Here and all kinds of noodles, and traditional sweets, and street food. But what if time is limited? Use the list of Japanese dishes from MANABO.
Ramen noodles
Ramen – wheat noodles in a soup with various toppings – is the dish for which the Japanese most often queue. Not only because this noodle is very popular. The fact is that it is usually served in small restaurants – ramenya – where there are few seats, sometimes only at the counter. Often these are unsightly establishments where the interior is not as important as taste. Chefs work hard to create the perfect broth and noodle recipe, and the ingredients are often kept secret. We can say that in Japan the cult of ramen. Guidebooks are published for the best noodle shops, and real fans make pilgrimages to different establishments and compare tastes.
Udon and soba noodles
Udon is also wheat noodles, but thicker and wider than ramen. Udon is eaten hot or cold, in soup or without, with toppings or on its own, as a main meal or just as a snack. Udon is a simpler dish than ramen and is more often made at home. The most popular dishes with udon are kitsune udon and tanuki udon. “Kitsune” means “fox” and it’s udon in a hot soup with aburaage – fried tofu. Aburaage is similar in color to a fox – hence the name.
According to another version, fried tofu is a fox’s favorite delicacy. Tanuki is also hot udon topped with tenkasu, deep-fried dough pieces. Tanuki is a raccoon dog, but is often translated as “badger”. It is believed that this is a play on words – either from the name of one of the ingredients, or a popular restaurant. In different regions of Japan, the names of dishes and their preparation often differ.
Only in this form do the Japanese eat buckwheat, but they have never heard of buckwheat porridge. The same dishes are prepared from soba as from udon.
Tonkatsu Chop
Tonkatsu is deep-fried pork chop. It is served as a set with lots of cabbage, rice and miso soup. Usually in a restaurant you can take as much as you like additions of everything that goes to the side dish. Pork supplement, unfortunately, is not offered for free. Cabbage is served with a delicious citrus-based dressing. And meat goes with several types of sauces and mustard. In many restaurants, they bring sesame in a mortar, which you need to grind yourself and add to the sauce.
Tempura is vegetables, mushrooms, seafood and less often meat, which are dipped in batter and deep fried. They are served with salt or a special sauce called tsuyu. The most popular tempura is shrimp. This dish is often offered along with udon or on its own. Most often, tempura is eaten in a restaurant or bought ready-made in supermarkets. Some cook at home, but although this is a simple, still troublesome dish: the stove will be splashed with oil, and then a large amount of oil that was used for frying needs to be put somewhere.
Karaage Chicken
Karaage are pieces of chicken marinated and deep fried. Karaage remains delicious cold, which is why it is most often seen in o-bento lunch boxes, both those prepared at home and those sold in shops and restaurants. Karaage is taken with them to hanami – a picnic under cherry blossom trees, to momiji-gari – hiking in search of beautiful autumn maples, it is eaten on the Shinkansen high-speed train and at undokai – sports festivals at school. In addition, this is one of the Japanese favorite snacks for drinking.
Meat and vegetables teppanyaki
Teppanyaki is a delicious and expensive dish. It is eaten on special occasions in high-class restaurants, where it is better to make a reservation in advance. In teppanyaki, not only taste is important, but also the cooking process, which is interesting to watch. The chef fries the highest quality meat, seafood and vegetables on a wide frying pan (more precisely.
it is just a flat iron surface) right in front of customers, sometimes tossing ingredients or juggling them. The most spectacular moment is when a large tongue of flame rises high to the enthusiastic exclamations of the guests. Teppanyaki is ordered in a course that includes several main courses, a side dish and a dessert. The cost per person is on average $100 and up.
Japanese okonomiyaki pizza
Okonomiyaki is also cooked on teppan – “iron sheet”. But this is a more democratic dish both in terms of prices and the atmosphere in restaurants. The main ingredients are thinly chopped cabbage, egg and flour, from which the dough is made. All this is fried, putting different toppings on top – most often meat and seafood. Finished okonomiyaki is poured with a special sauce, mayonnaise and sprinkled with dry green aonori seaweed and katsuobushi fish chips.
which begin to move like a living creature from high temperature. The name “okonomiyaki” can be translated as “fry to taste”, because the toppings for it can be anything – for example, what is lying around in the refrigerator if the dish is cooked at home. Like teppanyaki, restaurants prepare okonomiyaki in front of the customer. Sometimes visitors fry okonomiyaki themselves on the iron surface on the table, at the same time entertaining themselves with the cooking process. This dish comes from western Japan, the city of Osaka, which is famous for its delicious food and food lovers.
