One of the many delightful things you will get to experience with our Japan tour packages is Japanese cuisine. When you think of the food of Japan, you might remember sushi and ramen, but Japanese food is so much more than that.
UNESCO recognised washoku, the term for Japanese cuisine, as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity back in 2013. In fact, it’s much deeper than just the country’s cuisine. Washoku is a social practice based on traditions, practices, skills, and knowledge regarding food processing, preparation, and consumption. The features of washoku and Japanese cuisine include balance and harmony, seasonality, presentation, techniques, using fresh and local ingredients, and having rice as a meal staple.
The Japanese diet is known to be very healthy and helps reduce the risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease while increasing life expectancy. Thanks to its diversity, Japanese cuisine is celebrated worldwide for its heritage, healthiness, and innovativeness. Let’s take a look at all the delicious dishes you must sink your teeth into when you travel the country with our Japan tour packages:
Sushi is rice seasoned with sweetened vinegar and usually topped with various ingredients, such as vegetables and seafood. The seafood can be cooked or raw. Some different types of sushi you can try in Japan include nigiri, temaki, uramaki, and makizushi. Make sure to pair your sushi with wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce to relish the entire experience.
Tempura is a Japanese fried food that usually consists of seafood and vegetables. To make tempura, you need to gather pieces of seafood, meat, and vegetables. These pieces then need to be coated in a special tempura batter, which should be deep fried until the exterior turns pale golden and crispy.
The history behind tempura is quite interesting. It was introduced in Japan by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century. Tempura can be made using pretty much any vegetable, and it’s made so that each piece can be consumed in a single bite. Despite being deep-fried, tempura is not oily. You can have tempura alone or include it in noodle soups or rice bowls. The dish is usually paired with tentsuyu sauce.
Ramen is a noodle soup made of wheat noodles, broth, seasonings, and toppings. The toppings usually include meat, vegetables, and protein. You will often find ramen with fun toppings such as sliced pork, spring onions, nori seaweed, and bamboo shoots.
Ramen is one of the most popular delicacies in Japan today, available in ramen bars and restaurants across the country. The broth can be made using several bases, including soybeans, soy sauce, pork bones, and salt. Although ramen noodles are usually wheat-based, they can vary in terms of thickness and stretchiness.
Soba is the Japanese word for ‘buckwheat’, which naturally means that soba noodles are buckwheat noodles. It’s one of the three most popular noodles eaten in Japan, with the other two being ramen and udon. While ramen and udon noodles are made from wheat flour, soba noodles are primarily made using buckwheat flour. This gives the noodles an earthy and nutty flavour, which is perfect for combining with stronger flavours such as sesame and garlic.
The popularity of soba noodles increased in Japan during the Edo period. Soba noodles can be served cold with a garnish of wasabi, shredded nori seaweed, green onions, and tsuyu sauce on the side. When having hot soba noodles, you could eat them with the toppings of kamaboko fish cake, crispy shrimp tempura, and spring onions.
Udon noodles are one of the main noodle varieties in Japan. They are made from wheat flour, water, and salt. These thick, chewy, and soft noodles can be served in numerous forms, such as cold udon noodles with tsuyu sauce or in hot pots and stir-fries. The most common way of consuming udon noodles is in a noodle soup, with a flavourful broth and different kinds of garnishes.
The toppings in an udon noodle soup could include tempura, meat, or vegetables. You will find versions with garnishes such as ginger, seaweed, scallions, and chilli peppers. Some of the varieties of udon noodle soups include chikara udon, tempura udon, and kitsune udon.
Takoyaki are octopus balls or octopus dumplings invented in Osaka by a street vendor named Tomekichi Endo in the 1930s. They are cooked in a special takoyaki pan with rows of half-sphere moulds. Once the moulds are filled with a savoury batter mixture, a small piece of tako is placed in the centre.
Every minute, the takoyaki are turned using a skewer or a toothpick to cook the interior evenly, and the exterior turns lightly golden brown. These octopus balls are usually served in six, eight, or ten sets. They are topped with takoyaki sauce, aonori seaweed, mayonnaise, and katsuobushi bonito fish flakes.
Yakitori translates to ‘grilled bird’. Today, it is used to describe skewered vegetables and meats that are cooked on a grill. Chicken is the common kind of meat used to make yakitori. The ingredients for making yakitori include sake, mirin rice wine, salt, sugar, and soy sauce. You can pair yakitori with an alcoholic beverage of your choice.
Okonomiyaki is a savoury pancake derived from the combination of two words: ‘okonomi’ means ‘what you want’ or ‘what you like’, and ‘yaki’ means ‘grilled’ or ‘cooked’. Its origin can be traced back to the Edo period when it was born from a thin pancake known as funoyaki. Okonomiyaki is a savoury pancake in which the toppings, fillings, and batter are cooked on a hot griddle.
There are two different styles of okonomiyaki, one from Kansai and the other from Hiroshima. Okonomiyaki flour is the primary ingredient of the Kansai-style variant, consisting of flour, dashi, and other seasonings. Once the flour is mixed with water, shredded cabbage and egg are added to the mix. The batter is fried until both sides are cooked well. The final result is topped with mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce, and aonori seaweed powder.
In the Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, yakisoba or fried noodles are used. This variant uses more thinly sliced cabbage and less batter. The batter is poured onto a griddle until a thin crepe is formed. The ingredients include pork slices, green onions, beansprouts, cabbage, and tenkasu.
Curry rice is considered to be one of Japan’s national dishes. It is popular at restaurants and as a home-cooked meal, and it’s also served at parties and summer camps. Compared to Indian curries, Japanese curries are sweeter, thicker, and less spicy. The British Navy introduced its version of the Indian dish to Japan in the late 1800s.
Various kinds of meats and vegetables are used to make Japanese curry. You can use chicken, beef, pork, or even duck. The vegetables in this curry could be carrots, onions, and sweet potatoes.
Miso soup is a significant part of Japanese cuisine, and most people consume it at least once a day. Its roots can be traced back to ancient times when the samurais had it every day during the Kamakura period. It was also popular during the Japanese Civil War.
Made using miso paste and dashi broth, miso soup is often served as a side dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are different types of miso, namely red, white, barley, and blended. Various toppings, such as wakame seaweed, green onion, and firm tofu, can be found in miso soup.
Gyoza are Japanese dumplings made from a minced mixture of savoury fillings. These half-moon-shaped dumplings usually contain cabbage, pork mince, mushrooms, and green onions, but other fillings can be used as well.
Made with a wheat wrapper, the other gyoza ingredients could include soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chives, and sesame oil. They are cooked so that the interior is juicy and moist. The dumplings are usually pan-fried and then steamed. Some deep fry them, and others boil them and serve them with broth. Gyoza can either be served alone or with a tangy and salty dipping sauce.
While most pubs around the world serve fries or peanuts as snacks, the Japanese izakaya pubs serve edamame for snacks. These are young soybeans that are harvested early. They are then boiled or steamed while they are still in their pods. You can have these snacks or appetisers in a lightly salted form, or they can be flavoured using a garlic and chilli paste sauce.
