1.- Ramen
It is a Japanese dish of Chinese origin. In reality, much of the hot cuisine in all of Asia comes from China, considered the mother of oriental cuisine.
It is a noodle soup topped with different ingredients (seaweed, bamboo, spring onion, egg, pork, seafood, etc.). There are many recipes throughout the country varying the type of broth, noodles and garnish. The most popular is tonkotsu ramen (originally from Fukuoka, southern Japan), which has a powerful pork bone broth and is accompanied by strips of roast pork Japanese restaurant.
We also find ramen with very different broths, such as those based on soy, salt or different types of miso (the one with red miso is especially tasty). Typical noodles are soba (thin noodles) and udon (thick noodles) . You can eat udon and soba cold and without broth (for example, it is very typical to have them for dinner on New Year’s Eve), but that is no longer ramen.
2.- Gyozas
They are Japanese dumplings. They are made with a flour dough that is not too fine. They are usually filled with pork, cabbage and garlic, although we can also find beef, mushroom and shrimp gyozas. The preparation technique on a hot griddle should leave one part soft and the other fried and crispy.
They can also be prepared steamed or in a hot broth, especially in winter. In Japan you can eat a portion of 8 or 10 pieces for less than 10 euros. They are served with different types of sauces such as soy, hot chili and toasted sesame. The Japanese also accompany them with a bowl of rice, something that can never be missing from their meals.
3.- Yakitori
They are skewers of different parts of the chicken bathed in sauce and slowly roasted on the grill. Although traditionally they were only made of chicken (tori means chicken in Japanese), currently other types of skewers are also considered yakitori. Thus we find original creations combining vegetables, seafood or pork.
In the most authentic restaurants in Japan they still only serve chicken ones. They have an incredible variety beyond the traditional “thigh or breast.” So we can try the skin, neck, wings, liver, heart, stomach, ovaries and many more skewers. It is a very popular and cheap dish, which is usually accompanied by a Japanese beer such as Asahi, Sapporo or Kirin.
4.- Tempura
Japanese fried food is called tempura. The batter is very thin and is usually prepared in very small bites to be eaten at once. In the best restaurants it is fried on the spot, in front of the customer, using sesame oil. It is accompanied with salt and a special sauce called tentsuyu , which contains soy, mirin (rice wine) and grated daikon (Japanese radish).
The most common tempura is that of vegetables and seafood, although there is also fish. Mushrooms, sweet potatoes, abalone, asparagus, crab, onion, scallop and eel are among the tastiest. Prawns and prawns are usually fried separating the body and head, the crispy head being a real delight.
According to all indications, it was Portuguese religious, probably Jesuits, who brought the art of frying to Japan. There, as usual, they perfected the technique, as they also did with the griddle until it became the sophisticated tepanyaki, which allows various temperatures on a single surface, to be able to prepare meat and fish with precision.
5.- Tonkatsu
Tonkatsu is one of the most typical foods in Japan. It is nothing more than a pork chop, boneless, breaded with panko (a variety of Japanese breadcrumbs) and fried. It is a very popular food throughout Japan and there are restaurants that only serve this dish. The fillet is usually quite thick so that it is very juicy inside.
A special variety is gyukatsu , which is a breaded fillet of wagyu (Japanese beef). Obviously it is much more expensive but also tastier. If it is well prepared, it should be red and juicy inside. Both tonkatsu and gyukatsu should be served with coleslaw and tonkatsu sauce: dense, brown and powerful.
In addition, we find other typical Japanese foods such as okonomiyaki , a type of grilled omelette that also includes egg, cabbage along with other ingredients, which may include meat or seafood, and various sauces. Tacoyaki , a type of octopus fritters typical of Osaka and karaage, Japanese-style fried chicken that is crispy on the outside and very juicy on the inside.