to try mochi is in Nara, where you’ll get to see mochi masters pounding them with giant hammers!
Taiyaki
I actually ate this a lot growing up in Singapore! Taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake that is often consumed as a snack, made from flour and filled with azuki sweet bean paste. It is usually served warm and is often found at most taiyaki stands at any winter festival in Japan.
Tokyo is the most-visited city in Japan, and its culinary scene is thriving. Tokyo is home to some of the world’s best restaurants, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed and miss them while you’re walking through the neon-lit streets. Here are some of our favorite restaurants in Tokyo that we’ve eaten at and can highly recommend:
Our Japanese friend brought us to this shabu-shabu (hotpot) restaurant and we had some of the best wagyu beef I’ve had. You can book a private tatami room and cook the shabu-shabu or sukiyaki yourself. Book a table here.
- Miso Soup. Miso Soup is made using miso paste made from fermented soybeans. It is popularly used in Japanese cuisine and can be found on menus everywhere from sushi restaurants to grocery stores.
- Oden. Oden is a popular home-cooked dish in Japan during the wintertime is a simple simmered recipe containing vegetables and nerimono – fish or meat that has been ground, seasoned, and kneaded into a cake.
- Chanko Nabe. This is a popular hotpot meal traditionally eaten by sumo wrestlers to help them to gain weight and is rich in protein. The soup is usually made with dashi stock, or a chicken broth, and common ingredients include chicken meat, fish, pork belly, tofu, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, and long green onions.
- Sukiyaki. This is a dish served with marbled beef and usually prepared in a cast iron pot. Thin slices of beef are simmered at the table along with ingredients such as tofu, long green onions, cabbage, and mushrooms, cooked together in a soy sauce broth.
- Ramen (Japanese Noodle Dish) Ramen was originally called “Chinese soba” and was introduced to Japan during the Taisho era. Ramen restaurants began to emerge in the 1900s and have since evolved into numerous ramen variations.
- Udon (Japanese Thick Noodles) Udon is one of the three most-eaten noodles in Japan, so there is no reason not to try it. Udon noodles with brine wine and wheat flour will have the perfect chewiness and texture.
- Yakisoba (Fried Noodles) Yakisoba is a popular dish in Japanese noodles that appears in numerous famous Japanese cookbooks. Noodles will be stir-fried with various vegetables and pork.
- Soba (Buckwheat Noodles) Soba is a type of Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. You will be immersed in the characteristic nutty and earthy flavors when eating the chewy and yummy soba noodles.
- Japanese cooking sake. Cooking sake is used in so many Japanese recipes, you can’t live without a bottle. This brand is not a cooking sake but you can drink it as well.
- Japanese roasted sesame oil. The sesame oils used as a flavoring ingredient in Japanese dishes is made from roasted sesame seeds. Roasted sesame oil has a lightly brown color to sometimes a darker reddish color and usually the deeper the color the more flavor it has.
- Japanese Mirin: sweet rice wine. Mirin is commonly used in Japanese sauces and dishes to add a bit of sweetness without overwhelming. It is what gives the glossy shine to teriyaki amongst other things.
- Rice vinegar. Rice vinegar is always used in good sushi rice for seasoning the rice. Apart from that, you will often find it in dressing recipes and for all those delicious Japanese pickled ginger, plums and other mixtures.
Wondering what to eat in Japan? This list of the top 50 most popular Japanese food should help for your next visit to the Land of the Rising Sun! There are so many delicious foods to try in Japan, but it can be overwhelming if you don’t know what’s what or if the menu isn’t written in English.
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Mar 1, 2023 · 45 Traditional Japanese Dishes You Need To Try There are so many traditional foods of Japan that we all know and love. From delicious Japanese soups to sushi and pork belly, we can’t get enough of it.
