Japanese Food

There’s quite a lot of food in Japan that’s Japanese cuisine. Known in Japanese as 日本料理 (nihon-ryōri), 和食 (wa-shoku), and 日本食 (nihon-shoku), Japanese cuisine has its own unique culture. Interestingly, the way a particular type of food is prepared and eaten may differ in various regions. Even a type of Japanese cuisine that one thinks they may know well may look like a completely different dish in another region of the country. There’s also cuisine known as 和洋折衷 (wayō-secchu). This refers to Japanese cuisine and food culture blended with those from abroad. As such, much of what Japanese cuisine is can’t be described in a single word or phrase. It’s rather complex.

There are lots of foods produced in Japan. Using these foods, a diverse range of cuisine is made. Seeing as Japan is surrounded by the ocean, in particular, seafood is abundant. Seafood has (for generations) been considered an important food for the Japanese. One of the most well-known dishes in Japan that utilizes the natural flavors of this seafood is 鮨 (sushi). 握り鮨 (nigiri-zushi—sushi shaped by hand) is made by first shaping 酢飯 (su-meshi—vinegared rice), then placing a variety of fresh seafood on top. Another dish that utilizes seafood in Japan is 天麩羅 (tenpura—vegetables or fish dipped in batter and deep-fried). Fish and other seafood, along with a variety of vegetables, are deep-fried, then either dipped in salt or 天汁 (ten-tsuyu—a dipping sauce for tenpura) and eaten. Known as 天丼 (tendon), tenpura is also often placed on top of a bowl of freshly cooked rice and then drizzled with a sauce.

As mentioned, seafood has been considered an important food for the Japanese. However, this doesn’t mean that the Japanese only started eating meat in recent years. The Japanese have traditionally eaten meat such as boar and deer. In modern times, Japanese beef has gained global recognition. In particular, the highest-quality Japanese beef, known as 和牛 (wagyū), is also very popular abroad. In Japan, there are many dishes in which one can enjoy wagyū. One of these is 焼肉 (yaki-niku). At a restaurant specializing in yaki-niku, there’s a hot plate or grill on the table that one uses to cook the meat one orders. One cooks it to their liking before eating it. Another dish often containing wagyū is すき焼き (suki-yaki). This is a dish cooked in a hot pot placed on the table in front of one. Beef, vegetables, 豆腐 (tōfu—a soft, white food made from soybeans), and so on are simmered in a hot pot with a soy sauce (a sauce containing soybeans) and a sugar-based sauce that’s both sweet and (slightly) salty.

As one may know, there's much cuisine in Japan with history behind it. However, there’s also cuisine in Japan that’s still relatively new, with not much history behind it. One of the most well-known of these “newer” dishes is ラーメン (rāmen). Heavily influenced by noodle dishes in China, this is one cuisine that the Japanese shaped into their own. Chinese-style noodle dishes began making their way to Japan during the Meiji Period (1868-1912) to the Taishō Period (1912-1926), and rāmen eventually became very popular. This is a dish in which soup, noodles, and a variety of ingredients are combined. The flavor of the soup and the thickness of the noodles often vary across regions. As such, this is a dish where one really can enjoy the characteristics of a region.

There are exceptions, but one of the biggest characteristics of Japanese cuisine is that much of it doesn’t take long to prepare. One example, as mentioned, is rāmen. The rāmen chef makes the soup in advance and also cooks all the other necessary ingredients ahead of time. When a bowl of rāmen is ordered, the noodles are boiled (which takes no more than a few minutes) and then placed into a bowl of soup, after which the other ingredients are added as toppings. The customer then eats the entire bowl almost instantaneously, ensuring they eat when they can get the most flavor out of it. Japan also has a food culture that involves sharing dishes with others. Especially when at a Japanese-style pub or bar, one will order dishes known as both つまみ (tsumami) and 肴 (sakana). These are often small portions of food. The idea is that one has a little taste, but also shares it with the others they’re with.

As mentioned, Japanese cuisine can’t be described in a single word or phrase. Having said that, there are many quintessential Japanese dishes. In the articles below, we’re introducing all sorts of Japanese food. What exactly is this food? Where did it originate? One can find all this out below. We hope this information will be useful in learning about the unique cuisine here.