10 Cool Japanese Food

1. Yakitori 「焼き鳥」

Skewered chicken pieces that are grilled over hot charcoals.

2. Sukiyaki 「すき焼き」

Thinly sliced beef and vegetables simmered in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and mirin.

3. Ramen 「ラーメン」

Noodles in broth garnished with small pieces of meat and vegetables. Check out two of my favourite ramen shops Ippudo Ramen and Kyūshū Jangara.

4. Okonomiyaki 「お好み焼き」

A savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. Okonomi, meaning “what you like”, and yaki meaning “grilled”. My favourite okonomiyaki was at Kiji(in the basement of the Umeda Sky Building) in Osaka.

5. Sushi 「寿司」

Cooked vinegar rice commonly topped with raw fish, or put into rolls.

6. Kushikatsu 「串カツ」

A deep-fried cutlet of meat or vegetable skewered on bamboo skewers and eaten with a tonkatsu dipping sauce. I had some good kushikatsu at a store called Daruma located at the base of Tsūtenkaku in Osaka.

7. Yakiniku 「焼肉」

Thinly sliced beef and vegetables grilled over a charcoal or gas burner and eaten with a tare (sweetened, thickened soy sauce) dipping sauce.

8. Yakisoba 「焼きそば」

Ramen-style noodles stir-fried with pieces of pork and vegetables and flavoured with yakisoba sauce.

9. Tempura 「天ぷら」

Thin strips of vegetables and seafood lightly dipped in batter then briefly deep-fried in hot oil and eaten with a tentsuyu dipping sauce or sprinkled with sea salt.

10. Nikuman 「肉まん」

A steamed pork bun.