Best Foods to Experience when visiting Japan

With world-famous cuisine, it can be quite overwhelming when choosing what food you want to eat, especially if you are on a short trip. There are so many different types of dishes available that there is usually always something even the pickiest eater can enjoy. From cheap eats and fried goodness to something a bit classier and more delicate, your taste buds can experience it all here in Japan.

Sushi / Sashimi

A staple in Japanese cuisine, sushi is world-famous and the epitome of mouth-watering goodness. The carefully cut slice of fish, gently laid upon a roll of sushi rice, is the symbol of perfection in terms of not only taste but visually too.

Sashimi is essentially sushi, but without the rice. By eating it in this fashion, you are able to get a stronger taste and texture of the fish. This may be better to have than sushi in cases of ‘freshness’ or ‘quality,’ where you can experience the feeling of the fish ‘melting’ in your mouth better.

It is good to note that there are different styles of sushi too:

• The classic style is ‘nigiri,’ where a slice of fish is laid on top of some rice.
• ‘Maki’ is the one where the fish is placed in the middle of a roll of rice and wrapped with seaweed.
• ‘Uramaki’ is similar to the previous one, but this time it is reversed, where the seaweed is on the inside surrounding the fish, and rice is on the outside.
• Finally, there is ‘temaki,’ which is quite unique, where it is wrapped with seaweed in a cone shape, filled with rice and fish.

Udon

A chewy thick noodle with a mochi-like texture, udon is a simple yet delicious meal. It can be served in numerous ways:

• A plain hot broth
• A cold version where you dip the noodles into a dipping sauce
• One with a Japanese curry broth

It is a popular dish all across the country, where you can even find unique variations of udon dishes that are specific to certain areas and prefectures. There is a great deal of pride and care for the handmade process of making the prefecture-specific udon.

For people who enjoy this dish, trying out the different udon in the various prefectures could be a fun little challenge to take on.

Tonkatsu / Gyukatsu

Forget ‘karaage’ or Japanese-style fried chicken; tonkatsu or gyukatsu is the crown jewel for fried goodness.