List of Japanese dishes

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Below is a list of dishes found in Japanese cuisine

Contents

[edit] 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 (朝御飯, 朝飯, breakfast), Hiru gohan/meshi (昼御飯, 昼飯, lunch), and Ban gohan/meshi (晩御飯, 晩飯, dinner). Also, raw rice is called kome (米, rice), while cooked rice is gohan (ご飯, [cooked] rice). Some alternatives are:
  • Genmai gohan (玄米御飯): white rice cooked with brown rice
  • Okowa (おこわ): cooked glutinous rice
  • Mugi gohan/meshi (麦御飯, 麦飯): white rice cooked with barley
  • Soy-flavored raw egg (Tamago kake gohan), nori, and furikake are popular condiments in Japanese breakfast
  • Ochazuke: hot green tea or dashi poured over cooked white rice, often with various savoury ingredients such as umeboshi or tsukemono
  • Onigiri: balls of rice with a filling in the middle. Japanese equivalent of sandwiches.
  • Takikomi gohan: Japanese-style pilaf cooked with various ingredients and flavored with soy, dashi, etc.
  • Kamameshi: rice topped with vegetables and chicken or seafood, then baked in an individual-sized pot
  • Sekihan: red rice. white rice cooked with azuki beans to Glutinous rice
  • Curry rice: Introduced from UK in the late 19th century, "curry rice" (karē raisu カレーライス) is now one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is much milder then its Indian counterpart.
  • Hayashi rice: thick beef stew on rice; origin of the name is unknown but presumably named after a Mr. Hayashi.
  • Omurice (Omu-raisu, オムライス): omelet filled with fried rice, apparently originating from Tōkyō
  • Mochi: glutinous rice cake
  • Chāhan: fried rice, adapted to Japanese tastes, tends to be lighter in flavour and style than the Chinese version from which it is derived

[edit] Congee

  • Kayu or Okayu: (粥, お粥) rice congee (porridge), sometimes egg dropped and usually served to infants and sick people as easily digestible meals
  • Zosui (Zōsui, 雑炊) or Ojiya: a soup containing rice stewed in stock, often with egg, meat, seafood, vegetables or mushroom, and flavoured 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.

[edit] Donburi

A one-bowl dish, consisting of a donburi (どんぶり, 丼, big bowl) full of hot steamed rice with various savory toppings:

  • Katsudon: donburi topped with deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (tonkatsudon), chicken (chickendon)
  • Tekkadon: donburi topped with tuna sashimi
  • Oyakodon (Parent and Child): donburi topped with chicken and egg (or sometimes salmon and salmon roe)
  • Gyūdon: donburi topped with seasoned beef
  • Tendon: donburi topped with tempura (battered shrimp and vegetables).
  • Unadon: donburi topped with broiled eel with vegetables.

[edit] Sushi

Sushi comes from Japan and is a vinegared rice topped or mixed with various fresh ingredients, usually fish or seafood.

  • Nigiri-sushi: This is sushi with the ingredients on top of a block of rice.
  • Maki-zushi: Translated as "roll sushi", this is where rice and seafood or other ingredients are placed on a sheet of seaweed (nori) and rolled into a cylindrical shape on a bamboo mat and then cut into smaller pieces.
  • Temaki: 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".
  • Chirashi: Translated as "scattered", chirashi involves fresh sea food, vegetables or other ingredients being placed on top of sushi rice in a bowl or dish.

[edit] Rice wine

Sake is a rice wine that typically contains 12~20% alcohol and is made by a double fermentation of rice. A koji yeast 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. Shochu is a distilled version of sake.

[edit] Noodles (men-rui, 麺類)

Noodles 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.

Soba with sliced duck breast, negi (scallions) and mitsuba
Soba with sliced duck breast, negi (scallions) and mitsuba
  • 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 ("Japanese soba"). In Okinawa, soba likely refers to Okinawa soba (see below).
    • Udon: thick wheat noodles served with various toppings, usually in a hot soy-dashi broth, or sometimes in a Japanese curry soup.
    • Somen: thin wheat noodles served chilled with a dipping sauce. Hot Somen 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 Shina-soba (支那そば) or Chuka-soba (中華そば) (both mean "Chinese-style soba")
    • Champon: yellow noodles of medium thickness served with a great variety of seafood and vegetable toppings in a hot chicken broth which originated in Nagasaki as a cheap food for students

[edit] Bread (pan, パン)

Bread (the word "pan" is derived from the Portuguese pão) is not native to Japan and is not considered traditional Japanese food, but since its introduction in the 16th century it has become common.

[edit] Common Japanese main and side dishes (okazu, おかず)

[edit] Deep-fried dishes (agemono, 揚げ物)

Ebi tempura.
Ebi tempura.
  • Karaage: bite-sized pieces of chicken, fish, octopus, or other meat, floured and deep fried. Common izakaya food, also often available in convenience stores.
  • Korokke (croquette): 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.
  • Tempura: deep-fried vegetables or seafood in a light, distinctive batter.
  • Tonkatsu: deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (chicken versions are called chicken katsu).

[edit] Grilled and pan-fried dishes (yakimono, 焼き物)

Yakitori being cooked
Yakitori being cooked
  • Gyoza: Chinese ravioli-dumplings (potstickers), usually filled with pork and vegetables and pan-fried.
  • Kushiyaki: skewers of meat and vegetables.
  • Okonomiyaki: savory pancakes with various meat and vegetable ingredients, flavoured 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 ("grilled meat"): 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 ("offal-grill"): similar homegrown dish, but using offal
    • Genghis Khan barbecue: barbecued lamb or mutton, with various seafoods and vegetables. 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: 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.

[edit] Nabemono (one pot "steamboat" cooking, 鍋物)

Nabemono includes:

  • Oden: surimi, boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Common wintertime food and often available in convenience stores.
  • 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.
  • Tecchiri: hot pot with blowfish and vegetables, a specialty of Osaka.

[edit] Nimono (stewed dishes, 煮物)

  • 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, flavoured with sweet soy
  • Nizakana: fish poached in sweet soy (often on the menu as "nitsuke")
  • sōki: Okinawan dish of pork stewed with bone

[edit] Itamemono (stir-fried dishes, 炒め物)

Stir-frying is not a native method of cooking in Japan, however mock-Chinese stir fries such as yasai itame (stir fried vegetables) 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 (gobo, ゴボウ) and other root vegetables stir-fried and braised in sweetened soy.

[edit] 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 (sometimes lethal), a uniquely Japanese specialty. The chef responsible for preparing it must be licensed.
  • Ikizukuri: live sashimi
  • Tataki (ja:たたき): raw/very rare skipjack tuna or beef steak seared on the outside and sliced, or a finely chopped fish, spiced with the likes of chopped spring onions, ginger or garlic paste.
  • Basashi (ja:馬刺し): horse meat sashimi, sometimes called sakura (桜), is a regional speciality in certain areas such as Shinshu (Nagano, Gifu and Toyama prefectures) and Kumamoto.[1] 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.
  • Rebasashi: usually liver of calf, completely raw (rare version is called "aburi" (あぶり)), usually dipped in salted sesame oil rather than soy sauce.
  • Shikasashi: deer meat sashimi, a rare delicacy in certain parts of Japan, frequently causes acute hepatitis E by eating hunted wild deer.[1]

[edit] Soups (suimono (吸い物) and shirumono (汁物))

Soups include:

  • Miso soup: soup made with miso dissolved 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
  • Imoni: a thick taro potato stew popular in Northern Japan during the autumn season
  • Sumashijiru: a clear soup made with dashi and seafood
  • Zoni: soup containing mochi rice cakes along with various vegetables and often chicken. It is usually eaten at New Years Day.
  • Kiritanpo: freshly cooked rice is pounded, formed into cylinders around cryptomeria skewers, and toasted at an open hearth. The kiritanpo are used as dumplings in soups.

[edit] Pickled or salted foods

A stall selling a variety of pickled and cured foods including squid, cabbage and daikon at a Tokyo supermarket.
A stall selling a variety of pickled and cured foods including squid, cabbage and daikon at a Tokyo supermarket.

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.

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Agedashi dofu: cubes of deep-fried silken tofu served in hot broth.
  • Bento or Obento: combination meal served in a wooden box, usually as a cold lunchbox.
  • Chawan mushi: meat (seafood and/or chicken) and vegetables steamed in egg custard.
  • Edamame: boiled and salted pods of soybeans, eaten as a snack, often to accompany beer.
  • Himono: dried fish, often aji (鯵, Japanese jack mackerel). Traditionally served for breakfast with rice, miso soup and pickles.
  • Hiyayakko: chilled tofu with garnish.
  • Natto: 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 Natto was not as popular
  • Ohitashi: boiled greens such as spinach, chilled and flavoured with soy sauce, often with garnish.
  • Osechi: traditional foods eaten at New Year.
  • Sunomono: vegetables such as cucumber or wakame, or sometimes crab, marinated in rice vinegar.

[edit] Chinmi

Chinmi are regional delicacies, and include:

Although most Japanese eschew eating insects, in some regions, locust (inago, ja:イナゴ)[2] and bee larvae (hachinoko, ja:蜂の子)[3] are not uncommon dishes. The larvae of species of caddisflies and stoneflies (zaza-mushi, ja:ざざむし), 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.[4] Japanese clawed salamander (Hakone Sanshōuo, ja:ハコネサンショウウオ, Onychodactylus japonicus) is eaten as well in Hinoemata, Fukushima in early summer.

[edit] Sweets and snacks (okashi (おかし), oyatsu (おやつ))

See also Category:Japanese desserts and sweets

[edit] Japanese-style sweets (wagashi, 和菓子)

Wagashi in a storefront in Sapporo, Japan
Wagashi in a storefront in Sapporo, Japan

Wagashi include

[edit] Old-fashioned Japanese-style sweets (dagashi, 駄菓子)

  • Karumetou: Brown sugar cake. Also called Karumeyaki
  • Sosu Senbei: Thin wafers eaten with soy sauce
  • Mizuame: sticky liquid sugar candy

[edit] Western-style sweets (yōgashi, 洋菓子)

Yōgashi are Western-style sweets, but in Japan are typically very light or spongy.

  • Kasutera: "Castella" Iberian-style sponge cake
  • Mirukurepu: "mille crepe": layered crepe (in French, "one thousand leaves")

[edit] Sweets bread (Kashi pan, 菓子パン)

  • Anpan: bread with sweet bean paste in the center
  • Melonpan: a large, round bun which is a combination of regular dough beneath cookie dough, with a sweet filling in between. It often (but not always) contains a melon-flavored cream, and its general shape is said to resemble that of a melon.

[edit] Other snacks

See also List of Japanese snacks and Category:Japanese snack food

Snacks include:

[edit] Tea and other drinks

Barrels of sake, a traditional Japanese alcoholic drink
Barrels of sake, a traditional Japanese alcoholic drink

[edit] Tea and non-alcoholic beverages

Sea also Japanese green teas and Japanese drinks

[edit] Soft drinks

[edit] Alcoholic beverages

[edit] Imported and adapted foods

Japan has incorporated imported food from across the world (mostly from Asia, Europe and to a lesser extent the Americas), and have historically adapted many to make them their own.

[edit] 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 is bread, introduced by Portugal. (Bread is Pão in Portuguese.) Japanese bread crumbs, panko, has been popularized by cooking shows.

[edit] Yōshoku

  • Breaded and deep-fried dishes - While tempura has been heavily modified since the introduction to Japan by use of tempura-batter and dashi flavored-dip, and is usually considered as washoku, other breaded and deep-fried dishes are considered as yōshoku. Breaded seafood, vegetable (Furai, フライ, came from "fry"), and meat (Katsuretsu, カツレツ, came from "cutlet", -katsu is also used to make compound words) are usually served with shredded cabbage and/or lettuce. Since Japanese breadcrumbs (パン粉, pan-ko) are usually not flavored and the ingredients are only lightly flavored, Japanese Worcestershire sauce or tonkatsu sauce, and lemon are served together.
Korokke for sale at a Mitsukoshi food hall in Tokyo, Japan
Korokke for sale at a Mitsukoshi food hall in Tokyo, Japan
See also: List of Japanese dishes#Deep-fried dishes (agemono, 揚げ物)
  • Kaki furai (カキフライ) - breaded oyster
  • Ebi furai (エビフライ) - breaded shrimp
  • Korokke ("croquette") - breaded mashed potato and minced meat patties. When white sauce is added, it is called cream korokke. Other ingredients such as crab meat, shrimp, or mushrooms are also used instead of minced meat which are called kani-, ebi-, or kinoko-cream korokke, respectively.
  • Tonkatsu, Menchi katsu, chicken katsu, beef katsu, kujira katsu - breaded and deep-fried pork, minced meat patties, chicken, beef, and whale, respectively.
  • 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 soup 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. Has been Japanised to the extent that it is now considered washoku (和食), 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 yōshoku (洋食) 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. Popular post-war food item served at homes. Eaten with a fork.
  • Spaghetti - Japanese versions include:
    • with tomato ketchup, wieners, sliced onion and green pepper (called 'neapolitan')
    • with mentaiko sauce topped with nori seaweed
    • with Japanese Curry

[edit] Other homegrown cuisine of foreign origin

  • Korean cuisine
    • Kimchi - from Korea is often served with Japanese dishes, 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 (shrimp in a tangy and slightly spicy sauce)
    • 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 (potstickers), but they can be served boiled or even deep fried, as well.
  • Japanese English cuisine
    • Purin has improved the custard pudding.

[edit] Fusion foods

  • California roll - invented in California, just as its name suggests
  • Teppanyaki - a style of cooking beef, seafood and vegetables on a large griddle in front of customers, invented in Tokyo in 1945. Made famous in the United States by the Benihana chain which incorporated stunt-like performances to entertain the customers.
  • Spam musubi - a snack from Hawaii resembling onigiri made with Spam.

[edit] Japanese flavorings

It is not generally thought possible to make authentic Japanese food without shōyu (soy sauce), miso and dashi.

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 (お好み焼き), tonkatsu (トンカツ), croquette ("korokke", コロッケ) and the like.
  • Japanese mayonnaise is used with salads, okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), yaki soba (焼きそば) and sometimes mixed with wasabi or soy sauce.

[edit] References

  1. ^ S. Tei, N. Kitajima, K. Takahashi, S. Mishiro, "Zoonotic transmission of hepatitis E virus from deer to human beings", The Lancet, 362 (9381), 371-373 (2003).