Traditional Japanese Foods You Need to Try!
Japanese food has become more and more popular outside of Japan in the last several decades. It’s common to see sushi restaurants in America these days, but even then, it’s hard to compare fresh sushi in Japan to some of its American counterparts. There are other delicious Japanese dishes that most people probably haven’t even heard of before and you’d be hard pressed to find them outside Japan. So, if you are travelling to the “Land of the Rising Sun” anytime soon, check out these 10 must-try traditional Japanese foods.
1. Sushi
Sushi is one of the most iconic traditional Japanese foods. Sushi has a long history starting from using fermented rice to preserve fish and eventually evolving to the dish we know today. Sushi can have many toppings or fillings, but a must-have ingredient is rice seasoned with rice vinegar. There are two types of sushi that most people would be familiar with; nigiri (a topping, normally a slice of raw fish, set atop an oblong ball of rice) and maki rolls (dried seaweed layered with sushi rice that wraps various fillings into a cylinder and is then cut into bite-sized pieces.).
2. Tempura
Tempura is a dish made from seafood, meat or vegetables that have been dipped in batter and deep fried. The dish was inspired by fritter-cooking that was introduced in the 16th century by Portuguese merchants. The batter is made from ice water, flour, eggs, baking soda, starch and oil. The vegetables and seafood are thinly sliced and dipped in the batter before being deep fired in vegetable or canola oil. It’s normally eaten with either a tentsuyu (dashi, mirin and shoyu mixture) dipping sauce or salt.
3. Soba
Noodles are a common thought when thinking of traditional Japanese foods. Soba is a noodle dish made from buckwheat flour. The noodles are thin and can be served in either hot or cold dishes. Hot soba is served as a noodle soup, typically in a soy-based dashi broth with different toppings or additions. Cold soba dishes are normally served on a plate or bamboo tray with tsuyu (dipping sauce) on the side. Having both hot and cold dishes means soba can be enjoyed all year.
4. Udon
Udon is another type of noodle. Udon noodles are thick and made from wheat-flour. Normally udon is served as a hot noodle soup, but there are cold dishes of udon as well. Kake udon is one of the most common hot dishes and has a broth made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It usually is topped with thinly sliced green onions. Zaru udon is made with chilled udon that is topped with nori and set on a bamboo tray called a zaru. Dipping sauce is served on the side and is usually made from dashi, mirin and shoyu.
5. Miso Soup
Miso soup is a staple of the traditional Japanese diet and is a common side dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The soup is made by combining a dashi stock with miso paste. Miso paste is made from fermented soybeans and can come in red, white or mixed variations. Common additions to the soup are tofu, thinly sliced scallions and wakame seaweed, but there are hundreds of regional variations that add other toppings.
6. Unagi
Unagi means eel in Japanese and the dish refers to the freshwater variety that is a common ingredient in Japan. There are several different unagi dishes you can try. Kabayaki is a traditional method of cooking unagi where the fish is deboned, butterflied, and skewered. Then it’s covered in a tare sauce and grilled. Unadon is a donburi dish where the kabayaki-prepared eel is placed over a bowl of steaming rice. Eel is also a common topping in nigiri sushi.
7. Onigiri
Onigiri is a classic portable and quick meal. It’s made from rice that is shaped into a triangular or cylindrical shape, wrapped with nori (seaweed) to be easier to handle, and normally contains various fillings. Popular fillings include: salmon, salted cod roe, tuna and mayonnaise, umeboshi (dried Japanese plum), and even salted with no filling. You can find tons of different kinds of onigiri in Japanese convenience stores and they make a good and quick option for a meal.
8. Kaiseki
Kaiseki is more an experience than a specific dish as it’s comprised of multiple small dishes artistically arranged. The meals are carefully balanced in terms of taste, texture, and appearance, including even the color of the food. Each of the dishes portions are kept small. The ingredients are always fresh, seasonal and prepared in the way to best enhance their flavor. All of the meals are placed on dishes that help enhance their appearance as well. Many Ryokan (traditional Japanese inns) serve kaiseki, as well as specialized restaurants. So if you are looking for an experience and not just a meal, then definitely give kaiseki a try.
9. Natto
There aren’t many traditional Japanese foods that are as divisive as natto, especially to foreigners. Made from fermenting soybeans, natto has a recognizable smell akin to pungent cheese with a half-sticky half-slimy texture… maybe not the best first impression. The dish is most often eaten during breakfast and sometimes served with karashi mustard and spring onion. In a 2009 survey, 70.2% Japanese people said they like the taste of natto, but of the 29.8% that said they didn’t, half of them still ate it for the health benefits. If you’re feeling adventurous and can get past the initial smell and appearance you might just find you enjoy natto too.
10. Wagashi
Finishing off the list with dessert, wagashi are traditional Japanese sweets. The term wagashi can encompass a lot, from mochi (a rice cake made from glutinous rice) to dango (a sweet dumpling skewered on a stick). Japanese sweets are delicious, but a lot of them are notably different than anything you’ll find in America. Wagashi typically take a lot of work to create and are a work of art in their own way. They make great gifts as many places have their own unique wagashi. So, if you have a sweet tooth and want to try something different than you’re used to, then head to a wagashi shop on your next visit to Japan.
