Do you know which Japanese cuisines are the most popular? In this article we will see a little about the popular Japanese foods in Japan, the traditional dishes of Japanese cuisine and also its popularity in the West.
Many end up imagining that Japanese cuisine has summed up in Sushi, but in fact there are thousands of other dishes besides fish that many end up unaware of and that they are part of japanese everyday life.
In this article we will see a complete list of 15 Japanese dishes along with a list of 85 other dishes that are part of Japanese cuisine totaling in the 100 most popular Japanese foods in Japan.
If you would like more information about the food in the list, simply click on the title you will be redirected to an article that speaks in detail about this Japanese food.
1 – Yakitori – Japanese chicken skewer
Yakitori[焼き鳥] is the famous grilled chicken skewer, a very popular food in bars, festivals and street stalls. One of japan’s most popular foods that can vary in various types of skewer, not just chicken but bolvina meat and súina.
This Japanese food can also be called Kushiyaki ()[1] which means grilled skewers. The dish is usually consumed with sauces. Chili, cheese, seeds, vegetable mushrooms, tofu and other foods also saw skewers in Japan.
2 – Yakiniku – The Japanese Barbecue
Unlike western barbecue, meats that are grilled in Japan are cut ultra thin and roasted in a few minutes of barely spent fashion to be dipped in a sauce and consumed.
Japanese meat cuts are also usually different and some are very juicy. The Japanese usually go to a restaurant and grill the meat on their own table in a kind of caster that is usually cheaper than a restaurant in Brazil.
3 – Ramen – The traditional Chinese noodles
Despite having originated in China, ramen is one of the most popular Japanese foods in the country. There are thousands of ramen, each with different flavors and ingredients. There are specialty restaurants selling only one type of regional and popular ramen.
Ramen consists of noodles with a soy sauce or other popular flavor, usually with pork and other vegetables. There is absolutely nothing related to Lamen Miojo that we find on the market.
4 – Gyudon – Popular meat dish with rice and onion
Gyudon is one of the cheapest and most popular dishes in Japan consisting simply of rice covered in meat and onion. It may seem like simple, but it’s amazing how the Japanese can make this simple dish so delicious.
An easy-to-access dish that can cost around 500 yen and is often found on FastFood networks like Yoshinoya and Sukiya. If you live in Sao Paulo and have a Sukiya nearby, you can try it.
5 – Soba – Buckwheat noodles
One of my favorite dishes, cheap and simple. It consists of noodles made of Buckwheat and has hot and cold variations, most often accompanies chopped chives, tofu, tempura pasta, egg and others.
You find Soba restaurants everywhere, and dishes can be very cheap costing even 200 yen, but can easily reach 1,000 yen depending on the place and ingredients of the dish.
6 – Udon – Thick noodles
The udon is equal to the soba and is usually found in thousands of restaurants throughout Japan for a low and affordable price. Its main difference is that it is thicker and whiter, since it is made with wheat flour rather than buckwheat.
The ingredients and types of dishes of Udon are the same as soba, only usually change the noodles. If you find a Tanukisoba, you can also find a Tanukiudon and so on.
7 – Nikuman – Baked dumpling stuffed with meat
Nikuman is like the salty ones we eat in Brazil. You enter a convenience store and buy a Nikuman that is a baked dumpling stuffed with meat, pizza, azuki beans (sweet) and many other flavors.
If you’ve ever watched Kung Fu Panda you must have seen these cupcakes in the movie. These dumplings originated in China, but FAS part of Japanese culture, so much so that nikuman’s name[肉頭] comes from Japanese and means meat dumplings.
8 – Okonomiyaki – The Japanese pancake
Okonomiyaki is a type of Japanese pancake stuffed with bacon, cabbage, egg, cheese, onion, octopus, shrimp, mayonnaise and even noodles. It will all depend on the type of Yokonomiyaki you ask for, which can vary from region to region.
The word okonomiyaki literally means “what you want fried”. Where ya[焼き]ki means fried or grilled, and okon[お好み]omi means what you want, want or like. That is, you can put whatever you want on that dish.
9 – Tempura – Shrimp and fried vegetables
The dish boils down to mixed and fried vegetables and seafood, wrapped in a thin polme, usually served with rice or noodles. Frying is performed in very hot oil for only about two or three minutes.
The main secret of this dish is in the dough that is usually fluid, bittersweet and very cheap and easy to make. Tempura can be found in soba and udon restaurants, as well as street stalls and other places serving him as an aperitif.
The Takoyaki is a very popular dumpling mainly in the Kansai region, its pasta resembles that of the Okonomiyaki, but its main ingredient is chopped octopus, thus forming a small round dumpling.
It can also be seasoned with tempura zest, chopped ginger, chives, nori, fish zest (katsu) and consumed with a sauce. Undoubtedly one of the best Japanese street foods.
11 – Sukiyaki – Japanese Stew
Sukiyaki is one of several types of Japanese stew with sliced meats, vegetables and vegetables. It can also include mushrooms, udon, moyashi, leeks, tofu and others. They are usually cooked in a shallow iron pan.
Sukiyaki is served in a nabemono, a type of pot where people pick up and put as much as they want in their bowls while fraternizing on site. This type of stew is one of the most popular Japanese foods.
12- Onigiri – Stuffed rice cakes
Onigiri are rice dumplings wrapped in a nori seaweed and stuffed with tuna, chicken and other ingredients of your choice. Some onigiri instead of stuffed are made mixed in furikake (a mixture of chopped ingredient to season rice).
They usually have a triangular shape. The onigiri emerged in the 15th century, when samurai kept rice balls on bamboo, and used it as a meal during the battles. One of the simplest Japanese foods to make.
12 – Mochi – Sweet and sticky rice dumpling
The mochi is made by beating the sticky Japanese rice called mochigome, until it turns into a dough. Mochi is a common ingredient in many Japanese dishes, desserts and sweets. Basically it’s glutinous rice ground in paste and then molded.
This code is very common and from life to countless other sweets of Japanese cuisine. It can be colorful and have several different shapes and fillings, some are usually stuffed with sweet beans called azuki.
13 – Miso Soup – The traditional Soy Soup
Miso soup, also known as missoshiro is one of Japan’s most popular and consumed soups, daily in breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner. One of the healthiest dishes in Japan and quite juicy.
Miso soup is made with a soy paste and a dashi broth (fish broth) accompanied by chives, tofu and other ingredients.
14 – Oden – Food cooked in dashi broth
Oden is a very popular dish in winter but can be found at any time in convenience stores, restaurants, markets and street stalls. That’s the kind of Japanese food the thiozão likes.
It consists of various vegetables, tofu, eggs and other foods cooked in soy sauce and dashi sauce (fish sauce). The ingredients are usually dipped in the sauce and cooked until very soft, some are warmed up all the time in the sauce.
15 – Karaage – Japanese technique for frying
Karaage are fried foods in oil with a crispy shell while staying soft on the inside. It is common to fry frago, meats and fish. It is covered by a pasta made of egg, potato starch and wheat flour along with other ingredients that season and give a unique flavor to the chicken.
In convenience stores we find karaage to sell, it reminds a lot of the chicken nugets, but they are much more delicious and are usually real pieces of chicken and other meats. It was one of my favorite snacks from convenience stores.
List of popular Japanese foods – salgadAs
Now let’s continue with a quick list just quoting the name of Japanese food. To help I’m going to separate the salty Japanese foods from sweet foods. Let’s start by listing japan’s most popular salty foods.
- Hiyashi Chuka – Cold Ramen;
- Karee – Curry, Indian seasoning;
- Yaki imon – Baked potato on the ember;
- Sushi – Something wrapped in rice and nori;
- Senbei – Japanese biscuit;
- Taiyaki – Fish-shaped dumpling;
- Natto – Fermented soybean;
- Kushiage – Fried meats in skewer;
- Korokke (croquette) – Made of pure potato;
- Tonkatsu – Fried empanada pork rib;
- Donburi – Cooked rice with toppings;
- Oyakodon – Egg with chicken;
- Gyoza – Chinese Pastel;
- Omuraisu – rice omelette;
- Omusoba – omelette with yakisoba;
- Teriyaki – Chicken or fish with sweet soy sauce;
- Unagi – Eel meat;
- Shabu-Shabu – Meats, pasta and vegetables cooked in sauce;
- Fugu – Sliced pufferfish;
- Ikizukuri – Type of sashimi;
- Tataki – Grilled tuna on coal;
- Basash – Horse Sashimi;
- Rebasashi – raw veal fig;
- Edamame – Cooked pod;
- Kaiseki – Special cuisine;
- Yuba – Tofu Slices;
- Himono – Dried and grilled fish;
- Chankonabe – Stew;
- Nikujaga – Meat with potatoes;
- Nigiri – Sushi with fish on top of rice;
- Sekihan – Rice with azuki beans;
- Wakame – Japanese salad;
- Shiokara – Fish with salty gut sauce;
- Donburi – Meat, rice, fish;
- Goya Chanpuru – Dish with bitter melon;
- Zoni – Samurai soup;
- Somen – Thin and ice cream noodles;
- Kimpara – Gobo roots, renkon and carrots;
- Temaki – Rice and others wrapped in nori cone;
- Tsukemono – Salad;
- Tonjiro – Pork soup;
- Ebi furai – Shrimp a milanese;
- Yaki Onigiri – Fried Rice Cake;
- Shogayaki – Sliced pork and fried with ginger;
- Umeboshi – Plums in salty and bitter conversation;
- Tamago kake Gohan – Rice with raw egg;
- Chikuwa – Fish sausages;
- Yakisoba – Grilled soba with vegetables and meats;
- Kiritanpo – Rice on the skewer;
- Shioyaki – Grilled fish;
- Tazukuri – Dried sardines cooked in sugar and soy sauce;
- Sunumono – Pickled salad;
- Kamaboko – fish cake;
- Motsunabe – Baked ingredients;
- Tofu – Soy cheese;
- Harumaki – Spring Cookie;
- Wagyu – Luxury Japanese beef;
- Shoga – Pickled Ginger;
- Mentaiko – Spaghetti with cod roes;
- Kayu – Rice Mingal;
- Teppanyaki – Meat, seafood and vegetables in a frying pan;
- Hayashi Raisu – Rice with Western-style meat;
- Monjayaki – Pancake of the Kanto region;
- Chawanmushi – Egg cream with chicken, shrimp and fish;
List of popular Japanese foods – sweets
Finally, we’ll see a list of sweet Japanese foods and then some videos. If you liked the article don’t forget to share before you leave or leave your comments. Did you know all these Japanese dishes?
- Dango – Made of mochi;
- Manju – Sweet flour, rice and sweet beans;
- Melonpan – Melon bread;
- Anpan – Sweet bean bread;
- Kakigori – Japanese ice cream;
- Kenpi – Candied sweet potatoes;
- Daifuku – Mochi with sweet fillings;
- Dorayaki – Pancakes with anko;
- Crepes – Very popular in Japan;
- Higashi – assorted sweets;
- Shiruko – Dessert soup;
- Yokan – Japanese gelatin;
- Amanatto – Bean Jelly bean
- Kasutera – Japanese cake;
- Kohi Zeri – Coffee gelatin;
- Anmitsu – Fruit bowl, anko and agar-agar;
- Monburan – The famous Japanese Mont Blanc;
- Omogashi – Mochi of tea;
- Pocky – Traditional Japanese sweet;
- Purin – Japanese pudding
- Kompeito – Japanese sweet;
I hope you enjoyed the extensive list of Japanese foods in this article!