List of Japanese dishes
Below is a list of dishes found in Japanese cuisine. Apart from rice, staples in Japanese cuisine include noodles, such as soba and udon. Japan has many simmered dishes such as fish products in broth called oden, or beef in sukiyaki and nikujaga. Foreign food, in particular Chinese food in the form of noodles in soup called ramen and fried dumplings, gyoza, and western food such as curry and hamburger steaks are commonly found in Japan. Historically, the Japanese shunned meat, but with the modernization of Japan in the 1860s, meat-based dishes such as tonkatsu became more common.
Rice dishes ()
- Gohan or meshi: plainly cooked white rice. It is such a staple that the terms gohan and meshi are also used to refer meals in general, such as Asa gohan/meshi, Hiru gohan/meshi, and Ban gohan/meshi. Also, raw rice is called kome, while cooked rice is gohan. Nori, and furikake are popular condiments in Japanese breakfast. Some alternatives are:
- Curry rice : Introduced from the UK in the late 19th century, "curry rice" is now one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is much milder than its Indian counterpart.
- Chāhan or yakimeshi : fried rice, adapted to Japanese tastes, tends to be lighter in flavor and style than the Chinese version from which it is derived
- Genmai gohan : brown rice
- Hayashi rice: thick beef stew on rice
- Kamameshi : rice topped with vegetables and chicken or seafood, then baked in an individual-sized pot
- Katemeshi: a peasant food consisting of rice, barley, millet and chopped daikon radish
- Mochi : glutinous rice cake
- Mugi gohan/Mugi meshi : white rice cooked with barley
- Ochazuke : hot green tea or dashi poured over cooked white rice, often with various savory ingredients such as umeboshi or tsukemono.
- Okowa : cooked glutinous rice
- Omurice : omelet filled with fried rice, apparently originating from Tōkyō
- Onigiri : balls of rice with a filling in the middle. Japanese equivalent of sandwiches.
- Sekihan : white rice cooked with azuki beans to Glutinous rice.
- Takikomi gohan : Japanese-style pilaf cooked with various ingredients and flavored with soy, dashi, etc.
- Tamago kake gohan : Rice with a raw egg
- Tenmusu: a rice ball wrapped with nori that is filled with deep-fried tempura shrimp
Rice porridge ()
- Nanakusa-gayu is the long-standing Japanese custom of eating seven-herb rice porridge on January 7.
- Okayu is a rice congee, sometimes egg dropped and usually served to infants and sick people.
- Zosui or Ojiya is a soup containing rice stewed in stock, often with egg, meat, seafood, vegetables or mushroom, and flavored with miso or soy. Known as juushii in Okinawa. Some similarity to risotto and Kayu though Zosui uses cooked rice, as the difference is that kayu is made from raw rice.
Rice bowls ()
- Gyūdon: : Donburi topped with seasoned beef and onion
- Katsudon : Donburi topped with deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork, chicken
- Oyakodon : Donburi topped with chicken and egg
- Tekkadon : Donburi topped with tuna sashimi
- Tendon: : Donburi topped with tempura
- Unadon: : Donburi topped with broiled eel with vegetables
- Wappameshi: : rice topped with other ingredients, cooked in wooden containers called wappa''
Sushi ()
- Nigirizushi : This is sushi with the ingredients on top of a block of rice.
- Makizushi : Translated as "roll sushi", this is where rice and seafood or other ingredients are placed on a sheet of seaweed and rolled into a cylindrical shape on a bamboo mat and then cut into smaller pieces. Now, sushi is a very popular favorite food. It consists of cooked rice, sesame oil, salt,vinegar and sesame seeds, sugar is often added as seasonings. Then it is placed on a sheet of nori, dried laver. The seasoned rice is spread on the laver, and then fried egg, julienned carrots, julienned ham, seasoned ground beef or seasoned fish cakes, pickled radish, seasoned spinach, and seasoned gobo and cucumber are then placed closely together on the rice.tuna, cheese, yakiniku, vegetable, and more.
- * Temaki orTemakizushi : Basically the same as makizushi, except that the nori is rolled into a cone-shape with the ingredients placed inside. Sometimes referred to as a "hand-roll".
- Chirashizushi or Bara-zushi : Translated as "scattered", chirashi involves fresh seafood, vegetables or other ingredients being placed on top of sushi rice in a bowl or dish.
- Inarizushi : Fried tofu packet stuffed with sushi rice
- Oshizushi :
- Meharizushi :
Other staples
Noodles (''men-rui'', )
often take the place of rice in a meal. However, the Japanese appetite for rice is so strong that many restaurants even serve noodles-rice combination sets.- Traditional Japanese noodles are usually served chilled with a dipping sauce, or in a hot soy-dashi broth.
- * Soba : thin brown buckwheat noodles. Also known as Nihon-soba. In Okinawa, soba likely refers to Okinawa soba.
- ** Zaru soba : Soba noodles served cold
- * Udon : thick white wheat noodles served with various toppings, usually in a hot soy-dashi broth, or sometimes in a Japanese curry soup.
- ** Miso-nikomi-Udon : hard udon simmered in red miso soup.
- * Sōmen : thin white wheat noodles served chilled with a dipping sauce. Hot sōmen is called Nyumen.
- Chinese-influenced noodles are served in a meat or chicken broth and have only appeared in the last 100 years or so.
- * Ramen : thin light yellow noodles served in hot chicken or pork broth with various toppings; of Chinese origin, it is a popular and common item in Japan. Also known as
Bread (''pan'', )
is not native to Japan and is not considered traditional Japanese food, but since its introduction in the 16th century it has become common.- Curry bread : deep fried bread filled with Japanese curry sauce
- Anpan : sweet roll filled with red bean paste
- Yakisoba-pan : bread roll sandwich with yakisoba filling
- Korokke-pan : bread roll sandwich with croquette filling
- Melon-pan : sweet round bun covered in a cookie-like coating, scored in criss cross shape and baked
- Katsu-sando : sandwich with tonkatsu filling
Common Japanese main and side dishes (okazu, )
- Okazu : Common Japanese main and side dishes
Deep-fried dishes (''agemono'', )
- Agemono : Deep-fried dishes
- * Karaage : bite-sized pieces of chicken, fish, octopus, or other meat, floured and deep fried. Common izakaya food, also often available in convenience stores.
- ** Nanbanzuke: marinated fried fish.
- * Korokke : breaded and deep-fried patties, containing either mashed potato or white sauce mixed with minced meat, vegetables or seafood. Popular everyday food.
- * Kushikatsu : skewered meat, vegetables or seafood, breaded and deep fried.
- * Satsuma-age : fried fishcake, often used as an ingredient for oden.
- * Tempura : deep-fried vegetables or seafood in a light, distinctive batter.
- ** Kakiage
- * Tonkatsu : deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork.
- Agedashi dōfu : cubes of deep-fried silken tofu served in hot broth.
Grilled and pan-fried dishes (''yakimono'', )
- Yakimono : Grilled and pan-fried dishes
- * Gyoza : Chinese ravioli-dumplings, usually filled with pork and vegetables and pan-fried
- * Kushiyaki : skewers of meat and vegetables
- * Motoyaki : Baked seafood topped with a creamy sauce
- * Okonomiyaki are savory pancakes with various meat and vegetable ingredients, flavored with the likes of Worcestershire sauce or mayonnaise.
- * Takoyaki : a spherical, fried dumpling of batter with a piece of octopus inside. Popular street snack.
- * Teriyaki : grilled, broiled, or pan-fried meat, fish, chicken or vegetables glazed with a sweetened soy sauce
- * Unagi, including Kabayaki : grilled and flavored eel
- * Yakiniku may refer to several things. Vegetables such as bite-sized onion, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms, and bell pepper are usually grilled together. Grilled ingredients are dipped in a sauce known as tare before being eaten.
- ** Horumonyaki : similar homegrown dish, but using offal
- ** Jingisukan barbecue: sliced lamb or mutton grilled with various vegetables, especially onion and cabbage and dipped in a rich tare sauce. A speciality of Hokkaidō.
- * Yakitori : barbecued chicken skewers, usually served with beer. In Japan, yakitori usually consists of a wide variety of parts of the chicken. It is not usual to see straight chicken meat as the only type of yakitori in a meal.
- * Yakizakana is flame-grilled fish, often served with grated daikon. One of the most common dishes served at home. Because of the simple cuisine, fresh fish in season are highly preferable. See Arabesque greenling
Nabemono (one pot cooking, )
- Motsunabe : beef offal, Chinese cabbage and various vegetables cooked in a light soup base.
- Shabu-shabu : hot pot with thinly sliced beef, vegetables, and tofu, cooked in a thin stock at the table and dipped in a soy or sesame-based dip before eating.
- Sukiyaki : thinly sliced beef and vegetables cooked in a mixture of soy sauce, dashi, sugar, and sake. Participants cook at the table then dip food into their individual bowls of raw egg before eating it.
- Chirinabe : hot pot with fish and vegetables.
- * Tetchiri : hot pot with blowfish and vegetables, a specialty of Osaka.
- Chigenabe or Kimuchinabe : hot pot with meat, seafood and vegetables in a broth seasoned with gochujang, and Kimchi.
- Imoni : a thick taro potato stew popular in Northern Japan during the autumn season
- Kiritanponabe : freshly cooked rice is pounded, formed into cylinders around Japanese cypress skewers, and toasted at an open hearth. The kiritanpo are used as dumplings in soups.
Nimono (stewed dishes, )
- Oden : surimi, boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth. Common wintertime food and often available in convenience stores.
- Kakuni: chunks of pork belly stewed in soy, mirin and sake with large pieces of daikon and whole boiled eggs. The Okinawan variation, using awamori, soy sauce and miso, is known as rafuti.
- Nikujaga: beef and potato stew, flavored with sweet soy.
- Nizakana: fish poached in sweet soy.
- Soki: Okinawan dish of pork stewed with bone.
Itamemono (stir-fried dishes, )
- Chanpurū : A stir-fry from Okinawa, of vegetables, tofu, meat or seafood and sometimes egg. Many varieties, the most famous being gōyā chanpurū.
- Kinpira gobo : Thin sticks of greater burdock and other root vegetables stir-fried and braised in sweetened soy.
Sashimi ()
Soups (''suimono'' () and ''shirumono'' ())
The soups and shirumono ) include:- Miso soup : soup made with miso suspended in dashi, usually containing two or three types of solid ingredients, such as seaweed, vegetables or tofu.
- Tonjiru : similar to Miso soup, except that pork is added to the ingredients
- Dangojiru : soup made with dumplings along with seaweed, tofu, lotus root, or any number of other vegetables and roots
- Sumashijiru or "osumashi" : a clear soup made with dashi and seafood or chicken.
- Zōni : soup containing mochi rice cakes along with various vegetables and often chicken. It is usually eaten at New Years Day.
Pickled or salted foods (''tsukemono'', )
- Ikura : salt cured and pickled soy sauce salmon roe.
- or pollock roe
- * Mentaiko: salt-cured and red pepper pickled pollock roe
- Shiokara : salty fermented viscera
- Tsukemono : pickled vegetables, hundreds of varieties and served with most rice-based meals
- * Umeboshi : small, pickled ume fruit. Usually red and very sour, often served with bento lunch boxes or as a filling for onigiri.
- Tsukudani : Very small fish, shellfish or seaweed stewed in sweetened soy for preservation
- Sunomono: vegetables such as cucumber or wakame, or sometimes crab, marinated in rice vinegar
Side dishes ()
- Bento or Obento is a combination meal served in a wooden box, usually as a cold lunchbox.
- Chawan mushi is meat and vegetables steamed in egg custard.
- Edamame is boiled and salted pods of soybeans, eaten as a snack, often to accompany beer.
- Himono : dried fish, often aji. Traditionally served for breakfast with rice, miso soup and pickles.
- Hiyayakko : chilled tofu with garnish
- Nattō : fermented soybeans, stringy like melted cheese, infamous for its strong smell and slippery texture. Often eaten for breakfast. Typically popular in Kantō and Tōhoku but slowly gaining popularity in other regions in which nattō was not as popular
- Ohitashi : boiled greens such as spinach, chilled and flavored with soy sauce, often with garnish
- Osechi : traditional foods eaten at New Year
- Japanese salad dressings
- * Wafu dressing : literally "Japanese-style dressing" is a vinaigrette-type salad dressing based on soy sauce, popular in Japan.
- * Sanbaizu : The so-called vinegar that is blended with the ingredient here is often '', which is a blend of vinegar, mirin, and soy sauce.
- Shimotsukare : made of vegetables, soybeans, abura-age and sake kasu.
Chinmi ()
Although most Japanese eschew eating insects, in some regions, locust and bee larvae are not uncommon dishes. The larvae of species of caddisflies and stoneflies, harvested from the Tenryū river as it flows through Ina, Nagano, is also boiled and canned, or boiled and then sautéed in soy sauce and sugar. Japanese clawed salamander is eaten as well in Hinoemata, Fukushima in early summer.
Sweets and snacks (''okashi'' (), ''oyatsu'' ())
- Okashi, Oyatsu : Sweets and snacks
Japanese-style sweets (''wagashi'', )
- Amanattō: traditional confectionery made of adzuki or other beans, covered with refined sugar after simmering with sugar syrup and drying.
- Dango: a Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochiko, related to mochi.
- Hanabiramochi: a Japanese sweet, usually eaten at the beginning of the year.
- Higashi: a type of wagashi, which is dry and contains very little moisture, and thus keeps relatively longer than other kinds of wagashi.
- Hoshigaki: dried persimmon fruit.
- Imagawayaki: also known as 'Taikoyaki' is a round Taiyaki and fillings are same.
- Kakigōri: shaved ice with syrup topping.
- Kompeito: crystal sugar candy.
- Manjū: sticky rice surrounding a sweet bean center.
- Matsunoyuki: a wagashi that resembles a pine tree dusted with snow.
- Mochi: steamed sweet rice pounded into a solid, sticky, and somewhat translucent mass.
- Oshiruko: a warm, sweet red bean soup with mochi: rice cake.
- Uirō: a steamed cake made of rice flour.
- Taiyaki: a fried, fish-shaped cake, usually with a sweet filling such as a red bean paste.
- Namagashi: a type of wagashi, which is a general term for snacks used in the Japanese tea ceremony.
Old-fashioned Japanese-style sweets (''dagashi'', )
- Karume-yaki: Brown sugar cake that is also called "baked caramel".
- Sosu Senbei: Thin wafers eaten with sauce.
- Mizuame: Sticky liquid sugar candy.
Western-style sweets (''yōgashi'', )
- Kasutera: "Castella" Iberian-style sponge cake
- Mirukurepu: "mille feuilles": a layered crepe that literally means, "one thousand leaves" in French.
Sweets bread (''kashi pan'', )
- Anpan: bread with sweet bean paste in the center
- Melonpan: a large, round bun which is a combination of regular dough beneath cookie dough. It occasionally contains a melon-flavored cream, though traditionally it is called melon bread because of its general shape resembling that of a melon.
Other snacks
- Azuki Ice - vanilla flavored ice cream with sweet azuki beans
- Koara no māchi
- Umai Bō - puffed corn food with various flavors
- Pocky
- Hello Panda
- Hi-chew
- Ice cream - usual flavors such as vanilla and chocolate are the most common. Distinctly Japanese ones include Matcha Ice, less common ones include Goma and sweet potato flavors.
Tea and other drinks
Tea and non-alcoholic beverages
- Amazake
- Genmaicha is green tea combined with roasted brown rice.
- Gyokuro: Gyokuro leaves are shaded from direct sunlight for approximately 3 weeks before the spring harvest. Removing direct sunlight in this way enhances the proportions of flavenols, amino acids, sugars, and other substances that provide tea aroma and taste. After harvesting the leaves are rolled and dried naturally. Gyokuro is slightly sweeter than sencha and is famous for its crisp, clean taste. Major growing areas include Uji, Kyōto and Shizuoka prefecture.
- Hōjicha: green tea roasted over charcoal
- Kombucha : specifically the tea poured with Kombu giving rich flavor in monosodium glutamate.
- Kukicha is a blend of green tea made of stems, stalks, and twigs.
- Kuzuyu is a thick herbal tea made with kudzu starch.
- Matcha is powdered green tea.
- Mugicha is barley tea, served chilled during summer.
- Sakurayu is an herbal tea made with pickled cherry blossoms.
- Sencha is steam treated green tea leaves that are then dried.
- Umecha is a tea drink with umeboshi, which provides a refreshing sourness.
- Kuwacha is a noncaffeinated tea made with white mulberry leaves.
Soft drinks
- Calpis
- C.C. Lemon
- Mitsuya Cider
- Oronamin C Drink
- Pocari Sweat
- Qoo
- Ramune
- Yakult
Alcoholic beverages
Shōchū is a distilled beverage, most commonly made from barley, sweet potatoes, or rice. Typically, it contains 25% alcohol by volume.
- Awamori
- Sake
- Shōchū
- Umeshu
- Japanese beer - leading brands are Sapporo, Asahi and Kirin
- Japanese whisky - Suntory and Nikka Whisky Distilling are the leading distilleries
Imported and adapted foods
Foods imported from Portugal in the 16th century
- Tempura — so thoroughly adopted that its foreign roots are unknown to most people, including many Japanese. As such, it is considered washoku.
- Castella — sponge cake, originating in Nagasaki.
- Pan — bread, introduced by Portugal. Japanese bread crumbs, panko, have been popularized by cooking shows.
Yōshoku
- Breaded seafood or vegetables, and breaded meat, are usually served with shredded cabbage and/or lettuce, Japanese Worcestershire or tonkatsu sauce and lemon. Tempura, a related dish, has been heavily modified since its introduction to Japan by use of batter and dashi-flavored dip, and is usually considered to be washoku.
- Japanese curry - rice - imported in the 19th century by way of the United Kingdom and adapted by Japanese Navy chefs. One of the most popular food items in Japan today. Eaten with a spoon. Curry is often eaten with pickled vegetables called fukujinzuke or rakkyo
- * Curry Pan - deep fried bread with Japanese curry sauce inside. The pirozhki of Russia was remodeled, and Curry bread was made.
- * Curry udon - is a hot noodle dish where the soup is made of Japanese curry. May also include meat or vegetables.
- Hayashi rice - beef and onions stewed in a red-wine sauce and served on rice
- Nikujaga - soy-flavored meat and potato stew that has been made in Japan to the extent that it is now considered washoku, but again originates from 19th Century Japanese Navy chefs adapting beef stews of the Royal Navy.
- Omu raisu - ketchup-flavored rice wrapped in omelet.
- Hamburg steak - a ground beef patty, usually mixed with breadcrumbs and fried chopped onions, served with a side of white rice and vegetables. Popular post-war food item served at homes. Sometimes eaten with a fork.
spaghetti
- Spaghetti - Japanese versions include:
- * with tomato ketchup, wieners, sliced onion and green pepper
- * with mentaiko sauce topped with nori seaweed
- * with Japanese curry
- Pizza - The popular American pizza companies Domino's, Pizza Hut and Shakey's all operate in Japan, but Japanese brands such as Aoki's and Pizza-La are higher-grossing and famous for catering to Japanese taste. Many pizza chains offer seasonal toppings. Japanese versions include:
- * with corn
- * with shrimp, squid, or other seafood
- * with mayonnaise, white sauce or Pesto basil sauce
- * with potato or eggplant
- * with Galbi beef or teriyaki chicken
- * with hard-boiled eggs
- * with macaroni, wieners or other prepared foods
Other homegrown cuisine of foreign origin
- Japanese American cuisine
- * Burgers have various variations in Japan. MOS Burger developed Teriyaki Burgers and kinpira rice burger
- Korean cuisine
- * Kimchi from Korea is often served with Japanese Chinese cuisine, though the local variant may use thinner cabbage.
- Japanese Chinese cuisine
- * Ramen and related dishes such as champon and yaki soba
- * Mābō dōfu tends to be thinner than Chinese mapo doufu.
- * Japanese-only "Chinese dishes" like ebi chili
- * Nikuman, anman, butaman and the obscure negi-man are all varieties of mantou with fillings.
- * Gyoza are a very popular dish in Japan. Gyoza are the Japanese take on the Chinese dumplings with rich garlic flavor. Most often, they are seen in the crispy pan-fried form, but they can be served boiled or even deep fried, as well.
- Japanese English cuisine
- * Purin is a version of caramel custard.
Adaptations
- California roll - invented in Canada, it was invented in Canada then first introduced in California
- Spam musubi - a snack from Hawaii resembling onigiri, made with Spam
Seasonings
- Kombu, katsuobushi and niboshi are often used to make dashi stock.
- Negi, onions, garlic, nira, rakkyō .
- Sesame seeds, sesame oil, sesame salt, furikake, walnuts or peanuts to dress.
- Shōyu, dashi, mirin, sugar, rice vinegar, miso, sake.
- Wasabi, karashi, red pepper, ginger, shiso leaves, sansho, citrus peel, and honeywort.
- A citrus fruit called yuzu is also a frequent condiment, mashed up into a relish, sold as yuzukoshō and is blended with pepper/chili and salt. Yuzukoshō is eaten with many dishes, adding a flavorful kick to broth/soup items such as oden, nikujaga, tonjiru, udon as well as other dishes. Yuzu is also seen to flavor teas, jams or zeri, and any number of sweets from yuzu-an to yuzu-hachimitsu.
- Monosodium glutamate, which is often used by chefs and food companies as a cheap flavor enhancer. It may be used as a substitute for kombu, which is a traditional source of free glutamate
- Japanese-style Worcestershire sauce, often known as simply "sauce", thicker and fruitier than the original, is commonly used as a table condiment for okonomiyaki, tonkatsu, croquette and the like.
- Japanese mayonnaise is used with salads, okonomiyaki, yaki soba and sometimes mixed with wasabi or soy sauce.