Japan Food

Traditional Japanese cuisine is dominated by white rice (hakumai), and few meals would be complete without it. Anything else served during a meal--fish, meat, vegetables, tsukemono (pickles)--is considered a side dish, known as okazu.

Traditional Japanese meals are named by the number of side dishes that accompany the rice and soup that are nearly always served. The simplest Japanese meal, for example, consists of ichiju-issai ("one soup, one side" or "one dish meal"). This means soup, rice, and one accompanying side dish--usually a pickled vegetable like daikon. A traditional Japanese breakfast, for example, usually consists of miso soup, rice, and a pickled vegetable.

The most common meal, however, is called ichiju-sansai ("one soup, three sides"), or soup, rice, and three side dishes, each employing a different cooking technique. The three side dishes are usually raw fish (sashimi), a grilled dish, and a simmered (sometimes called boiled in translations from Japanese) dish -- although steamed, deep fried, vinegared, or dressed dishes may replace the grilled or simmered dishes. Ichiju-sansai often finishes with pickles such as umeboshi and green tea.

This Japanese view of a meal is reflected in the organization of traditional Japanese cookbooks. Chapters are organized according to cooking techniques: fried foods, steamed foods, and grilled foods. There may also be chapters devoted to soups, sushi, rice, noodles, and sweets.

Since Japan is an island nation, Japanese people consume much seafood including fish, shellfish, octopus, squid, crabs, lobsters, shrimp and seaweed. Although not known as a meat eating country, very few Japanese consider themselves vegetarians. Beef and chicken are commonly eaten and have become part of everyday cuisine.

Noodles, originating from China, have become an essential part of Japanese cuisine. There are two traditional types of noodle, soba and udon. Made from buckwheat flour, soba is a thin, brown noodle. Made from wheat flour, udon is a thick, white noodle. Both are generally served in a soy-flavored fish broth with various vegetables. A more recent import from China, dating to the early 19th century, is ramen (Chinese wheat noodles), which has become extremely popular. Ramen is served in a variety of soup stocks ranging from soy sauce/fish stock to butter/pork stock.

Famous Japanese foods and dishes

Deep-Fried dishes (Agemono)

• Korokke (croquette) - breaded and deep-fried balls of mashed potato with creamy vegetable, seafood, or meat-flavored fillings.
• Kushiage - meat deep fried on a skewer.
• Tempura - battered and deep-fried vegetables, seafood, and meat.
• Tonkatsu - deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (chicken versions called chicken katsu).
  

Donburi

A one-bowl dish of hot steamed rice with various savory toppings:

• Katsudon - deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (tonkatsudon), chicken (chicken katsudon) or fish (e.g., magurodon)
• Oyakodon - (Parent and Child) Usually chicken and egg but sometimes salmon and salmon roe
• Gyudon - seasoned beef
• Tempuradon - battered, deep fried bite-sized foods

Grilled and pan-fried dishes (Yakimono)

• Gyoza - Chinese dumplings (potstickers), usually filled with pork and vegetables
• Hamachi Kama - grilled yellow tail tuna jaw and cheek bone
• Kushiyaki - meat and vegetable kebabs
• Okonomiyaki - pan-fried batter cakes with various savory toppings (see also Okonomiyaki restaurants)
• Omu-Raisu - i.e. "omelette rice", a fried ketchup-flavored rice sandwiched with a thinly spread beaten egg or covered with a plain egg omelette
• Omu-Soba - an omelette with yakisoba as its filling
• Takoyaki - a spherical, fried dumpling of batter with a piece of octopus inside
• Teriyaki - grilled, broiled, or pan-fried meat, fish, chicken or vegetables glazed with a sweetened soy sauce
• Unagi, including kabayaki - grilled and flavored eel
• Yakisoba - Japanese style fried noodles
• Yakitori - chicken kebabs

Nabemono (one pot cooking)

• Sukiyaki - mixture of noodles, thinly sliced beef, egg and vegetables boiled in a special sauce made of fish broth, soy sauce, sugar and sake
• Shabu-shabu - noodles, vegetables and shrimp or thinly sliced beef boiled in a thin stock and dipped in a soy or sesame sauce before eating
• Motsunabe - cow intestine, hakusai (bok choi) and various vegetables are cooked in a light soup base
• Kimuchinabe - similar to motsunabe, except with a kimuchi base and using thinly sliced pork. Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish, but it has also become very popular in Japan, particularly in the southern island of Kyushu, which is situated closest to South Korea
• Oden
• Nikujaga, a Japanese version of beef stew.

Noodles (men-rui)

Noodles often take the place of rice in a meal. However, the Japanese appetite for rice is so strong that many restaurants even serve ramen-rice combination sets.

• Soba - thin brown buckwheat noodles served chilled with various toppings or in hot broth
• Ramen - thin light yellow noodle served in hot broth with various toppings; of Chinese origin, it is a popular and common item in Japan
• Udon - thick wheat noodle served with various toppings or in a hot shoyu and dashi broth
• Champon - yellow noodles of medium thickness served with a great variety of seafood and vegetable toppings in a hot broth which originated in Nagasaki as a cheap food for students
• Somen
• Okinawa soba - a wheat-flour noodle often served with soki, steamed pork

Rice (gohanmono)

• Mochi - soft rice cake
• Ochazuke - green tea poured over white rice, often flavored
• Onigiri - Japanese rice balls
• Sekihan - red rice with adzuki beans
• Kamameshi - rice topped with vegetables and chicken or seafood, then baked in an individual-sized pot
• Kare Rice (see also curry) - Introduced from UK in the late 19th century, it became a staple food in Japan
• Hayashi Rice - thick beef stew on rice; origin of the name is unknown, but may be "hashed rice"
• Om-rice (Omu-raisu) - omelette filled with fried rice, apparently originating from Osaka
  

Sashimi

Sashimi is raw, thinly sliced foods served with a dipping sauce and simple garnishes; usually fish or shellfish but can be almost anything including beef, horse and chicken.

• Basashi - sliced horse meat, sometimes called Sakura
• Fugu - sliced poisonous pufferfish (sometimes lethal if not prepared correctly), a uniquely Japanese specialty
• Rebasashi - usually liver of beef
• Shikasashi - sliced deer meat, a rare delicacy in certain parts of Japan

Sushi

Probably the most famous Japanese dish, sushi is vinegared rice topped or mixed with various fresh ingredients, usually fish or seafood.

• Nigirizushi - This is sushi with the ingredients on top of a block of rice.
• Makizushi - Translated as "roll sushi," this is where rice and seafood or other ingredients are placed on a sheet of seaweed (nori) and rolled into a cylindrical shape on a bamboo mat and then cut into smaller pieces.
• Temaki - Basically the same as makizushi, except that the nori is rolled into a cone-shape with the ingredients placed inside.
• Chirashi - Translated as "scattered", chirashi involves fresh sea food, vegetables or other ingredients being placed on top of sushi rice in a bowl or dish.

Soups (suimono and shirumono)

• Tonjiru - similar to Miso soup, except that pork is added to the ingredients
• Dangojiru - soup made with dumplings along with seaweed, tofu, lotus root, or any number of other vegetables and roots
• Miso soup - soup made with miso, dashi and seasonal ingredients like fish, kamaboko, onions, clams, potato, etc.
• Sumashijiru - a clear soup made with dashi and seafood

Sweets

• Wagashi - Japanese-style sweets
  • Amanatto
  • Anmitsu- a traditional Japanese dessert
  • Anpan - bread with sweet bean paste in the center
  • Dango - rice dumpling
  • Ginbou
  • Hanabiramochi
  • Higashi
  • Hoshigaki - Dried persimmon fruit
  • Imagawayaki - also known as 'Taikoyaki' is a round Taiyaki and fillings are same
  • Kakigori - shaved ice with syrup topping.
  • Kompeito - crystal sugar candy
  • Manju - sticky rice surrounding a sweet bean center
  • Matsunoyuki
  • Melonpan - a large, round, sweet, crusty bread that looks and tastes somewhat like a melon
  • Mochi - steamed sweet rice pounded into a solid mass
  • Oshiruko - a warm, sweet red bean (an) soup with mochi - rice cake
  • Uiro - a steamed cake made of rice flour
  • Taiyaki - a fried, fish-shaped cake, usually with a sweet filling such as an - red bean paste
• Dagashi - Old-fashioned Japanese-style sweets
  • Karumetou - Brown sugar cake. Also called Karumeyaki
  • Ramune - Sweet candy that melts in your mouth
  • Sosu Senbei - Thin wafers eaten with soy sauce
  • Umaibou - Puffed corn food with various flavors
• Yogashi - Western-style sweets, but in Japan typically very light or spongy
  • Kasutera - "Castella" Iberian-style sponge cake
  • Mirucurepu - "mille crepe" - layered crepe
• Other Snacks
  • Azuki Ice - vanilla flavored ice cream with sweet azuki beans
  • Hello Panda
  • Macha Ice (Green tea ice cream) - green tea flavored ice cream
  • Pocky

Other

• Agedashi tofu - cubes of deep-fried silken tofu served in hot broth
• Bento or Obento - combination meal served in a wooden box
• Hiyayakko - cold tofu dish
• Osechi - traditional food eaten at the New Year
• Natto - fermented soybeans, stringy like melted cheese, infamous amongst non-Japanese for its strong smell and slippery texture. Often eaten for breakfast. Typically popular in Kanto and less so in Kansai
• Shiokara - salty fermented viscera
• Chawan mushi - meat (seafood and/or chicken) and vegetables boiled in egg custard
  

Dishes for special occasions

In Japanese tradition some dishes are strongly tied to a festival or event. Major such combinations include:

• Osechi - New Year.
• Chirashizushi, clear soup of crumbs and amazake - Hinamatsuri.
• botamochi (sticky rice dumpling with sweet azuki paste) - Spring equinox.
• Chimaki (steamed sweet rice cake) - Tango no Sekku and Gion Festival.
• Hamo (a kind of fish) and somen - Gion Festival.
• Sekihan, cooked rice with adzuki - celebration in general.
• Soba - New Year's Eve. This is called toshi koshi soba (literally "year crossing soba").

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Japanese cuisine"

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