When you hear "Japanese Food", what first comes to mind? Everyone that I surveyed said the same two things - sushi and ramen. While it's true that not all sushi is made with seafood, as someone who doesn't eat seafood at all sushi isn't high on my list of favourites. 

So here are seven Japanese dishes that I highly recommend.

しゃぶしゃぶ - Shabu-shabu

Shabu-shabu is my favourite Japanese dish, and it consists of thinly sliced strips of pork or beef plus vegetables being boiled in water. The water often has spices or flavour to it, and you cook the meat and vegetables as you eat them, adding a little in the pot at a time. There are also a variety of sauces that you can use to dip the food in, the most popular being sesame and ponzu. 

餃子 (Gyoza) - Dumplings

Although gyoza are traditionally Chinese, Japan does them well. Gyoza are little dumplings or potstickers that are usually made with pork and vegetables, but can also be made with chicken. There are a variety of restaurants in Japan that serve nothing but gyoza, including dessert gyoza with chocolate as the filling.

稲荷寿司 - Inarizushi

Inarizushi is a type of sushi that consists of only rice and fried tofu. It's name comes from the Shinto god, Inari, who is known for love tried tofu. 

弁当 - Bento

Bento and bento boxes are pretty common in Japan, and there are a lot of chain restaurants specializing in these wonderful takeout meals. A bento box usually consists of rice, fish or meat, cooked vegetables, and pickled vegetables. My favourite bento meal was always chicken nanban, which is fried chicken with a special tartar sauce. 

Check out some mouthwatering bento combinations on the website of the famous chain store, Honke Kamadoya.

杏仁豆腐 - Annindofu

Delicious, sweet, and refreshing, this is the perfect dessert! Despite its name, there is no tofu in this dessert, and instead it's made of apricot kernel, agar, and sugar. The name is due to the tofu-like texture and colour. 

カレーうどん (Curry Udon) and きつねうどん (Kitsune Udon)

Curry udon and kitsune udon are both delicious ways to eat udon noodles! Curry udon has a thick, curry soup with the noodles, whereas kitsune udon is a clear broth with a piece of tofu on top. The kitsune udon does have a little fish in it, as the white thing is a fish cake. If you're like me and dislike seafood, just remove it before eating. No fishy aftertaste is there!

焼き肉 (Yakiniku)

If you're a fan of meat, yakiniku is for you! At a yakiniku restaurant, you order small plates of cut up and marinated meat, as well as vegetables that you then cook at the table over a grill. Like shabu-shabu it's a lot of fun to do with a group of people, and it's even better in the winter when it's cold outside!

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❁ Rice is a staple in Japan, and it's not strange to have it at every meal - even breakfast.

❁ Slurping noodles in Japan isn't considered rude! It's used as a way to cool down the hot noodles and broth while you're eating.

❁ Horse meat is not uncommon in Japan. You can get it cooked or raw.

❁ It's considered "bad form" to pour soy sauce directly on your rice.

❁ Many sushi chefs train for at least ten years before serving their food in a restaurant.

❁ One of the most popular dishes in Japan is curry! Most kids know how to make curry, and the average person eats it 125 times a year.

❁ Miso soup is eaten at the beginning of a meal to help with digestion.

❁ It's very common to hear people raving about their food. A few useful words that mean delicious or yummy are: おいしい (oishii) and うまい (umai).


What Japanese food have you tried? Or what would you like to try?

SUSHI is great!! and Jupiter got me into Bento

I love bento! Although I'm definitely too lazy to make it myself, haha. Do you make your own?

I REALLY wish I could my friend

Ohhhh does that Shabu Shabu look good.

The bread! I love the bread from Japan. I've never really had Bento though. Those dumplings look good too!

We have a shabu shabu restaurant here in Montreal and to be honest it's one of the best thing to eat with friends. You cook your own food without the boring side of making it alone or at home. Plus it's delicious.

Now I'm curious about Yakiniku.

That is awesome! I know we don't have any Shabushabu in Niagara, but I never even thought to look for one in Toronto!

Yakiniku is really similar, just a lot more meat (and it feels a lot less healthy, haha).

JAPANESE FOOD IS MY FAVORITE

We have a lot of Japanese type restaurants here, and one sushi chain in particular is really popular. We always have to queue before we can sit whenever we go there, and it's one of my favorite restaurants, too. Being in the Asian region I have sampled almost every type of Japanese food because luckily we have a lot of them here. So everything pictured is familiar to me and now I'm incredibly hungry xD

My favorites have got to be sushi, yakiniku, and sukiyaki. I also love rice bowls such as the ones served by the Yoshinoya chain.

I love sushi, and dumplings. I haven't had much else. I would love to try it all one day though!

I like Udon, Yakiniku, Sushi, Gyoza, Shabu-Shabu, and Bento the most. But I don't like Japanese curry that much, I don't Kare Udon although I like Tempura Udon and Kitsune Udon.

Omg I REALLY WANT TO TRY CURRY UDON. I LOVE CURRY SO MUCH AND UDON IS MY OTHER FAVORITE JAPANESE FOOD OMG. *calms down...*

I really love watching japanese cooking videos! I keep up with Cooking With Dog (it's not what you think!) and Chef has so many awesome japanese recipes. Unfortunately I haven't really been able to cook many of them cause its hard to find some of the ingredients around here.

HOWEVER, after reading a manga on curry (lol yes there is a manga about cooking curry and its super cute), I got inspired to cook my own and I have been in love with it since then.

I've also made my own onigiri, which is super yummy!

If you are interested in bento, you should check out Just Bento, a bento blog run by a japanese women that lives in France. I don't think its been updated in a while now (she's been off and on ill i think) but its such a great resource for those interested in bento! I even bought her cook book and use the tamagoyaki recipe all the time. xD

I don't really care for sushi but I love dumplings.

I LOVE Japanese food! My favorite are udon noodles, curry, katsu, takoyaki, and onigiri.

Out of all of those items, nabeyaki udon (udon noodles cooked in a metal bowl with veggies, an egg, and sometimes tempura shrimp) is my absolute favorite. In the city where I grew up there's a Japanese restaurant called Yuki's and it's operated by a trained sushi chef from Japan. They have the best nabeyaki udon I've ever had! I love their nabe so much that the way I judge a Japanese restaurant is how well their nabeyaki udon measure up to Yuki's. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Sailor Mercury wrote:

JAPANESE FOOD IS MY FAVORITE

We have a lot of Japanese type restaurants here, and one sushi chain in particular is really popular. We always have to queue before we can sit whenever we go there, and it's one of my favorite restaurants, too. Being in the Asian region I have sampled almost every type of Japanese food because luckily we have a lot of them here. So everything pictured is familiar to me and now I'm incredibly hungry xD

My favorites have got to be sushi, yakiniku, and sukiyaki. I also love rice bowls such as the ones served by the Yoshinoya chain.

I was lucky enough to have a couple rice bowls at a branch of Yoshinoya once!  My step-dad had a Buy one rice bowl, Get one free coupon for the chain one day, and he let me use it there.  I had one Beef Bowl and one Chicken Bowl.  I liked both of their rice bowls so much that I then started eating there regularly for a couple years!

I saw a list of Yoshinoya USA locations once.  They have a lot of branches around the L.A. metropolitan area, and a couple branches in the S.F. Bay Area.  If you're lucky enough to live in one of those areas, I highly recommend going to one the next chance you get.  If not, then next time you travel to one of those two metro areas in Calif., make sure to visit a branch of Yoshinoya USA.  You can see where their branches are on their website at http://www.yoshinoyaamerica.com/locations.php .

I have also had a couple other Japanese dishes that I've liked a lot, neither of which has been mentioned here so far.  The main one I remember is yakitori.  It is basically the Japanese version of BBQ Chicken - on a skewer!    (They alternate the pieces of chicken with pieces of vegetables, so it's not 100% meat.)  I would recommend trying it, even if you aren't a big fan of American BBQ chicken.  I'm not, yet I still definitely enjoy eating yakitori when I get the chance.

The other Japanese dish that I really like is beef or chicken with teriyaki sauce (and the usual sides).

Cooking with dog...I can't believe I forgot about it.  I use to watch it.  Thanks for providing the link.

I have eaten Mitarashi Dango in Japantown. It is super yummy. I want to try the other flavors. I also want to try taiyaki and other deserts. I think the Udon is the most appealing for me.
I have a question about yakiniku, what type of meat is it? Is it pork or beef?

Mmmm yummy food I've had a California sushi roll before, and I get food from the local Japanese steakhouse sometimes...but that's about the only Japanese food I've ever had. I can't wait to go there someday and try these!