7 Japanese dishes to taste

Sushi is perhaps the first thing you think of when you think of Japanese food and it is also an incredibly exquisite thing to eat in Japan.

But Japanese cuisine is more varied than you may think. Japanese cuisine is based on fresh ingredients, ranging from vegetables to fish and many different types of meat.

We’ve put together seven different Japanese dishes below, which you simply have to try on your visit to outstanding Japan.

Ramen – ラーメン

Ramen may well be Japan’s answer to one of Vietnam’s classic dishes, Pho. The traditional dish can be purchased on pretty much any street in Japan.

The noodle soup, which contain thin noodles made of wheat, is often composed of a base of chicken stock served with meat or fish, vegetables and a boiled, soya-marinated egg. Typical vegetables in the soup are mushrooms, bean sprouts and onions.

Many versions of ramen are served. Shoyu is a variant with soy sauce – and the most common.

Ramen is Japan in a soup.

NB: When you eat noodle soup, slurping is obligatory! And you can almost find the noodle soup restaurants with your ears!

Sushi – すし, 寿司, 鮨

You should definitely also try sushi when you’re in Japan.

Sushi is an exquisite and heavenly mouthful that comes in countless varieties.

In short, it’s raw fish or seafood with rice combined with various toppings, vegetables and seaweed. You can, for example, get sushi with salmon, crab, prawns, tuna and much, much more besides.

Every piece of sushi is a mini work of art – a masterpiece. In fact, it takes eight years to become sushi chef, and three years before you can cook the sushi rice to perfection.

Tempura – 天ぷら or 天麩羅

Tempura is all the best from the deep fat fryer. Tempura is vegetables and fish dipped in a perfect, light batter and fried in the deep fat fryer in sesame or rapeseed oil. And voila! An extremely delicious and sinful dish is ready to be eaten.

Tempura is typically served with rice, soy sauce or tentsuyu, a tempura dip.

Try a restaurant specialising in making tempura – it’s a little piece of paradise in every mouthful.

Dumplings/Gyoza – 餃子 (ぎょうざ)

Gyoza, or dumplings, are small juicy dumplings filled with crab, pork, beef, chicken or vegetables.

The delicious meat or vegetable-filled dumplings are dipped in soy, chilli oil or other delicious sauces.

The Japanese often eat dumplings as a snack, but they are also served as a main meal. And what’s more, the deliciously appetizing parcels are reasonably priced.

Okonomiyaki – お好み焼き

Okonomiyaki is found all over Japan, but the dish is most popular in the west. Try it in cities such as Hiroshima or Osaka, where they have their own unique take on this flat dish.

Okonomiyaki consists of something reminiscent of a flat piece of bread with different ingredients on top. These might be cheese, wasabi, vegetables, meat or fish.

But the dish is very regional, so you will find many different types. In Hiroshima, for example, an okonomiyaki with fried soba noodles is made.

If you are up for making your own okonomiyaki, this is possible at several restaurants.

Yakitori – 焼き鳥

The dish is based on chicken in all its guises (e.g. skin, liver, thigh), marinated in soy sauce, for example, and cooked over charcoal.

If you want to try yakitori, you should head for the so-called yakitori-ya restaurants, which specialise in this particular dish. The dish can be found for very little money, but it is also available at top restaurants serving a much more expensive version.

You can try different variants of the dish such as Negima, which is made of chicken thigh meat; reba, which is chicken liver or tsukune, meatballs of chicken, spices, vegetables and eggs.

Sukiyaki -すき焼き

Sukiyaki is a hotpot dish. It often arrives at the table in a raw state, and is cooked on the table in a cast iron pot.

The dish is cooked in such a way that the thinly sliced beef is browned in the pot before the bouillon, which is called warishita and is based on sweet and salty soy sauce, and the rest of the ingredients are added.

The ingredients vary from region to region, but the ingredients in a Sukiyaki are, for example, tofu, vegetables and shiitake mushrooms. In some places, you can also get the dish with egg in the sauce.

Want a culinary Japan experience?

Has this made your mouth water? Do you feel compelled to try some of the excellent, tasty and exquisite dishes that Japanese cuisine has to offer? Then what’s keeping you?

Take a look at our tours to Japan, and contact our travel consultants if you have any questions or need help choosing the right tour for you. Also see what we recommend when it comes to Japanese desserts.

Bon appétit!

TourCompass – From tourist to traveller