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The diversity of Japanese gastronomy

Updated: Apr 2, 2021

During this particular and difficult period of closed restaurants, I would like to make you discover the diversity of Japanese gastronomy. If your idea of Japanese food is a mix of sushi, maki and yakitori, this post is written for you :-)



Of course, there are famous sushi, sashimi, maki… and in Japan, there are really fresh and tasty. A hint of wasabi is mixed directly in the sushi to bring a perfect seasoned touch. You can not only eat tuna, salmon, white fishes and shrimps but also cuttlefish, octopus or shellfish. Please note that it’s an expensive dish in traditional Japanese restaurants. Luckily for your wallet, if you love sushi, there are special restaurant chains that serve self-service sushi on a conveyor belt in front of you. The price is determined by the colour of the plates! It’s quite funny, the quality and variety of the food is decent and so is the bill ;-) Moreover, green tea and ginger are free in these restaurants.


Of course, there are the small skewers called yakitori, but in Japan, they are often prepared with offal… and I don’t like offal :-/. I inevitably prefer barbecued Wagyu beef, but it’s not the same price, even it’s not the exceptional Kobe beef! Wagyu beef is different from the beef that we are used to eating in Europe: the meat is streaked with fat which gives it a unique taste. This characteristic comes from the way animals are raised: they are fed with a special feeding with cereals, and receive all the attention they need. The taste is very different from the taste of a European steak that’s why it can be a bit disconcerting, or even cloying (don’t eat it too much!): it’s as if beef would melt in your mouth.


Of course, there are ramen (thin and yellow noodles) but it’s a trap: ramen was originally a Chinese dish! Japanese adopted this daily dish and developed it into many different versions, mixing it with miso (fermented soybean paste). But there are also other noodles in Japan: soba (white and thin buckwheat noodles) that you can eat cold or hot with a specific sauce, and my favourite, udon (white and thick wheat noodles) that you can eat in a broth, served with tempura (fried vegetables or seafood), eggs, tofu... By the way, I love tempura because it’s light and easy to digest despite the frying. My preference goes to sweet potatoes and shiso leaves, but you can also find shrimps, pumpkins, eggplants, etc.



I can’t talk about Japanese food without mentioning the stars of starch and vegetables, I know you already guessed: rice and soy! Rice in Japan is short-grain rice and is used in many dishes: from sushis to onigiris (rice balls), or porridge for breakfast. It can be served with soy sauce, green onions, garlic, ginger, pickled cherry blossoms or plums, sesame… As for soy, it is used in a lot of sauces and also to make tofu, miso or milk.


Let’s talk now about 3 street-food dishes that you can also find in restaurants: takoyaki, okonomiyaki et gyozas. Takoyaki is a small ball of fried batter with a piece of octopus inside. Okonomiyaki is a kind of pancake with “what you want” (translation of “okonomi”), most often cabbage and other vegetables, pork or another meat. These two dishes are served covered with a specific soy sauce, mayonnaise and dried skipjack tuna. Gyozas are browned ravioli filled with pork, vegetables, onions, garlic and ginger.

Photo credit: Maud Barbalat & Nelly Valière


And finally, sweet things: taïyaki are fish-shaped waffles traditionally filled with pastry of red beans. I also tasted taïyaki with sweet potato, chestnut cream or chocolate. Black sesame is also used for deserts in spreads or icecreams.


Are you still hungry? In Japan, matcha (green tea powder) is appreciated in all its forms: hot or cold tea, icecreams, “kit kat” or “mikado” biscuits, cookies… It’s also used as syrup to complement kantèn (cubes of seaweed jelly).

Photo credit : Maud Barbalat & Nelly Valière


Itadakimasu! Accent the last 'a' and don’t pronounce the ‘u’ to make it more Japanese ;-).

It is the word of thanks Japanese say before eating. It’s not the equivalent of “Enjoy your meal” because you don’t tell it to the people who eat with you but to the people who prepared your meal and also to nature.


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