Eight unmissable Japanese treats
If you think Japanese food’s all about raw fish and slurpy noodles, think again.
From quick, tasty fixes to all-you-can-eat meat, here’s a rundown of some lesser-known favourites of mine.
From quick, tasty fixes to all-you-can-eat meat, here’s a rundown of some lesser-known favourites of mine.
1. Okonomiyaki
Part-omelette, part-pancake, part-oh-my-god-I-could-drink-the-sauce-neat, this is a comfort food like no other.
Meaning whatever you like, fried, okonomiyaki is a blank battery canvas on which to scatter everything from strips of pork to squid, fresh oysters and even chewy rice cakes. Or, if you’re in Hiroshima and craving carbs, a generous portion of noodles.
Then it’s all topped off with lashings of sweet, sticky brown sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed sprinkles and papery bonito flakes that ripple and writhe in the heat.
The best part though: you cook it yourself – dinner and a show.
2. Yakitori
The Japanese may work hard, but they play hard too. Usually with a beer in one hand and grilled meat in the other – a winning combination.
Yakitori simply means grilled chicken, and it’s this simplicity that makes it a joy. Pull up a bar stool and take your pick of the sticks, ordering tapas-like as you go.
Play it safe with chicken and leek negima, tuck into a crispy skin torikawa or go all out with some crunchy, cartilage-y nankotsu.
Otherwise just point at the menu (usually hung on banners above the bar) and hope for the best.
3. Tonkatsu
If you’ve had a katsu curry you’ll be familiar with the tender-juicy, crispy-crunchy amazingness that is a Japanese panko-covered cutlet or katsu.
While the curry’s usually chicken, tonkatsu’s its delicious porky cousin and comes with rice, shredded cabbage and moreishly tangy sauce.
For extra flavour, add ground sesame seeds. Glorious.
And if you can’t wait until dinner time, you’ll even find tonkatsu sandwiched between bread for on-the-go meat-lovers.
4. Tabehodai
One little word, oh so much food…
Tabehodai simply means all you can eat, and along with nomihodai (all you can drink) is a staple of Japan’s izakaya (pub) culture.
It usually involves yakiniku (grilled meat), which you cook at your table on a built-in hot plate, as well as seasonal veg, rice and salady sides.
To make life easier, there’s usually a picture menu, so just say tabihodai and order whatever looks good.
Then tuck in and make the most of your two-hour time limit.
5. Baked goods
You can’t go far in Japan without stumbling upon a patisserie or three.
With their neat lines of Mont Blancs, matcha cakes and macarons, they’re a picture-perfect little piece of Paris.
But that’s not what you go to Japan for, surely..?
If you want to go local, hit one of the bigger bakery chains and pile your tray high with everything from melon pan and gooey doughnuts, to mayo-coated baguettes filled with anything from shrimp to spam.
Now that's a taste sensation.
6. Konbeni cuisine
If you’re after food on the fly, konbeni (convenience stories) are a mixed blessing.
Onigiri rice balls are a quick, cheap way to fill up and the sandwich fillings score highly for novelty – potato salad sandwich, anyone?
But beware the culinary delights found at the counter.
I’m talking about oden.
Picture a vat of beige broth, gently warming under a heat lamp. A few off-white boiled eggs bob lazily alongside assorted brown tubes, triangles and parcels.
I’m reliably informed that it’s all fairly innocuous stuff like potato, tofu, squid and sausage but I never quite got up the courage to take the plunge.
Maybe I’m missing out. I’m fine with that.
7. Nikuman
Another good one when you’re on the go, you’ll find bamboo towers of nikuman steaming somewhere on most streets.
Squishy, warm and slightly sweet, the buns are usually filled with pork and veg, and are perfect on a chilly day.
Convenience stores sell variations like kareman (filled with curry) and pizzaman, but I’d save those for an end-of-night snack when the beer’s dulled your tastebuds a tad.
8. Kakigori
Summertime in Tokyo is chō~ atsui ne (that’s really hot, to you and me) and nothing helps take the temperature down like a pot of light, floaty shaved ice.
Sold from stalls at parks and temples, you can top kakigori with sweet fruity syrup or condensed milk, then add everything from sweet beans to jelly chunks.
Find a perch in the shade then chomp your way through the ice and slurp up the lovely melted leftovers at the bottom.
Then say sayōnara to slush puppies forever.
< Back
Part-omelette, part-pancake, part-oh-my-god-I-could-drink-the-sauce-neat, this is a comfort food like no other.
Meaning whatever you like, fried, okonomiyaki is a blank battery canvas on which to scatter everything from strips of pork to squid, fresh oysters and even chewy rice cakes. Or, if you’re in Hiroshima and craving carbs, a generous portion of noodles.
Then it’s all topped off with lashings of sweet, sticky brown sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed sprinkles and papery bonito flakes that ripple and writhe in the heat.
The best part though: you cook it yourself – dinner and a show.
2. Yakitori
The Japanese may work hard, but they play hard too. Usually with a beer in one hand and grilled meat in the other – a winning combination.
Yakitori simply means grilled chicken, and it’s this simplicity that makes it a joy. Pull up a bar stool and take your pick of the sticks, ordering tapas-like as you go.
Play it safe with chicken and leek negima, tuck into a crispy skin torikawa or go all out with some crunchy, cartilage-y nankotsu.
Otherwise just point at the menu (usually hung on banners above the bar) and hope for the best.
3. Tonkatsu
If you’ve had a katsu curry you’ll be familiar with the tender-juicy, crispy-crunchy amazingness that is a Japanese panko-covered cutlet or katsu.
While the curry’s usually chicken, tonkatsu’s its delicious porky cousin and comes with rice, shredded cabbage and moreishly tangy sauce.
For extra flavour, add ground sesame seeds. Glorious.
And if you can’t wait until dinner time, you’ll even find tonkatsu sandwiched between bread for on-the-go meat-lovers.
4. Tabehodai
One little word, oh so much food…
Tabehodai simply means all you can eat, and along with nomihodai (all you can drink) is a staple of Japan’s izakaya (pub) culture.
It usually involves yakiniku (grilled meat), which you cook at your table on a built-in hot plate, as well as seasonal veg, rice and salady sides.
To make life easier, there’s usually a picture menu, so just say tabihodai and order whatever looks good.
Then tuck in and make the most of your two-hour time limit.
5. Baked goods
You can’t go far in Japan without stumbling upon a patisserie or three.
With their neat lines of Mont Blancs, matcha cakes and macarons, they’re a picture-perfect little piece of Paris.
But that’s not what you go to Japan for, surely..?
If you want to go local, hit one of the bigger bakery chains and pile your tray high with everything from melon pan and gooey doughnuts, to mayo-coated baguettes filled with anything from shrimp to spam.
Now that's a taste sensation.
6. Konbeni cuisine
If you’re after food on the fly, konbeni (convenience stories) are a mixed blessing.
Onigiri rice balls are a quick, cheap way to fill up and the sandwich fillings score highly for novelty – potato salad sandwich, anyone?
But beware the culinary delights found at the counter.
I’m talking about oden.
Picture a vat of beige broth, gently warming under a heat lamp. A few off-white boiled eggs bob lazily alongside assorted brown tubes, triangles and parcels.
I’m reliably informed that it’s all fairly innocuous stuff like potato, tofu, squid and sausage but I never quite got up the courage to take the plunge.
Maybe I’m missing out. I’m fine with that.
7. Nikuman
Another good one when you’re on the go, you’ll find bamboo towers of nikuman steaming somewhere on most streets.
Squishy, warm and slightly sweet, the buns are usually filled with pork and veg, and are perfect on a chilly day.
Convenience stores sell variations like kareman (filled with curry) and pizzaman, but I’d save those for an end-of-night snack when the beer’s dulled your tastebuds a tad.
8. Kakigori
Summertime in Tokyo is chō~ atsui ne (that’s really hot, to you and me) and nothing helps take the temperature down like a pot of light, floaty shaved ice.
Sold from stalls at parks and temples, you can top kakigori with sweet fruity syrup or condensed milk, then add everything from sweet beans to jelly chunks.
Find a perch in the shade then chomp your way through the ice and slurp up the lovely melted leftovers at the bottom.
Then say sayōnara to slush puppies forever.
< Back
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