WHAT TO EAT IN JAPAN: TYPICAL DISHES THAT YOU CANNOT MISS

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Today we bring you a new guest-post thanks to the blog Travel Code: Veronica brings us a postdelicious ... also delicious indeed! Veronica will take us to discover the cuisine of one of the most beloved Asian countries and will tell us what to eat in Japan! She is a true expert and lover of this land so distant and different and will teach us that the cuisine of the land of the rising sun is much more than the famous sushi. Check out her blog because it is full of interesting facts and close stories: while you are reading it, it will seem to you that she is telling it! We were lucky to meet her at the blogger-butifarrera meeting in Barcelona and we liked her very much: she is a simple girl, who ADORA Japan and is very excited about her next trip… New York! (Good luck and watch out for m & m's hehe)

Our trip to Japan is, so far, the one that we have enjoyed the most from the gastronomic point of view, however, there are not a few people who tell me that they have doubts about going, precisely for the food. "But they don't eat weird things?" "It is that I eat raw fish ..." I have heard these phrases countless times and, as it seems a shame that people can miss a country like Japan because of the lack of knowledge about their food, I have decided to write this post and show dishes that they usually eat in their day to day and that we liked so much. Why, in Japan you don't just eat Sushi!

- DONBURIS: Within this term a large number of dishes is included. Donburi means "bowl," and they become rice bowls with other ingredients (vegetables, meat, fish ...). The name of each type is given by the main ingredient plus the suffix DON.

Oyakodon: Chicken, scrambled egg and onion.
Tendon: Tempura of vegetables and / or fish.
Gyudon: Beef and onion. This is very typical in some 24h chains. We are fond of one that brought grated cheese and another with tomato sauce.

- KATSUDON: Breaded pork fillet (Tonkatsu), scrambled egg and onion. The steak called Tonkatsu, is also served only as such and accompanied by a “Tonkatsu” sauce very similar to Worcestershire sauce.

- RAMEN: It's the Japanese version of the chinese noodle soup. Although there are different types, depending on what the broth is made of (soy sauce, miso ...) and the ingredients they carry, usually there is usually a shortage of some vegetables and pork tenderloin, we introduced ourselves asking for Ramen and that's it. Hehe Let us serve the specialty of the house or what they consider! Needless to say, it was great! There is another noodle soup, called Udon, but these are thicker than those of the Ramen.

- JAPANESE CURRY: Called Karê, it is different from what we usually serve as curry in other places. In Japan, curry is a stew of vegetables and meat that carry such spice. It is served with rice and can sometimes be accompanied by breaded pork fillet (Tonkatsu), in that case it is called Katsukarê.

- TAKOYAKIS: Octopus balls One of my favorite dishes! They are balls of flour dough, with some condiments, and that carry a piece of octopus inside. They usually add Tonkatsu sauce and mayonnaise on top.

- YAKISOBAS: Noodles sauteed with different vegetables.

- YAKITORI: The normal Yakitori is the chicken skewer. But today it can be used as a generic word of skewer, and there are places that do several things. This may be the "weirdest" dish we approached on our trip. And, apart from chicken meat and vegetables, they can be made from liver, cartilage, gut ... If you don't like to try that kind of “animal parts”, ask for “Tori niku” (chicken meat), but from our experience, as a rule they usually offer you the normal Yakitori.

A note: I have put "weird" in quotes to post, and that is if you stop to think, here there are also many typical dishes that use that type of casque (calluses, liver ...), so we should not see it so rare.

- GYOZAS: What we know as Chinese dumplings. Stuffed with pork and / or veal with garlic and some condiments.

- OKONOMIYAKI: This dish is hard for me to describe. Its meaning is "cooked to your liking", because in some restaurants you do it yourself by putting the ingredients on the plate. It is known as the “Japanese omelette” because it usually has a layer of omelette type egg at the base. We try the one they make in Hiroshima that it has: sauteed noodles, bean sprouts, cabbage, bacon and egg. In this case they did it to us in front of us.

Next, I want to talk about the sweetest part ... the desserts! In Japan they love cakes and you will see everywhere, as well as ice cream cups with fruits, huge crepes stuffed to the top of fruits and even stuffed with cheesecake ... But the fun is to try some typical sweets for the new flavors that you can Try there: green tea, sakura (cherry blossom), roasted soybeans, anko (it's sweet bean paste, widely used for fillings, like chocolate here).

You can find these flavors, among others, in:

- MOCHIS: Glutinous rice cake, usually stuffed with anko. At the time of flowering of the cherry tree, sakura-mochi is typical, whose rice mass has cherry blossom that gives it the pink color.

- DANGOS: They are also glutinous rice balls, but strung like a skewer.

- TAIYAKI: It is a fish-shaped and stuffed waffle. I found them stuffed with Anko and Cream (Kurima), the first one can be cloying for our palate, but I loved the cream one.

- DORAYAKIS: Known as: Doraemon cupcakes! They are two pancakes with anko in the middle.

- HELDOS SOFT TYPE: Creamy and with many flavors. I loved the one of “I am bean”, it has a roasted flavor that is slightly reminiscent of coffee. As they are usually sold by units, and they are cheap, I encourage you to try until you discover what flavor or what type of candy you like best.

Finally, tell you that in the big cities it is easy to find western cuisine restaurants (there are many Italians), international fast food chains, as well as Japanese hamburgers… I hope, thanks to this post do not step on much. Hehe Do you know other typical dishes of Japan to eat as if there was no tomorrow? Leave us a comment 🙂

And remember: In Japan you don't just eat sushi! ^ _ ^

Thank you very much Vero!