I tried to keep away from foods that are only available in certain regions, or even certain restaurants or homes (e.g. my aunt’s homemade udon) and stuck to foods that are widely available in Japan. I’ve also tried to include foods from all categories and all price ranges, from wildly expensive matsutake mushrooms to el-cheapo snacks. I also did not limit the list to ‘genuine Japanese’ foods (純和風), but include Western-style yohshoku dishes and a sprinkling of chuuka (imported Chinese) foods that are so ingrained in Japanese food culture that most people barely think of them as Chinese any more. And of course, I have eaten all of the foods listed at least once - in most cases many, many times. I like them all!
The list is not numbered in order of preference. It’s just how I happened to list them.
[Update:]
I’ve now added descriptions and links to recipes if they are on the site, as well as the food names in Japanese - now up to no. 30. I was originally going to wait until I’d finished all 100, but have found it impossible…writing about each food makes me feel over-satiated, even though I haven’t actually eaten them! I know, wierd. Anyway, I’ve made it so the descriptions are hidden initially, so you can have fun guessing what they are or trying to remember. Just click on the ? mark after each item! And I will keep adding descriptions gradually.
And no, nigiri-zushi and the most common types of sushi are not on the list, because I am assuming that if you are reading this, you’ve already had sushi. (Though… are you sure you’ve had great sushi at a top notch sushi-ya? See Judging a good sushi restaurant.)
I did not intention this to be a meme, but rather as a list of quintessentially Japanese foods that you might want to try. If you would like to post the list to your blog and play along though, please do so! Actually it would be even more fun if you make your own 10, 50, or whatever list of favorite foods if you dare. (It takes a whole lot more time and thought that you might think.)
A List of 100 Japanese Foods To Try At Least Once- Properly washed and cooked, top quality new harvest white rice (shinmai 新米) ? I cannot emphasize enough the importance of rice in Japanese cuisine. The ultimate rice for most Japanese people comes from famed rice growing areas such as Niigata prefecture or Akita prefecture; famous varieties include _koshihikari_ and _sasanishiki_. And the best tasting rice is held to be new harvest rice or _shinmai_ 新米. The older rice gets, the less desirable it is. This differs from some other rice cultures where aged rice (e.g. basmati rice) is held in high regard. See also How to cook Japanese rice.
- Freshly made tofu, as hiyayakko or yudofu ? Tofu used to be sold by mobile street vendors, who would go around neighborhoods in the evening (just before dinnertime) tooting a loud horn. Housewives would rush to the vendor cart, bowls in hand, to buy fresh tofu. Nowadays mobile _tofu-ya_ have virtually disappeared in Japan, but small independent tofu stores do still exist. Most people just buy tofu from a supermarket or _combini_ though. See how to make your own tofu; how to make hiyayakko and agedashi dofu (another great way to enjoy tofu). Yudofu (湯豆腐）is a piping hot version of hiyayakko.
- Properly made misoshiru and osumashi ? Misoshiru 味噌汁 is miso soup, an osumashi おすまし is clear soup, both fundamental parts of a traditional Japanese meal. Some people have a bowl of miso soup or clear soup at every meal. The difference between a miso soup made with proper dashi stock and good miso and an ersatz ‘instant’ one is like night and day. See Miso and miso soup basics and A week of miso soup.
- Properly made homemade nukazuke ? Nukazuke 糠漬け are vegetables pickled in a fermente rice-bran (nuka 糠）bed or nukadoko (糠床）. The vegetables are only left in the pickling bed for a few days. The care and feeding of a good nukadoko is a complex, much discussed matter, similar to the cult surrounding sourdough. The housewife or restaurant that has a top notch nukadoko is much respected. Unfortunately, nuka pickling at home seems to be a slowing dying art.
- Very fresh sanma (saury), sizzling hot from the grill, eaten with a drizzle of soy sauce and a mound of grated daikon radish ? Simply grilled fresh fish is a keystone of Japanese meals. Smaller fish such as sanma or the higher-class aji (horse mackerel) are grilled whole with their skins on, heads intact and innards left in, including sperm sacs or eggs. All parts of the fish are considered edible, and the innards are considered to be delicacies. Blue/oily fish or hikarimono （ひかりもの） are at their best in the colder months when they have more fat. Sanma used to be considered to be poor peoples’ food since it was so cheap.
- Homemade umeboshi ? Umeboshi (梅干し）- salted, dried then pickled ume (梅）, a fruit that is a relative of the plum and the apricot. Very salty-sour, and acquired taste. Used in small quantities, it’s a great flavor enhancer and appetite stimulant. Homemade is usually the best, and despite the effort it requires a lot of people still make their own umeboshi every year (including my mother). An acquired taste. See New rice and pickled plum and Oba-chan’s pickled plums.
- Freshly made, piping hot crispy tempura. I prefer vegetable tempura like shiso leaves, eggplant and sweet potato. ? Tempura 天ぷら is considered to be a quintessential Japanese foo these days, but it’s actually an early imported food, introduced by Portuguese and/or Spanish missionaries in the 16th century. (See Wikipedia.) Good tempura must have crispy, light-as-air, greaseless batter coating. The usual dipping sauce is a mixture of dashi stock, soy sauce and grated daikon radish called tentsuyu （天つゆ), not, as you might think from the way tempura-like fried foods are served in pan-Asian restaurants, sweet and sour sauce! (yeah yeah, I still haven’t posted a tempura recipe here! Someday I’ll fix that…)
- A whole grilled wild Japanese matsutake ? Matsutake (松茸）is a very fragrant, highly saught after, and __expensive as all heck__ mushroom. In Japan it grows near matsu (松）trees, which are supposed to greatly enhance their aroma. Matsutake are as highly regarded in Japan as truffles are in Europe. Japanese matsutake prices can reach four figures (in U.S. dollars) per kilo; imported matsutake are held in much lower regard, and are often sprinkled with ‘matsutake essence’ while cooking. The best way to eat a matsutake is to simply grill it over a hot charcoal fire, and sprinkle with a tiny amount of soy sauce and so on.
- Freshly made sobagaki with sobayu ? Soba (蕎麦）or buckwheat is best known in the noodle format. But the best way to enjoy soba in my opinion is as sobagaki (そばがき）, a chewy-soft dumpling of sorts made out of fresh buckwheat flour, boiled in water. The cooking water is called sobayu (そば湯）and is sipped along with the sobagaki.
- Mentaiko from Fukuoka, or tarako ? Mentaiko （明太子）and tarako （たらこ）are both marinated/salted pollack roe, even though the name tarako means “child of cod”. Mentaiko is a spicy version, which originated in Korea and crossed the sea to the southern island of Kyuushuu. Fukuoka, the largest city in Kyuushuu, is famous for its mentaiko. Both tarako and mentaiko can be eaten as-is with plain rice, or used as a paste or sauce - see tarako and ponzu pasta. Tarako is often used griled until firm as an onigiri filling. (Mentaiko onigiri is not that common, probably because it’s pretty expensive!) Tarako or mentaiko mixed with a bit of butter and spread on hot toast is delicous. An acquired taste.
- Onigiri with the three classic fillings: umeboshi, okaka, shiozake ? Okaka (おかか）is bonito flakes mixed with soy sauce; shiozake （塩鮭）is salted salmon. See Onigiri FAQ.
- Assorted fresh-as-possible sashimi ? Sure sushi is great, but the ultimate indulgence at a sushi-ya for me is a selection of fresh sashimi; it’s beautiful to behold and a treat for the tastebuds. Be adventurous and try everything form raw (live) shellfish to raw squid to slices cut from a still live fish! (This is called ikezukuri （活け造り or 生け作り）Yes I know, it’s cruel, but it’s very Japanese.)
- Saba oshizushi ? 鯖 押し寿司 is sushi you won’t often encounter in sushi restaurants, though some Japanese restaurants do have it on their menus. It is a speciality of Okayama prefecture, but is popular all over Japan. Very fresh mackerel or saba (鯖）is fileted, salted and marinated, then pressed firmly onto a block of sushi rice; the whole is then left to rest for a few more hours. It’s a style of sushi that is much older than the nigiri-zushi you are probably familiar with.
- Mugicha ? 麦茶. See Mugicha article.
- Kakifurai ? 牡蠣フライ - breaded and deep fried whole oysters, a yohshoku dish. You may not think this is that Japanese…but that crispy, slightly bitter, creamy-seafoo flavor, eaten with Bulldog sauce, is very Japanese to me, an is something I really miss! (Oysters in Switzerland are Way Way Too Expensive.)
- Morinaga High-Chew candy, grape flavor ? I know I’m biased, but I think Japanese confectionery companies make the best tasting candies. I didn’t say chocolates or candy bars - I mean candies, or sweeties if you are of British inclination. Morinaga’s High Chew line of soft chewable candies are among the best and most popular, and of these the grape flavor is my favorite.
- Karasumi ? か らすみ is salted and dried mullet roe. It has a very dense, sticky yet waxy texture (sort of like a salty-fishy an not sweet fudge), and is very salty. It’s one of the 3 great delicacies, or chinmi (珍味）of Japan; the others are salted sea urchin (shiuni) and sea cucumber innards (konowata), both of which are sort of stomach-turning for me, but karasumi is an oddly addictive substance. You traditionally eat tiny slices of it to accompany your sake. Very much and acquire taste.
- A pot of oden, preferably with homemade components especially ganmodoki, boiled eggs and daikon radish ? おでん - see oden article and recipe.
- Ika no shiokara ? い かの塩辛 is cuttlefish squid that is salted and fermented in its own innards. It has a slimy sort of texture, and a very intense sea-flavor. Great on hot rice. An acquired taste. Easily obtainable in jars at larger Japanese grocery stores; if you can get very fresh squid with the innards you can make your own at home. This recipe on Chowhound should work well, but use a non-reactive, glass or ceramic container; this is powerful stuff that will at the very least stain and odorize a plastic container forever, and may even eat through thin plastic (I’ve had this happen…)
- Calpis ? カ ルピス is a sweet fermented milk beverage. It’s most commmonly sold as a concentrate, which is mixed with cold water or plain at a 1:5 or so ratio. It’s also used straight as a syrup over shaved ice (kakigouri かき氷), and as a mixer in some cocktails. Because of its fermented flavor, cloying mouthfeel and (for English speakers) rather unfortunate name which sounds like ‘cow piss’, it hasn’t seen a whole lot of success in the West, though as “Calpico” in already diluted or soda form it is sold in some parts of Asia. An acquired taste. Japanese people love fermented-milk flavor (see Yakult below). (Switzerland also sells a fermented-milk beverage called Rivella, which tastes a bit like Calpis/Calpico soda.)
- Ankou nabe ? あ んこう鍋 - monkfish hotpot or stew. Tabletop cooking is very popular in Japan. A small portable gas burner is placed in the middle of the dining table, a variety of cut up vegetables and some kind of protein are made ready, and they’re cooked in a pot (in which they are called nabemono 鍋物 or simply nabe 鍋）of simmering water/broth, on a grill or shallow pan. Everyone at table picks out the pieces they want. Ankou is monkfish, a rather slippery, chewy fish with tons of flavor; together with lots of vegetables it makes a delicious nabe on cold winter days.
- Unadon ? う な丼 is unagidonburi （うなぎどんぶり）shortened; it’s eel filets with a sweet-salty sauce on a bed of rice. A very rich, high calorie dish that’s popular in the summer months, since all those calories in eel are supposed to keep your strength up!
- Komochi kombu or kazunoko ? Kazunoko (数の子) is brined herring roe, and komochikonbu (子持ち昆布）is the same herring roe pressed onto konbu seaweed. Both have a distinctive crunchy texture and the salty flavor of the sea. An acquired taste.
- Yamakake, grated yamaimo with maguro (red tuna) cubes (or just tororo with a raw egg) ? Japanese people love food with a slippery, slimy texture, and the slimiest of them all is grated yamaimo (山芋) or nagaimo (長芋), a type of yam. This is called tororo (とろろ, not totoro!). My favorite form of tororo is when it’s combined with cubes of fresh tuna, which is called yamakake （山かけ), but the ultimate slimy experience is tsukimi tororo (月見とろろ), a bowl of grated yamaimo with a raw egg which is supposed to look like a full moon.
- Properly made gyokuro shincha ? 玉露の新茶、new-crop Gyokuro green tea. How to brew a perfect cup of green tea.
- Milky Candy ? ミ ルキーキャンディー is a classic candy, with a character called Peko-chan who has graced the packaging since 1950. It is made by Fujiya (不二家). It tastes like condensed milk in candy form, and is another example of how Japanese people like that sweet, rather curdled milk taste.
- Wanko soba ? ワ ンコ蕎麦 or わんこそば. I’m breaking my ‘no regional food’ rule a bit, though you can get wanko soba outside of the region where it’s a speciality (the Iwate prefecture in the north). Wanko soba is served in small bowls filled with a very strong tsuyu or soba sauce with various condiments (see Cold soba with dipping sauce). The customer holds the bowl out, into which the servers throw in a few strands of soba noodles. The customer slurps these up rapidly, and more strands are thrown in. This is repeated until the eater is full. An average male eater can consume about 60 servings. It’s a gimmick, and encourages rapid eating. Wanko soba eating contests are the precursor of extreme eating competitions which are so popular in Japan.
- Omuraisu with demi-glace sauce ? オ ムライス is another example of yohshoku. The best place to have an omuraisu is at a small restaurant that specializes in yohshoku and makes their own demi-glace sauce. Failing that, a quick homemade version with ketchup is almost as nice. It’s a big favorite with kids in Japan.
- Handmade katayaki senbei ? 煎 餅 - せんべい - means rice cracker, but the little snack-sized rice crackers that are now as common as potato chips around the world are at the bottom of the rice cracker quality scale. At the top are hand-crafted 堅焼き煎餅 (katayaki senbei); round rice crackers the size of your palm or bigger, made of pounded rice that is formed by hand, dried under the sun, and toasted over a charcoal fire until the rice patty pops and forms crunchy air pockets. It is then painted with dark soy sauce. The sweet version is then sprinkled with big grains of salt caled ざらめ (zarame).
- Yohkan (yokan) from Toraya ? 羊 羹 - ようかん - is a dense, fudge like cake of sweet azuki beans; sometimes it contains chestnuts or other ingredients. To be eaten in slowly, in tiny mouthfuls, with green tea. The best yohkan is widely held to be from the old wagashi maker Toraya (とらや); a gift in a Toraya bag has much cachet throughout Japan.
- Ishi yakiimo - sweet potatoes cooked in hot stones, available from street vendor carts
- Natto
- Fresh seaweed sunomono (can also have some tako in it)
- Ikura or sujiko
- Tonkatsu
- Goma dofu
- Chawan mushi or tamago dofu - the same dish either piping hot or ice cold
- Freshly made mochi, with kinako and sugar, grated daikon and soy sauce or natto
- Gindara no kasuzuke
- Hoshigaki
- Inarizushi
- Chikuzen-ni
- Surume
- Yakinasu with grated ginger
- Tamago kake gohan
- Kabuki-age
- Nikujaga
- Spinach gomaae
- Fuki no tou
- Okonomiyaki
- Yakitori
- Ohagi
- Japanese style curry, with rakkyo and fukujinzuke as condiments
- Kenchinjiru
- Yakult
- Kakipea
- Takoyaki
- Sakura mochi
- Buta no kakuni
- Daigaku imo
- Kappa Ebisen
- Chicken tsukune
- Hakusaizuke
- Hayashi rice
- Goya champuruu
- Dorayaki
- Ochazuke
- Sakuma Drops
- Stewed kiriboshi daikon
- Takenoko gohan (or in fall, kuri gohan)
- Cream or potato korokke
- Fresh yuba
- Real ramen
- Monaka
- Ekiben of all kinds
- Edamame
- Chicken karaage
- Kuzumochi
- Mitarashi dango
- Konnyaku no dengaku
- Yukimi Daifuku
- Sukiyaki
- Nama yatsuhashi
- Panfried hanpen
- Nozawanazuke or Takanazuke
- Kiritanpo
- Amanatto
- Narazuke
- Aji no himono
- Baby Ramen
- Kobucha
- Kasutera
- Tazukuri
- Karintou
- Sauce Yakisoba
- Kamaboko
- Oyako donburi
- Atsuyaki tamago
- Kuri kinton
- Japanese potato salad
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