The 100 most popular Japanese meals in Japan

Do you know which Japanese cuisine dishes are the most popular? In this article, we are going to see a little about Japanese foods that are popular in Japan, traditional dishes of Japanese cuisine and also their popularity in the West.

Many end up imagining that Japanese cuisine is summarized in Sushi, but in fact there are thousands of other dishes besides fish that many end up not knowing and that are part of the Japanese daily life.

In this article, we are going to see a complete list of 15 Japanese dishes along with a list of another 85 dishes that are part of Japanese cuisine totaling the 100 most popular Japanese foods in Japan.

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 the most popular foods in Japan that can vary in different types of skewers, not just chicken but bolvine and pork.

This Japanese food can also be called Kushiyaki (串焼き] which means grilled skewer. The dish is usually eaten with sauces. Peppers, cheese, seeds, vegetable mushrooms, tofu and other foods have also seen skewers in Japan.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

2 - Yakiniku - The Japanese barbecue

Unlike Western barbecue, meats that are grilled in Japan are sliced ultra thin and roasted in a few minutes in a rare way to be dipped in a sauce and consumed.

The cuts of Japanese meats are also usually different and some are very succulent. The Japanese usually go to a restaurant and grill the meat at the table in a kind of rodízio that is usually cheaper than a restaurant in Brazil.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

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 that sell 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. It has absolutely nothing to do with Lamen Miojo that we find on the market.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

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Gyudon is one of the cheapest and most popular dishes in Japan that simply consists of rice covered in meat and onions. It may seem simple, but it's surprising how the Japanese can make this simple dish so delicious.

An easily accessible dish that can cost around 500 yen and is usually found on FastFood chains such as Yoshinoya and Sukiya. If you live in São Paulo and have a Sukiya close by, you can try it.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

5 - Soba - Buckwheat noodles

One of my favorite dishes, cheap and simple. It consists of noodles made from buckwheat and has hot and cold variations, most often accompanied by chopped chives, tofu, tempura dough, egg and others.

You can find Soba restaurants everywhere, and the dishes can be very cheap, costing as little as 200 yen, but can easily reach 1,000 yen depending on the place and ingredients of the dish.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

6 - Udon - Thick type noodles

Udon is just like soba and can be found in thousands of restaurants across Japan for a low, affordable price. Its main difference is that it is thicker and whiter, as it is made with wheat flour instead of buckwheat.

The ingredients and types of dishes for Udon are the same as for Soba, they just change the noodles. If you find a Tanukisoba, you can also find a Tanukiudon and so on.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

7 - Nikuman - Baked dumpling stuffed with meat

Nikuman is like the snacks we eat in Brazil. you enter a convenience store and buys a Nikuman which is a boiled dumpling stuffed with meat, pizza, adzuki beans (sweet) and many other flavors.

If you've watched Kung Fu Panda you must have seen these dumplings in the movie. These dumplings originated in China, but they are part of Japanese culture, so much so that the name nikuman [肉頭] comes from Japanese and means meat dumpling.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

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 all depends on the type of Yokonomiyaki you order, which can vary from region to region.

The word okonomiyaki literally means "what do you want fried”. Where yaki [焼き] means fried or grilled, and okonomi [お好み] means what you want, desire or like. That is, you can put whatever you want on that plate.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

9 - Tempura - Fried shrimp and vegetables

The dish consists of vegetables and seafood mixed and fried, wrapped in a thin batter, usually served with rice or pasta. Frying is carried out in very hot oil, for only about two or three minutes.

The main secret of this dish is in the dough, which is usually fluid, bittersweet and very cheap and easy to make. Tempura can be found in restaurants in Soba and Udon, as well as street stalls and other places that serve it as an aperitif.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

10 - Takoyaki - Fried octopus dumpling

Takoyaki is a very popular dumpling mainly in the Kansai region, its dough resembles that of Okonomiyaki, but its main ingredient is chopped octopus, thus forming a small round dumpling.

It can also be seasoned with tempura shavings, chopped ginger, chives, nori, fish flakes (katsu) and eaten with a sauce. Undoubtedly one of the best Japanese street food.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

The Sukiyaki is one of several types of Japanese stew with sliced meats, vegetables and greens. It can also include mushrooms, udon, moyashi, leeks, tofu and others. They are usually cooked in a shallow iron pot.

Sukiyaki is served in a nabemono, a type of pot where people take and put as much as they like into their bowls while socializing there. This type of stew is one of the most popular Japanese foods.

Sukiyaki

12- Onigiri - Stuffed rice dumplings

Onigiri are rice balls wrapped in 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 ingredients to season the rice).

They usually have a triangular shape. Onigiri emerged in the 15th century, when samurai kept rice balls on bamboo, and used them as a meal during battles. One of the simplest Japanese foods to make.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

12 - Mochi - Sweet sticky rice cake

The mochi It is made by beating 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 is glutinous rice ground into paste and then molded.

This code is very common and gives life to countless other sweets in Japanese cuisine. It can be colored and have different shapes and different fillings, some are usually filled with sweet beans called azuki.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

13 - Miso Soup - The traditional Soy Soup

Miso soup, also known as miso soup, is one of the most popular and consumed soups in Japan, daily for breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner. One of the healthiest dishes in Japan and quite succulent.

Miso soup is made with a soy paste and a dashi broth (fish broth) accompanied by chives, tofu and other ingredients.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

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. This is the kind of Japanese food that uncles like.

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 heated all the time in the sauce.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

15 - Karaage - Japanese technique for frying

Karaage are foods fried in oil with a crispy crust while still being soft on the inside. It is common to fry chicken, meat and fish. It is covered in a dough made of egg, potato starch and wheat flour along with other ingredients that season and give the chicken a unique flavor.

In convenience stores we find karaage to sell, it is very similar to chicken nugets, but they are much tastier and are usually real pieces of chicken and other meats. It was one of my favorite convenience store snacks.

The 100 most popular Japanese dishes in Japan

japanese food videos

I created a video talking a little about each of these dishes for those who prefer to watch and watch videos of the dishes instead of just reading and looking at pictures.

List of popular Japanese foods - savory

Now let's continue with a quick list just naming the Japanese food. To help, I'm going to separate salty Japanese foods from sweet foods. Let's start by listing the most popular savory foods in Japan.

  1. Hiyashi Chuka - cold ramen;
  2. Karee - Curry, Indian seasoning;
  3. Yaki imon - Baked potato on the hottie;
  4. Sushi - Something wrapped in rice and nori;
  5. Senbei - Japanese biscuit;
  6. Taiyaki - Fish-shaped cupcake;
  7. Natto - Fermented soy;
  8. Kushiage - Fried meats on skewers;
  9. Korokke (croquette) - Made from mashed potatoes;
  10. Tonkatsu - Fried breaded pork rib;
  11. Ikkunidon - Boiled rice with toppings;
  12. Oyakodon - Egg with chicken;
  13. Gyoza - Chinese pastry;
  14. Omurice - rice omelette;
  15. Omusoba - omelette with yakisoba;
  16. Teriyaki - Chicken or fish with sweet soy sauce;
  17. Unagi - Eel meat;
  18. Shabu-Shabu - Meat, pasta and vegetables cooked in sauce;
  19. Fugu - Sliced puffer fish;
  20. Ikizukuri - Type of sashimi;
  21. Tataki - Charcoal grilled tuna;
  22. Basash - Horse Sashimi;
  23. Rebasashi - raw veal liver;
  24. Edamame - Baked pod;
  25. Kaiseki - Special cuisine;
  26. Yuba - Tofu slices;
  27. Himono - Dried and grilled fish;
  28. Chankonabe - Stew;
  29. Nikujaga - Meat with potato;
  30. Nigiri - Sushi with fish on top of rice;
  31. Sekihan - Rice with azuki beans;
  32. Wakame - Japanese salad;
  33. Shiokara - Fish with salted tripe sauce;
  34. Ikkunidon - Meat, rice, fish;
  35. Goya Chanpuru - Dish with bitter melon;
  36. zone - Samurai soup;
  37. Somen - Thin and frozen noodles;
  38. Kimpara - Gobo roots, renkon and carrots;
  39. Temaki - Rice and others wrapped in a nori cone;
  40. Tsukemono - Salad;
  41. Tonjiro - Pork soup;
  42. Ebi furai - Milanese Shrimp;
  43. Yaki Onigiri - Fried rice cake;
  44. Shogayaki - Sliced and fried pork with ginger;
  45. Umeboshi - Plums in salty and bitter conversation;
  46. Eggs - Rice with raw egg;
  47. Chikuwa - Fish sausages;
  48. Yakisoba - Grilled soba with vegetables and meat;
  49. Kiritanpo - Rice on skewers;
  50. Shioyaki - Grilled fish;
  51. Tazukuri - Dried sardines cooked in sugar and soy sauce;
  52. Sunumono - pickled salad;
  53. Kamaboko - fish cake;
  54. Motsunabe - Cooked ingredients;
  55. Tofu - Soy cheese;
  56. Harumaki - Spring cupcake;
  57. Wagyu - Luxury Japanese beef;
  58. Shoga - pickled ginger;
  59. Mentaiko - Spaghetti with cod roe;
  60. Kayu - Rice porridge;
  61. Teppanyaki – Meat, seafood and vegetables in a frying pan;
  62. Hayashi Raisu - Western-style rice with meat;
  63. Monjayaki - Pancake from the Kanto region;
  64. Chawanmushi - Cream of eggs with chicken, shrimp and fish;
95 most popular Japanese foods from Japan

List of popular Japanese foods - sweets

Finally, let's see a list of sweet Japanese foods and then some videos. If you liked the article, don't forget to share it before leaving or leaving your comments. Did you know all these Japanese dishes?

  1. Dango - Made from mochi;
  2. Manju - Sweet flour, rice and sweet beans;
  3. Melonpan - Melon bread;
  4. Anpan - Sweet bean bread;
  5. Kakigori - Japanese ice cream;
  6. Kenpi - Candied sweet potatoes;
  7. Daifuku - Mochi with sweet fillings;
  8. Dorayaki - Pancakes with anko;
  9. Crepes - Very popular in Japan;
  10. Higashi - assorted sweets;
  11. Shiruko - dessert soup;
  12. Yokan - Japanese gelatin;
  13. Amanatto - jujube bean
  14. Kasutera - Japanese cake;
  15. Kohi Zeri - Coffee jello;
  16. Anmitsu - Bowl of fruit, anko and agar-agar;
  17. Monburan - The famous Japanese Mont Blanc;
  18. Omogashi - Tea mochi;
  19. Pocky - Traditional Japanese sweet;
  20. Purin - japanese pudding
  21. Kompeito - Japanese candy;

I hope you enjoyed the extensive list of Japanese foods in this article!

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