Contrary to popular belief, food in Japan doesn’t boil down (sic!) to just sushi and rice. Ok, fine, yes, there is a lot of rice 🙂 But there is also a lot more to their culinary scene than the rice.
So what can you expect to see and experience food-wise when you’re in Japan? Mind you, when I was there on my recent trip, I never ate any sushi. I did eat a lot of rice. Anyway!
Let’s start with tempura
In case you’re not sure what this refers to, let me explain. Tempura is a Japanese dish that involves pieces of seafood or vegetables which have been battered and deep fried. It comes as well with various sauces to dip the pieces of tempura in.
We had it on our second night of the trip, in a small restaurant.
You don’t have to have rice with it 🙂 We ordered it – and it turned out to be a huge feast. Too huge, I’d say.
Following this dinner, I decided I wasn’t a fan of tempura – too greasy for me.
But I did like something that I tried then for the first time – the plum wine! Can’t recommend it enough!
Shabu Shabu and nabemono hotpot
Now I confused you, didn’t I? 🙂
Nabemono hotpot is a dish that is served hot – no surprise here – and it consists of vegetables, mushroom, meat or seafood boiled in water or stock.
We experienced this dish in one of Kyoto’s shabu shabu restaurants. What is a shabu shabu restaurant? It refers to a place where you can eat a nabemono hotpot. Shabu shabu means ‘swish swish’ – and this is the move you make when you boil the ingredients in the hotpot 🙂 You hold a piece of meat, for example, and boil it by swishing it in the hot water. Food in Japan is never boring, you have that guaranteed!
The first dish in the pictures above is mine – it’s a vegetarian option of the regular hotpot. The second picture shows what else you may expect in a nabemono hotpot. Those long wooden green and brown utensils were for minced meat. You could scoop a bit and drop it in the boiling water. And ta-dam you have a boiled meatball 🙂 And as you can see, we had our individual-ish boiling stations. It did look scary a bit – what if it all exploded – but clearly this has been tested and checked many times.
Okonomiyaki
I am practically teaching you Japanese 🙂
Hands up who has heard of okonomiyaki? Hmmm. Ok, let me explain. Okonomiyaki is a savoury pancake. It’s usually made with wheat flour, cabbage, seafood, meat, and covered in various toppings.
We indulged in this dish in Kyoto in a place called Donguri. As always, you can add whatever side dishes you wish to this. Yes, that includes rice 🙂
Obviously some of us got spring onions with okonomiyaki 🙂
Matcha everywhere
I must say that I wasn’t a fan of matcha before I went to Japan. And made a complete U-turn about it when I was there. I think eating matcha food in Japan and made in Japan was simply different – better – than in England.
Below are two things that I never thought I’d eat as I don’t eat sweets – a panna cotta and a small cake. With matcha added, they were a dream to devour 🙂
The incredibly varied food in Japan
I think our tour’s last dinner shows best how varied food in Japan is.
We went to a type of tapas place in Tokyo. Have a look below what was on the table. We had vegetables, meat, seafood, tofu, rice, rice noodles, eggs, and some dessert that I didn’t photograph. And all sorts of drinks, naturally.
Let me answer some of the questions that I’ve been asked regarding food in Japan.
Do you have to use chopsticks?
No, you don’t. I still haven’t mastered them, but I continue practicing! You can ask for a fork or a spoon. So, good advice – learn how to say it in Japanese 🙂
Can you find vegetarian options?
Yes you can. However, it is better to check beforehand if the place does such options. Also, our incredible tour leader from InsideJapan would pre-order such options for the vegetarians in our group. While you have lots of veggies in Japanese dishes, there is almost always some meat, eggs or dairy involved in them as well.
So what about non-dairy options?
You may think that since Japan lives on soya in its many variations, non-dairy options are a staple as well. You couldn’t be more wrong. I can’t eat dairy, and I unfortunately suffered a bit in that it was near impossible to find e.g. a coffee shop serving non-dairy milk. Here is a memorable third soy latte I had on my 9th day (out of 10) of the trip in Arashiyama. You will also need to pay extra for the non-dairy options. For now at least. Let’s hope it changes.
Are the menus in English as well?
Yes, the majority of them are. If not, make sure you have Google Translate on your phone to avoid surprises.
Is the food in restaurants expensive?
It will really depend where you eat and how much you eat! But I didn’t find it expensive to be honest.
And lastly, you do not ever tip the waiter nor the chef. This is considered insulting in Japan. If you want to thank them for the meal, say Gochisousamadeshta 🙂 which means “This was delicious”. And to complete your education, you say Itadakimasu when the food is delivered – this means, roughly, “I thank you and receive the food from you” 🙂
By the way! I’m hosting a online event where you can find out more about visiting Japan ! It’s taking place in August, and you can sign up to it via this link 🙂