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 other 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 to 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:

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 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 ()

A one-bowl dish, consisting of a donburi full of hot steamed rice with various savory toppings:

Sushi ()

Sushi is a vinegared rice topped or mixed with various fresh ingredients, usually seafood or vegetables.Nigirizushi : Sushi with the ingredients on top of a block of rice.Makizushi : Translated as "roll sushi". Seasoned rice and seafood or other ingredients are placed on a sheet of seaweed and rolled into a cylindrical shape, then sliced into smaller rounds. Typical ingredients are Tamagoyaki, simmered shiitake mushroom, boiled prawn and cucumber.
  • * 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 braised in sweet soy sauce stuffed with sushi rice Oshizushi : A pressed sushi using cured or cooked fish, most commonly mackerel. : Sumeshi wrapped in Takana leaves. Unique to Wakayama Prefecture.

Other staples

Noodles (''men-rui'', )

Noodles often take the place of rice in a meal. However, the Japanese appetite for rice is so strong that many restaurants even serve noodle-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 common item in Japan. Also known as Shina-soba or Chūka-soba .
  • * Champon : yellow noodles of medium thickness served with a variety of seafood and vegetable toppings in a hot chicken broth which originated in Nagasaki as a cheap food for students
  • * Hiyashi chūka : thin, yellow noodles served cold with a variety of toppings, such as cucumber, tomato, ham or chicken, bean sprouts, and thin-sliced omelet, and a cold sauce. The name means "cold Chinese noodles."
  • Mazesoba : thick wheat-flour noodles served in Okinawa, often served in a hot broth with sōki, steamed pork
  • Yaki soba : fried Chinese noodles
  • Yaki udon : fried udon noodles

Bread (''pan'', )

Bread is not native to Japan and is not considered traditional Japanese food, but since its introduction in the 16th century it has become common.

Common Japanese main and side dishes (okazu, )

Okazu : Common Japanese main and side dishes

Deep-fried dishes (''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.
  • Furai : deep-fried breaded seafood and vegetables
  • 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.
  • * is flame-grilled fish, often served with grated daikon. Was one of the most common dishes served at home. Because of the simple cuisine, fresh fish in season are highly preferable. Some species traded as dried fish, such as hokke are also served this way.

Nabemono (one pot cooking, )

Nabemono includes:

Nimono (stewed dishes, )

Nimono is a stewed or simmered dish. A base ingredient is simmered in shiru stock flavored with sake, soy sauce, and a small amount of sweetening.
  • 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 2=ラフテー.
  • Nikujaga: beef and potato stew, flavored with sweet soy.
  • : fish poached in sweet soy.
  • Soki: Okinawan dish of pork stewed with bone.

Itamemono (stir-fried dishes, )

Stir-frying is not a native method of cooking in Japan, however mock-Chinese stir fries such as have been a staple in homes and canteens across Japan since the 1950s. Home grown stir fries include:
  • 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 ()

Sashimi is raw, thinly sliced foods served with a dipping sauce and simple garnishes; usually fish or shellfish served with soy sauce and wasabi. Less common variations include:
  • Fugu : sliced poisonous pufferfish, a uniquely Japanese specialty. The chef responsible for preparing it must be licensed.
  • Ikizukuri: live sashimi
  • Tataki: raw/very rare skipjack tuna or beef steak seared on the outside and sliced, or a finely chopped raw fish, spiced with the likes of chopped spring onions, ginger or garlic paste.
  • Basashi: horse meat sashimi, sometimes called sakura, is a regional speciality in certain areas such as Shinshu and Kumamoto. Basashi features on the menu of many izakayas, even on the menus of big national chains.
  • Torisashi: chicken breast sashimi, regional specialty of Kagoshima, Miyazaki prefectures
  • is typically liver of calf served completely raw. It is usually dipped in salted sesame oil rather than soy sauce.

Soups (''suimono'' () and ''shirumono'' ())

The soups and ) 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
  • : soup made with dumplings along with seaweed, tofu, lotus root, or any number of other vegetables and roots
  • 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'', )

These foods are usually served in tiny portions, as a side dish to be eaten with white rice, to accompany sake or as a topping for rice porridges.

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
  • : 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.
  • * : The so-called vinegar that is blended with the ingredient here is often sanbaizu, which is a blend of vinegar, mirin, and soy sauce.
  • Shimotsukare : made of vegetables, soybeans, abura-age and sake kasu.

Chinmi ()

Chinmi are regional delicacies, and include:
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 is eaten as well in Hinoemata, Fukushima in early summer.

Sweets and snacks (''okashi'' (), ''oyatsu'' ())

Okashi, : Sweets and snacks

Japanese-style sweets (''wagashi'', )

Wagashi include:

Old-fashioned Japanese-style sweets (''dagashi'', )

Dagashi include:

Western-style sweets (''yōgashi'', )

are Western-style sweets, but in Japan are typically very light or spongy.
  • Kasutera: "Castella" Iberian-style sponge cake
  • Mirukurepu: "mille feuilles": a layered crepe that literally means "one thousand leaves" in French.

Sweets bread (''kashi pan'', )

include:
  • 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

Snacks include:

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 flavonols, 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
  • Konbu-cha: 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

Alcoholic beverages

Sake is a rice wine that typically contains 12–20% alcohol and is made by a double fermentation of rice. Kōji fungus is first used to ferment the rice starch into sugar. Regular brewing yeast is used in the second fermentation to make alcohol. At traditional meals, it is considered an equivalent to rice and is not simultaneously taken with other rice-based dishes. Side dishes for sake is particularly called sakana, or otsumami or ate.
Shōchū is a distilled beverage, most commonly made from barley, sweet potatoes, or rice. Typically, it contains 25% alcohol by volume.

Imported and adapted foods

Japan has incorporated imported food from across the world, and have historically adapted many to make them their own.

Foods imported from Portugal in the 16th century

  • Kasutera — sponge cake, originating in Nagasaki.
  • Konpeitō — star shaped sugar candy, the name comes from the Portuguese word confeito.
  • Pan — bread, introduced from Portugal. Japanese bread crumbs, panko, have been popularized by cooking shows.
  • Tempura — so thoroughly adopted that its foreign roots are unknown to most people, including many Japanese. As such, it is considered washoku.

Yōshoku

Yōshoku is a style of Western-influenced food.
  • 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.
  • * - is a hot noodle dish where the soup is made of Japanese curry and dashi. May also include meat or vegetables.
  • Hayashi rice - beef and onions stewed in a red-wine sauce and served on rice
  • Nikujaga - soy sauce-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.
Other items were popularized after the war:
  • Hamburg steak - a ground beef patty, usually mixed with breadcrumbs and fried chopped onions, served with a side of white rice and vegetables. Often accompanied with demiglace sauce. Popular post-war food item served at homes. Sometimes eaten with a fork.
  • 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

Adaptations

Seasonings

Many Japanese foods are prepared using one or more of the following:Kombu, katsuobushi and niboshi are often used to make dashi stock.Negi, onions, garlic, nira, rakkyō .
Less traditional, but widely used ingredients include:
  • 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.