7 Popular Japanese Food You Should Try

Japanese food is one of the most popular Asian cuisines you'll find across the globe. But there's more than sushi to try. Most importantly, have you tried all of them? In our guide, we'll cover the 7 top Japanese foods that you should try.

Over the last few decades, Japanese people have contributed much to the food industry. With the revolutionary change in our technology-enriched lifestyle, Japan has also introduced delicious and unique cuisines for food lovers.

Like many others, we love Japanese food and recommend it to our friends and family so they can explore more regional Japanese foods.

Whether you visit Japan for your vacations and holidays, move there to settle your job or business, or go with friends, family, or business partners, here are the top-recommended seven popular and famous Japanese dishes you must try during your personal or official visit to Japan.

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Udon
Tempura
Sushi
Shabu-shabu
Unagi or Eel
Sukiyaki
Miso Soup
Most Popular Japanese Food Dishes

Udon

There are several different noodles, but udon of them are the main noodles enjoyed in Japan. Udon noodles are one of the most popular Japanese food. They are chewy, thick, and prepared with flour and special brine water.

This kind of noodles can be offered to the guests in many ways. For example, mixed into hot pots, tasty tentsuyu soup, tempura udon soup and more.

Udon soup noodles include various dishes like:

Kitsune udon, usually known as fox udon, commonly has a topping of aburaage fried tofu.
Tempura udon is topped with battered kinds of fish, shellfish, prawns, and vegetables.
Chikara udon, commonly known as power udon, has a topping of grilled mochi rice cakes.

Tempura

Tempura is the slices of fish, prawns, meat, or vegetables covered in special batter and fried deep until they are crunchy, crispy, and light to dark brown. If you love crispy food and want to eat something fried, you will enjoy and fall in love with tempura. It is one of the most popular Japanese food today.

They are deep-fried but do not have an oily texture. Battered foods are made from fish and meat in the UK, but tempura is made from small seafood such as prawns and vegetables like pumpkins, green beans, sweet potatoes, and daikon radish mooli.

A small dish of Tetsuya sauce can be served with tempura for dipping purposes. The sauce is made with soy sauce, sugar, and ginger. Tempura can also be served in rice dishes or soup with special noodles.

Tempura dons, or tendon for short is also a common meal where tempura is served over a bowl of rice, with some sweet soy sauce glazed over the tempura. It usually includes prawn, fish, sweet potato, mushroom and long bean tempuras.

Sushi

Sushi is one of the most popular Japanese foods, and Japanese people love it. It is served in different ways, so the prices vary as well. The price of the conveyor belt sushi is so reasonable for visitors that it is around 100 yen per plate. Another traditional form of sushi is Edomae sushi, where visitors enjoy a calm, quiet place to enjoy and eat sushi.

Sushi is usually served with a piece of raw fish or shellfish and is commonly eaten with soy sauce. Japanese people love to eat sushi with chopsticks, but it also is enjoyed with your own hands.

If you want to eat sushi with soy sauce, you must know one thing. Turn the piece of fish and apply the sauce to it. The sauce must never apply to the rice.

Sushi is perhaps the most popular Japanese food due to its unique and creative creation. Every piece of rice is mixed with a dash of vinegar and then mixed with various other ingredients, such as different kinds of seafood and vegetables.

Different sushi names such as Nigiri, Oshi, Temaki and Maki sushi are because of various shapes and ingredients used to prepare it.

Overseas, maki sushi such as Kani roll sushi or salmon skin rolls is very famous in city centre restaurants.

Shabu-shabu

Shabu is a traditional Japanese hot pot dish in which many kinds of meats, kinds of seafood, vegetables, tofu, and noodles are used to prepare it. Among the local people, it is one of the most popular Japanese food.

You pick a piece of meat or vegetable and dip it in the hot water pot. Once cooked, it is dipped in your favourite shabu shabu sauce and some rice. Rice is not part of Shabu but can be served as a side dish.

Unagi or Eel

Unagi is a kind of fish usually found in the rivers of Japan. It is commonly served in high-class Japanese dining. You can find many casual restaurants and cuisines in Japan, where Unagi is their speciality.

In many unagi restaurants, skewers are put on and grilled with a special sauce, such as soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin. Unagi is very good for digestion. Moreover, Unagi is usually eaten in summer to prevent summer heat and is one of the most popular Japanese foods.

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is a hot pot dish usually eaten and enjoyed in the fall and winter. This sweet yet savoury dish became famous in Japan around the 19th century. Typically, the Japanese prepare sukiyaki by first adding beef slices to a hot nabe pot, and then sukiyaki broth is added.

Sukiyaki broth is made from soy sauce, mirin rice wine, sugar, and sake. Moreover, it also includes tomatoes, different vegetables, proteins in meat, green onions, tofu, mushrooms, and noodles.

The word sukiyaki means to cook whatever you like. If you want to enjoy this most popular Japanese food at its peak, you must prepare it with your fellows or dining mates. Sukiyaki is a delicious dish with a bowl of rice as a side dish that will keep you warm from the inside out during chilly days of winters.

Miso Soup

Miso soup is not served as a main dish but is served as a side dish in most meals, along with many main dishes. This specific soup has great taste and huge health benefits for those who love this soup. Traditional Japanese people love to have soup in their diets daily.

This Japanese soup is made from a miso paste of fermented soybeans and fish stock. When you drink this traditional soup, you will find pieces of onion, tofu, vegetables, and seaweed. Not all vegetables are used in their preparation, but potatoes, radishes, and carrots are usually used during the preparation of the delicious miso soup.

Some miso soups will incorporate seasonal ingredients like fish or shellfish to provide another layer of flavouring to the comforting soup.