5 Good Eats not to miss in Japan
Japan has so many delicious dishes, and I sadly did not get to try them all. However I did make a pretty good dent, (especially with matcha and mochi).
I think one of my favorite Japanese snacks would have to be mochi, and it can be any kind, sweet or savory, matcha or plain, I love it all!
Mochi is made from rice flour, and it has a chewy, gummy consistency. It’s tradition to pound the rice flour and make mochi in a ceremony called mochitsuki. It’s a New Year traditional food, but can be enjoyed year round. And it makes a perfect snack! This one here is called dango, which is pan fried or grilled with this terriyaki sauce coating it in yumminess!
When wandering the streets of Japan you will quickly notice the amount of street food stands there are. And you must stop and try the street food. Really anything you get is delicious, but I think one of the big things, a must try are the takoyaki.
They are little pancake balls stuffed with a little piece of octopus. It sounds strange but if you like calamari, you will like the takoyaki balls. Its made with a slightly sweet pancake batter (with the octopus of course) and it is drizzled with a little mayonnaise based sauce and benito flakes. For my personal tastes I’d give it a 3 out of 5. Mostly because squid/octopus isn’t my thing, but its a must try and you can literally find it EVERYWHERE.
OF course I have to include ramen in this list because, um, ramen! But seriously I came to this famous place called Ichiran. The broth here is a tonkotsu, it is this delicious creamy broth made of pork marrow, and the little bit of chili spice compliment it so well, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. But what makes this place famous is of course the delicious ramen, but also the style of dining.
It is actually a solo dining experience, which is unique and in my opinion, makes it a lot of fun. What you do is you order your food from a vending machine right when you walk in the door. There, you can decide if you want more noodles, an extra egg or whatever extras you’d like. A receipt pops out and you find a little booth. Once you sit down you have a little button that alerts the staff behind the curtains that you are ready. They take your receipt and give you these little trays for the extra things you order ( I ordered extra noodles and a dessert). It was maybe one of the best $10 bowls of ramen I have ever had. Definitely give this place a try!
And sushi absolutely makes the list! And although it may not be all Japanese, I had to come to a sushi train, (my first ever), and it did not disappoint. It was amazing to see the sushi chef prepare the sushi right in front of you. And most of them can be pretty inexpensive. You pay by the plate and they range from about $1.5-$3. And they were delicious! Some I though were a bit strange like grilled corn sushi? (I had to try it, and yes it was delicious and exactly how it sounds, grilled corn on rice wrapped in nori). What I like the most though was the chef actually prepares wasabi in each piece for you already, something I wasn’t used to, I mixed my dark soy sauce and wasabi like I always do, and boy that first bite definitely had a bite! But definitely snag some sushi whether it be at a train or not.
I think one of my favorite dining experiences though has to be when I went out for a local breakfast. This place was recommended to me by my hostel (because it was close, local, and cheap) For about $5 I got this tray. I was so confused at first because I was told that the egg was hard boiled, surprise! It wasn’t so I cracked it into my miso soup thinking that’s how they must cook it. No, they actually wisk it raw with a little soy sauce and pour it over rice and eat it just like that. I didn’t find that out till later after I had a google, and I have yet to try it. It’s the egg white that puts me off. But even though I was confused, I loved it, I love going to the places where locals spend their everyday lives. But I definitely recommend finding one of these little cafes and enjoying breakfast with the locals.
I have to end this list with maybe one of my most favorite things. Matcha. No matter what way it comes, whether it’s in ice cream, lattes or baked goods, you can’t leave with out sampling something matcha. This ice cream cone here was special it was a matcha and sakura twist, which sakura could be considered a bonus flavor thing to try. Sakura are the cherry blossoms that just fill the cities, parks, streets of Japan, and it the flavor has a sweet cherry taste and is especially popular during the sakura season, which is late March - early April, but it can really be enjoyed all year round.
Well those are some of the foods that can’t be missed when you come to Japan. And I didn’t even mention my love for the 7 eleven convenient store which seems to be around every corner, you’ll just have to pop in one yourself, or give a watch to the video I made all about it here,
Like I said so many foods to try and so little time. I hope this list helped give you a little idea of the many unique foods that Japan has to offer.
