Rice dishes

• Gohan or Meshi: plainly cooked white rice
  White rice
  White rice is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavour, texture and appearance of the rice and helps prevent spoilage and extend its storage life. After milling, the rice is polished, resulting in a seed with a bright, white, shiny...
  
  . It is such a staple that the terms gohan and meshi are also used to refer meals in general, such as Asa gohan/meshi (朝御飯, 朝飯, breakfast), Hiru gohan/meshi (昼御飯, 昼飯, lunch), and Ban gohan/meshi (晩御飯, 晩飯, dinner). Also, raw rice is called kome (米, rice), while cooked rice is gohan (ご飯, [cooked] rice). Some alternatives are:
• Genmai gohan (玄米御飯): brown rice
• Okowa (おこわ): cooked glutinous rice
  Glutinous rice
  Glutinous rice is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. It is called glutinous Glutinous rice (Oryza sativa var. glutinosa or Oryza glutinosa; also called sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice, biroin chal, mochi rice, and pearl rice, and pulut) is a...
  
  
• Mugi gohan/meshi (麦御飯, 麦飯): white rice cooked with barley
  Barley
  Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
  
  
• Rice with a raw egg (卵掛け御飯Tamago kake gohan
  Tamago kake gohan
  Tamago kake gohan or Tamago gohan in short is a popular Japanese breakfast food consisting of cooked rice topped or mixed with raw egg and—optionally—soy sauce.- Background :...
  
  ), (海苔)nori
  Nori
  is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red alga Porphyra including most notably P. yezoensis and P. tenera, sometimes called laver. Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles papermaking...
  
  , and furikake
  Furikake
  is a dry Japanese condiment meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. It typically consists of a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate...
  
   are popular condiments in Japanese breakfast
• (御茶漬け)Ochazuke
  Ochazuke
  Chazuke or ochazuke is a simple Japanese dish made by pouring green tea, dashi, or hot water over cooked rice roughly in the same proportion as milk over cereal, usually with savoury toppings....
  
  : hot green tea or (出汁)dashi poured over cooked white rice, often with various savory ingredients such as (梅干)umeboshi
  Umeboshi
  Umeboshi are pickled ume fruits common in Japan. Ume is a species of fruit-bearing tree in the genus Prunus, which is often called a plum but is actually more closely related to the apricot. Umeboshi are a popular kind of tsukemono and are extremely sour and salty...
  
   or (漬物)tsukemono
  Tsukemono
  are Japanese pickles. They are served with rice as okazu with drinks as an otsumami , as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and as a course in the kaiseki portion of a Japanese tea ceremony....
  
  .
• Onigiri
  Onigiri
  , also known as or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori . Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume , salted salmon, katsuobushi, kombu, tarako, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a natural preservative...
  
  : balls of rice with a filling in the middle. Japanese equivalent of sandwiches.
• (炊き込み御飯)Takikomi gohan
  Takikomi gohan
  Takikomi gohan is a Japanese rice dish seasoned with dashi and soy sauce along with mushrooms, vegetables, meat, or fish. The ingredients of takikomi gohan are cooked with the rice; in a similar preparation, maze gohan, flavorful ingredients are mixed into cooked rice...
  
  : Japanese-style pilaf
  Pilaf
  Pilaf is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth . In some cases, the rice may also attain its brown color by being stirred with bits of cooked onion, as well as a large mix of spices...
  
   cooked with various ingredients and flavored with soy, dashi
  Dashi
  Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. In 1980, Shizuo Tsuji wrote: "Many substitutes for dashi are possible, but without dashi, dishes are merely à la japonaise and lack the authentic flavor." Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth, noodle...
  
  , etc.
• (釜飯)Kamameshi
  Kamameshi
  Kamameshi literally translates to "kettle rice" and is a traditional Japanese rice dish cooked in an iron pot. Similar to takikomi gohan, kamameshi is a type of Japanese pilaf cooked with various types of meat, seafood, and vegetables. By cooking it in an iron pot, the rice gets slightly burned at...
  
  : rice topped with vegetables and chicken or seafood, then baked in an individual-sized pot
• (赤飯)Sekihan
  Sekihan
  Sekihan , literally red rice, is a Japanese traditional dish. It is sticky rice steamed with azuki beans, which give a reddish color to the rice, hence its name....
  
  : red rice. white rice cooked with (小豆)azuki bean
  Azuki bean
  The is an annual vine, Vigna angularis, widely grown throughout East Asia and the Himalayas for its small bean. The cultivars most familiar in north-east Asia have a uniform red color, but white, black, gray and variously mottled varieties are also known. Scientists presume Vigna angularis var...
  
  s to Glutinous rice
  Glutinous rice
  Glutinous rice is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. It is called glutinous Glutinous rice (Oryza sativa var. glutinosa or Oryza glutinosa; also called sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice, biroin chal, mochi rice, and pearl rice, and pulut) is a...
  
  

• Curry rice
  Japanese curry
  is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is commonly served in three main forms: , karē udon and karē-pan . Curry rice is most commonly referred to simply as ....
  
  : Introduced from the UK in the late 19th century, "curry rice" (karē raisu カレーライス) is now one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is much milder than its Indian counterpart.
• Hayashi rice
  Hayashi rice
  Hashed beef rice or Hayashi rice is a dish popular in Japan as a Western-style dish. It usually contains beef, onions, and button mushrooms, in a thick demi-glace sauce which often contains red wine and tomato sauce. This sauce is served atop or alongside steamed rice. The sauce is sometimes...
  
  (ハヤシライス): thick beef stew on rice
• Omurice
  Omurice
  Omurice, sometimes spelled , is an example of contemporary Japanese fusion cuisine consisting of an omelette made with fried rice and usually topped with ketchup. Omu and raisu being contractions of the words omelette and rice, the name is a wasei-eigo...
  
   (Omu-raisu, オムライス): omelet filled with fried rice, apparently originating from Tōkyō
  Tokyo
  , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
  
  

• Mochi,(餅): glutinous rice cake
• Chāhan
  Fried rice
  Fried rice is a popular component of Asian cuisine, especially Chinese food. It is made from steamed rice stir-fried in a wok, often with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, and meat. It is sometimes served as the penultimate dish in Chinese banquets...
  
  (炒飯): fried rice
  Fried rice
  Fried rice is a popular component of Asian cuisine, especially Chinese food. It is made from steamed rice stir-fried in a wok, often with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, and meat. It is sometimes served as the penultimate dish in Chinese banquets...
  
  , adapted to Japanese tastes, tends to be lighter in flavour and style than the Chinese version from which it is derived

Congee

• Kayu or Okayu
  Rice congee
  Congee is a type of rice porridge popular in many Asian countries. It can be eaten alone or served with a side dish. Names for congee are as varied as the style of its preparation...
  
  : (粥, お粥) rice congee
  Congee
  Congee is a type of rice porridge popular in many Asian countries. It can be eaten alone or served with a side dish. Names for congee are as varied as the style of its preparation...
  
   (porridge
  Porridge
  Porridge is a dish made by boiling oats or other cereal meals in water, milk, or both. It is usually served hot in a bowl or dish...
  
  ), sometimes egg dropped
  Egg drop soup
  Egg drop soup is a Chinese soup of wispy beaten eggs in boiled chicken broth. Condiments such as black pepper or white pepper, and finely chopped scallions and tofu are also commonly added...
  
   and usually served to infants and sick people as easily digestible meals
• Zosui
  Zosui
  Zōsui is a Japanese rice soup made from pre-cooked rice and water. Okayu, which is a similar dish to Zosui, is rice cooked to a watery consistency....
  
   (Zōsui, 雑炊) or Ojiya: a soup containing rice stewed in stock, often with egg, meat, seafood, vegetables or mushroom, and flavoured with miso or soy. Known as juushii in Okinawa. Some similarity to risotto
  Risotto
  Risotto is a class of Italian dishes of rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. The broth may be meat-, fish-, or vegetable-based; many kinds include Parmesan cheese, butter, and onion...
  
   and Kayu though Zosui uses cooked rice, as the difference is that kayu is made from raw rice.

Donburi

A one-bowl dish, consisting of a donburi

Donburi

Donburi is a Japanese "rice bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice. Donburi meals are served in oversized rice bowls also called donburi...

(どんぶり, 丼, big bowl) full of hot steamed rice with various savory toppings:

• Katsudon
  Katsudon
  A katsudon is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments. Variations include sauce katsudon , demi katsudon , shio katsudon , shōyu-dare katsudon , and miso katsudon A katsudon (カツ丼) is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a...
  
  : donburi topped with deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (tonkatsu
  Tonkatsu
  Tonkatsu , invented in the late 19th century, is a popular dish in Japan. It consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet one to two centimeters thick and sliced into bite-sized pieces, generally served with shredded cabbage and/or miso soup...
  
  don), chicken
  Chicken
  The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
  
   (chickendon)
• Tekkadon
  Tekkadon
  is a rice dish topped with thin-sliced raw tuna sashimi. Spicy tekkadon is made with what can be a mix of spicy ingredients, a spicy orange sauce, or both, usually incorporating spring onions....
  
  : donburi topped with tuna sashimi
  Sashimi
  Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy. It consists of very fresh raw meat, most commonly fish, sliced into thin pieces.-Origin:The word sashimi means "pierced body", i.e...
  
  
• Oyakodon
  Oyakodon
  , literally "parent-and-child donburi", is a donburi, or Japanese rice bowl dish, in which chicken, egg, sliced green onions , and other ingredients are all simmered together in a sauce and then served on top of a large bowl of rice...
  
   (Parent and Child): donburi topped with chicken and egg (or sometimes salmon and salmon roe)
• Gyūdon
  Gyudon
  , , is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with dashi , soy sauce and mirin . It also often includes shirataki noodles, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg...
  
  : donburi topped with seasoned beef
• Tendon
  Tempura
  ], is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried.-Batter:A light batter is made of cold water and soft wheat flour . Eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices may also be added...
  
  : donburi topped with tempura
  Tempura
  ], is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried.-Batter:A light batter is made of cold water and soft wheat flour . Eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices may also be added...
  
   (battered shrimp and vegetables).
• Unadon
  Unagi
  Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eels, especially the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Saltwater eels are known as anago in Japanese. Unagi are a common ingredient in Japanese cooking...
  
  : donburi topped with broiled eel with vegetables.

Sushi

Sushi

Sushi

is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...

 (寿司,鮨,鮓) is a vinegared rice topped or mixed with various fresh ingredients, usually seafood or vegetables.

• Nigiri-zushi: This is sushi with the ingredients on top of a block of rice.
• Maki-zushi: Translated as "roll sushi", this is where rice and seafood or other ingredients are placed on a sheet of seaweed (nori
  Nori
  is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red alga Porphyra including most notably P. yezoensis and P. tenera, sometimes called laver. Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles papermaking...
  
  ) and rolled into a cylindrical shape on a bamboo mat and then cut into smaller pieces.
• Temaki: Basically the same as makizushi, except that the nori
  Nori
  is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red alga Porphyra including most notably P. yezoensis and P. tenera, sometimes called laver. Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles papermaking...
  
   is rolled into a cone-shape with the ingredients placed inside. Sometimes referred to as a "hand-roll".
• Chirashi: Translated as "scattered", chirashi involves fresh sea food, vegetables or other ingredients being placed on top of sushi rice in a bowl or dish.
• Inari-zushi (稲荷寿司,お稲荷さん): Fried tofu packet stuffed with sushi rice (no fillings)
• Oshi-zushi (押し寿司):
• Mehari-zushi (めはり寿司):

Alcoholic beverages

Sake(酒) is a rice wine

Rice wine

Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage made from rice. Unlike wine, which is made by fermentation of naturally sweet grapes and other fruit, rice "wine" results from the fermentation of rice starch converted to sugars...

 that typically contains 12%–20% alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 and is made by a double fermentation

Fermentation (food)

Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...

 of rice. Kōjji

Aspergillus oryzae

Aspergillus oryzae is a filamentous fungus . It is used in Chinese and Japanese cuisine to ferment soybeans. It is also used to saccharify rice, other grains, and potatoes in the making of alcoholic beverages such as huangjiu, sake, and shōchū...

 yeast is first used to ferment the rice starch into sugar. Regular brewing yeast is used in the second fermentation to make alcohol. At traditional meals, it is considered an equivalent to rice and is not simultaneously taken with other rice-based dishes. Side dishes for sake is particularly called sakana

Sakana

or is a Japanese term referring to food eaten as an accompaniment to alcohol. Sakana may also be referred to as otsumami; this term usually applies to smaller dishes...

or otsumami.

Shōchū

Shochu

is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from barley, sweet potatoes, or rice, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as brown sugar, buckwheat or chestnut. Typically shōchū contains 25% alcohol by volume...

 is a distilled beverage, most commonly made from barley, sweet potatoes, or rice. Typically, it contains 25% alcohol by volume.

Noodles (men-rui, 麺類)

Noodles often take the place of rice in a meal. However, the Japanese appetite for rice is so strong that many restaurants even serve noodles-rice combination sets.

• Traditional Japanese noodles are usually served chilled with a dipping sauce, or in a hot soy-dashi
  Dashi
  Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. In 1980, Shizuo Tsuji wrote: "Many substitutes for dashi are possible, but without dashi, dishes are merely à la japonaise and lack the authentic flavor." Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth, noodle...
  
   broth.
  • Soba
    Soba
    is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It is synonymous with a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, and in Japan can refer to any thin noodle . Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup...
    
    : thin brown buckwheat noodles. Also known as Nihon-soba ("Japanese soba"). In Okinawa, soba likely refers to Okinawa soba (see below).
  • Udon
    Udon
    is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle of Japanese cuisine.Udon is usually served hot as noodle soup in its simplest form as kake udon, in a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru which is made of dashi, soy sauce , and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions...
    
    : thick white wheat noodles served with various toppings, usually in a hot soy-dashi
    Dashi
    Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. In 1980, Shizuo Tsuji wrote: "Many substitutes for dashi are possible, but without dashi, dishes are merely à la japonaise and lack the authentic flavor." Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth, noodle...
    
    broth, or sometimes in a Japanese curry
    Japanese curry
    is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is commonly served in three main forms: , karē udon and karē-pan . Curry rice is most commonly referred to simply as ....
    
     soup.
  • Somen
    Somen
    are very thin, white Japanese noodles made of wheat flour. The noodles are usually served cold and are less than 1.3 mm in diameter. The distinction between sōmen and the next thicker wheat noodles hiyamugi and even thicker Japanese wheat noodles udon is mostly the size of the noodle...
    
    : thin white wheat noodles served chilled with a dipping sauce. Hot Somen is called Nyumen.

• Chinese-influenced noodles are served in a meat or chicken broth and have only appeared in the last 100 years or so.
  • Ramen
    Ramen
    is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as , , kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn...
    
    : thin light yellow noodles served in hot chicken or pork broth with various toppings; of Chinese origin, it is a popular and common item in Japan. Also known as Shina-soba (支那そば) or Chuka-soba (中華そば) (both mean "Chinese-style soba")
  • Champon
    Champon
    , also known as Chanpon, is a noodle dish that is a regional cuisine of Nagasaki, Japan. Due to the inspiration from Chinese cuisine, it is also a form of Japanese Chinese cuisine. Champon is made by frying pork, seafood and vegetables with lard; a soup made with chicken and pig bones is added. A...
    
    : yellow noodles of medium thickness served with a great variety of seafood and vegetable toppings in a hot chicken broth which originated in Nagasaki as a cheap food for students
  • Hiyashi chuka
    Hiyashi chuka
    is a Japanese dish consisting of chilled ramen noodles with various toppings served in the summer. Toppings are usually colorful cold ingredients and a tare dressing....
    
    : thin, yellow noodles served cold with a variety of toppings, such as cucumber, tomato, ham or chicken, bean sprouts, thin-sliced omelet, etc., and a cold sauce (soy sauce based, sesame based, etc.). The name means "cold Chinese noodles."

• Okinawa soba
  Okinawa soba
  is a type of noodle soup eaten in Okinawa. In Okinawa, it is sometimes simply called soba or suba, although it is different from buckwheat noodles known as soba in the rest of Japan...
  
  : thick wheat-flour noodles served in Okinawa, often served in a hot broth with sōki
  Soki
  is a specialty of the cuisine of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Sōki are stewed pork spare ribs, with the cartilage still attached. They are often served with Okinawa soba.-Sōki soba:Okinawa soba with stewed sōki on top...
  
  , steamed pork. Akin to a cross between udon and ramen.
• Zaru soba: Soba noodles served cold
• Yaki soba: Fried Chinese noodles
• Yaki udon
  Yaki udon
  are thick, smooth, white Japanese noodles eaten with a special sauce, meat and vegetables. It is simple to make and a popular dish in Japan. It originated in Kokura, Fukuoka Prefecture after the Pacific War.-External links:*...
  
  : Fried udon noodles

Bread (pan, パン)

Bread (the word "pan" is derived from the Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 pão) is not native to Japan and is not considered traditional Japanese food, but since its introduction in the 16th century it has become common.

• Curry bread
  Curry bread
  Curry bread , also called curry doughnut, is a popular Japanese food. An amount of Japanese curry is wrapped in a piece of dough, and the dough breaded in panko, and deep fried. On occasion it is baked instead of deep fried, but deep frying is the most common method of cooking...
  
   (karē pan カレーパン): deep fried bread filled with Japanese curry
  Japanese curry
  is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is commonly served in three main forms: , karē udon and karē-pan . Curry rice is most commonly referred to simply as ....
  
   sauce.
• Anpan
  Anpan
  is a Japanese sweet bun most commonly filled with red bean paste. Anpan can also be prepared with other fillings, including white beans , sesame and chestnut .- History :...
  
   (ampan アンパン): sweet bun filled with red bean (anko) paste
  Red bean paste
  Red bean paste or Azuki bean paste is a sweet, dark red bean paste originating from China. It is used in Chinese cuisine, Japanese confectionery, and Korean cuisine. It is prepared by boiling and mashing azuki beans and then sweetening the paste with sugar or honey...
  
  .
• Yakisoba-pan: bread roll sandwich with yakisoba
  Yakisoba
  ', literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan, but originates in China. The dish was derived by the Chinese from the traditional chow mein, but has been more heavily integrated into Japanese cuisine like ramen...
  
   (fried noodles and red pickled ginger) filling.
• Korokke-pan: bread roll sandwich with croquette
  Croquette
  A croquette is a small fried food roll containing, usually as main ingredients, mashed potatoes, and/or ground meat , shellfish, fish, vegetables, and soaked white bread, egg, onion, spices and herbs, wine, milk, beer or any of the combination thereof, sometimes with a filling, often encased in...
  
   (deep-fried patties mashed potato) filling.
• Melon-pan
  Melonpan
  , also known as Melon pan, Melon buns or Melon bread, are sweet bakery products from Japan, but also popular in Taiwan and China. They are made from an enriched dough covered in a thin layer of crisp cookie dough. Their appearance resembles a melon, such as a rock melon...
  
  : sweet round bun covered in a (sometimes melon flavored) cookie-like coating, scored in criss cross shape and baked.
• Katsu-sando: sandwich with tonkatsu
  Tonkatsu
  Tonkatsu , invented in the late 19th century, is a popular dish in Japan. It consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet one to two centimeters thick and sliced into bite-sized pieces, generally served with shredded cabbage and/or miso soup...
  
   (breaded pork cutlet) filling.

Deep-fried dishes (agemono, 揚げ物)

• Karaage
  Karaage
  is Japanese cooking technique in which various foods — most often meat, and specifically chicken — are deep fried in oil. Small pieces of the food are marinated in a mix of soy sauce, garlic, and/or ginger, then lightly coated with a seasoned wheat flour or potato starch mix, and fried in a light...
  
   唐揚げ: bite-sized pieces of chicken, fish, octopus, or other meat, floured and deep fried. Common izakaya
  Izakaya
  An is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are popular, casual places for after-work drinking.-Name:...
  
   food, also often available in convenience stores.
• Korokke
  Korokke
  Korokke is the Japanese name for a deep fried dish originally related to a French dish, the croquette. It was introduced in the early 1900s. This dish is also popular in South Korea where it is typically sold in bakeries....
  
   (croquette
  Croquette
  A croquette is a small fried food roll containing, usually as main ingredients, mashed potatoes, and/or ground meat , shellfish, fish, vegetables, and soaked white bread, egg, onion, spices and herbs, wine, milk, beer or any of the combination thereof, sometimes with a filling, often encased in...
  
  　コロッケ): breaded and deep-fried patties, containing either mashed potato or white sauce mixed with minced meat, vegetables or seafood. Popular everyday food.
• Kushikatsu
  Kushikatsu
  is a Japanese-style of deep-fried kebab. In Japanese, refers to the skewers used while katsu means a deep-fried cutlet of meat.Kushikatsu can be made with chicken, pork, seafood, and seasonal vegetables. These are skewered on bamboo kushi; dipped in egg, flour, and panko; and deep-fried in...
  
   串カツ: skewered meat, vegetables or seafood, breaded and deep fried.
• Tempura
  Tempura
  ], is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried.-Batter:A light batter is made of cold water and soft wheat flour . Eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices may also be added...
  
  : deep-fried vegetables or seafood in a light, distinctive batter.
• Tonkatsu
  Tonkatsu
  Tonkatsu , invented in the late 19th century, is a popular dish in Japan. It consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet one to two centimeters thick and sliced into bite-sized pieces, generally served with shredded cabbage and/or miso soup...
  
   豚カツ: deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (chicken versions are called chicken katsu).

Grilled and pan-fried dishes (yakimono, 焼き物)

• Gyoza 餃子: Chinese ravioli-dumplings (potstickers), usually filled with pork and vegetables and pan-fried.
• Kushiyaki 串焼き: skewers of meat and vegetables.
• Motoyaki
  Motoyaki
  Motoyaki is a style of cooking, involving baked food topped with a mayonnaise-based sauce served in an oyster shell. Typically available in Japanese restaurants on the Pacific coast.Examples of motoyaki dishes are oyster motoyaki and seafood motoyaki....
  
  : Baked seafood topped with a creamy sauce.
• Okonomiyaki
  Okonomiyaki
  is a Japanese dish containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" . Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the...
  
   (お好み焼き): savory pancakes with various meat and vegetable ingredients, flavoured with the likes of Worcestershire sauce or mayonnaise
  Mayonnaise
  Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
  
  .
• Takoyaki
  Takoyaki
  is a popular ball-shaped Japanese dumpling or more like a savory pancake made of batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan...
  
   (たこ焼き,蛸焼き): a spherical, fried dumpling of batter with a piece of octopus inside. Popular street snack.
• Teriyaki
  Teriyaki
  Teriyaki is a cooking technique used in Japanese cuisine in which foods are broiled or grilled in a sweet soy sauce marinade...
  
   (照り焼き): grilled, broiled, or pan-fried meat, fish, chicken or vegetables glazed with a sweetened soy sauce.
• Unagi
  Unagi
  Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eels, especially the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Saltwater eels are known as anago in Japanese. Unagi are a common ingredient in Japanese cooking...
  
   (鰻,うなぎ), including Kabayaki
  Kabayaki
  is a generic Japanese term for a dish of seafood which is filleted, boned and dipped in a sweet soy sauce-base sauce before broiled on a grill. In general, kabayaki refers to the dish made with unagi. Kabayaki eel is very popular as a nutritious, stamina-generating food...
  
  蒲焼: grilled and flavored eel
  Eel
  Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
  
  .
• Yakiniku
  Yakiniku
  Yakiniku , meaning "grilled meat", is a Japanese term which, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat dishes. The present style of yakiniku restaurants are derived from the Korean restaurants in Osaka and Tokyo which were opened around 1945....
  
   ("grilled meat" 焼肉): may refer to several things. Vegetables such as bite-sized onion, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms, and bell pepper are usually grilled together. Grilled ingredients are dipped in a sauce known as tare
  Tare sauce
  Tare is a general term in Japanese cuisine for dipping sauces often used in grilling as well as with sushi, nabemono and gyoza. The sauce is best described as sweetened, thickened soy sauce for grilling and flavored soy sauce with dashi, vinegar, etc., for nabemono and natto such as ponzu but...
  
   before being eaten.
  • Horumonyaki
    Horumonyaki
    Horumonyaki is a kind of Japanese cuisine made from beef or pork offal of Korean origin. The name horumon originates from the Kansai dialect term hōrumon , literally meaning "discarded goods". Horumonyaki has the reputation of being "stamina building" food....
    
    ホルモン焼き ("offal-grill"): similar homegrown dish, but using offal
  • Jingisukan
    Jingisukan
    is a Japanese grilled mutton dish prepared on a convex metal skillet or other grill. The dish is particularly popular on the northern island of Hokkaidō and Thailand.-Etymology:...
    
     (Genghis Khan ジンギスカン) barbecue: sliced lamb or mutton grilled with various vegetables, especially onion and cabbage and dipped in a rich tare
    Tare sauce
    Tare is a general term in Japanese cuisine for dipping sauces often used in grilling as well as with sushi, nabemono and gyoza. The sauce is best described as sweetened, thickened soy sauce for grilling and flavored soy sauce with dashi, vinegar, etc., for nabemono and natto such as ponzu but...
    
     sauce. A speciality of Hokkaidō
    Hokkaido
    , formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
    
    .
• Yakitori
  Yakitori
  , grilled chicken, is commonly a Japanese type of skewered chicken. The term Yakitori can also refer to skewered food in general. Kushiyaki , is a formal term that encompasses both poultry and non-poultry items, skewered and grilled...
  
   焼き鳥: barbecued chicken skewers, usually served with beer. In Japan, yakitori usually consists of a wide variety of parts of the chicken. It is not usual to see straight chicken meat as the only type of yakitori in a meal.
• Yakizakana 焼き魚 : flame-grilled fish
  Fish
  Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
  
  , often served with grated daikon
  Daikon
  Daikon , Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also called White Radish, Japanese radish, Oriental radish, Chinese radish, lo bok and Mooli , is a mild flavoured, very large, white East Asian radish...
  
  . One of the most common dishes served at home. Because of the simple cuisine, fresh fish in season are highly preferable. See Arabesque greenling
  Arabesque greenling
  The Arabesque greenling is a species of mackerel used in Japanese cuisine.The primary population of the fish is found off of the Sea of Okhotsk. According to legend, it was discovered by Nichiji.-Uses:...
  
  

Nabemono (one pot "steamboat" cooking, 鍋物)

Nabemono

Nabemono

Nabemono or simply called nabe, is a term referring to all varieties of Japanese steamboat dishes, also known as one pot dishes....

 includes:

• Oden
  Oden
  Oden is a Japanese winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and processed fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Ingredients vary according to region and between each household...
  
   おでん,関東炊き"kantou-daki": surimi
  Surimi
  Surimi is a Japanese loan word referring to a fish-based food product that has been pulverized to a thick paste and has the property of a dense and rubbery food item when cooked...
  
  , boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Common wintertime food and often available in convenience stores.
• Motsunabe
  Motsunabe
  is a type of nabemono in Japanese cuisine, which is made from beef or pork offal. A hot pot is filled with soup, prepared beef or pork offal and boiled for a while; cabbage and garlic chives are added. The base soup is usually soy sauce with garlic and chili pepper, or miso...
  
   モツ鍋: beef offal
  Offal
  Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...
  
  , Chinese cabbage
  Chinese cabbage
  Chinese cabbage can refer to two distinct varieties of Chinese leaf vegetables used often in Chinese cuisine. These vegetables are both related to the Western cabbage, and are of the same species as the common turnip...
  
   and various vegetables cooked in a light soup base.
• Shabu-shabu
  Shabu-shabu
  is a Japanese variant of hot pot. The name Shabu Shabu is derived from the "swish swish" sound of cooking the meat in the pot. The dish is related to sukiyaki in style, in that both use thinly sliced meat and vegetables and are usually served with dipping sauces, but it is considered to be more...
  
   しゃぶしゃぶ: hot pot with thinly sliced beef, vegetables, and tofu, cooked in a thin stock at the table and dipped in a soy or sesame-based dip before eating.
• Sukiyaki
  Sukiyaki
  Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish in the nabemono style.It consists of meat which is slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin...
  
   すき焼き: thinly sliced beef and vegetables cooked in a mixture of soy sauce, dashi, sugar, and sake. Participants cook at the table then dip food into their individual bowls of raw egg before eating it.
• Tecchiri: hot pot with blowfish and vegetables, a specialty of Osaka.

Nimono (stewed dishes, 煮物)

• Kakuni
  Kakuni
  is a Japanese braised pork dish which literally means "square simmered".Kakuni is a meibutsu of Nagasaki. The origin of this dish is most likely Chinese, making it a form of Japanese Chinese cuisine, and it is similar to Dongpo's pork, though not as heavy in sauce...
  
   角煮: chunks of pork belly stewed in soy, mirin and sake with large pieces of daikon and whole boiled eggs. The Okinawan variation, using awamori, soy sauce and miso, is known as rafuti.
• Nikujaga
  Nikujaga
  is a Japanese dish of meat, potatoes and onion stewed in sweetened soy sauce, sometimes with ito konnyaku and vegetables. Generally, potatoes make up the bulk of the dish, with meat mostly serving as a source of flavor. It usually is boiled until most of the liquid is evaporated...
  
   肉じゃが: beef and potato stew, flavoured with sweet soy
• Nizakana 煮魚: fish poached in sweet soy (often on the menu as "nitsuke")
• Sōki
  Soki
  is a specialty of the cuisine of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Sōki are stewed pork spare ribs, with the cartilage still attached. They are often served with Okinawa soba.-Sōki soba:Okinawa soba with stewed sōki on top...
  
  : Okinawan dish of pork stewed with bone

Itamemono (stir-fried dishes, 炒め物)

Stir-frying

Stir frying

Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two Chinese cooking techniques for preparing food in a wok: chǎo and bào . The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chǎo technique...

 is not a native method of cooking in Japan, however mock-Chinese stir fries such as yasai itame (stir fried vegetables) have been a staple in homes and canteens across Japan since the 1950s. Home grown stir fries include:

• Chanpurū
  Chanpuru
  is a form of popular Okinawan stir fry dish, generally containing vegetables, tofu, and some kind of meat or fish. Luncheon meat , egg, moyashi and gōyā are some other common ingredients...
  
  : A stir-fry from Okinawa, of vegetables, tofu, meat or seafood and sometimes egg. Many varieties, the most famous being gōyā
  Bitter melon
  Momordica charantia, called bitter melon or bitter gourd in English, is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit, which is among the most bitter of all fruits...
  
   chanpurū.
• Kinpira gobo
  Kinpira
  is a Japanese cooking style that can be summarized as a technique of "sauté and simmer". It is commonly used to cook root vegetables such as carrot, burdock and lotus root, seaweeds such as arame and hijiki and other foods including tofu and wheat gluten ,and even meat .The dish features the use of...
  
  : Thin sticks of greater burdock
  Greater burdock
  Greater burdock, Edible burdock, or Lappa Burdock is a biennial plant of the Arctium genus in the Asteraceae family, cultivated in gardens for its root used as a vegetable.-Description:...
  
   (gobo, ゴボウ) and other root vegetables stir-fried and braised in sweetened soy.

Sashimi

Sashimi

Sashimi

Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy. It consists of very fresh raw meat, most commonly fish, sliced into thin pieces.-Origin:The word sashimi means "pierced body", i.e...

 (刺身) is raw, thinly sliced foods served with a dipping sauce and simple garnishes; usually fish or shellfish served with soy sauce and wasabi

Wasabi

, also known as Japanese horseradish, is a member of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish, and mustard. Its root is used as a condiment and has an extremely strong flavor. Its hotness is more akin to that of a hot mustard rather than the capsaicin in a chili pepper,...

. Less common variations include:

• Fugu
  Fugu
  is the Japanese word for pufferfish and the dish prepared from it, normally species of genus Takifugu, Lagocephalus, or Sphoeroides, or porcupinefish of the genus Diodon. Fugu can be lethally poisonous due to its tetrodotoxin; therefore, it must be carefully prepared to remove toxic parts and to...
  
   (河豚): sliced poisonous pufferfish
  Pufferfish
  Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the Tetraodontiformes order. The family includes many familiar species which are variously called pufferfish, balloonfish, blowfish, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, toadfish, toadies, honey toads, sugar toads, and sea squab...
  
   (sometimes lethal), a uniquely Japanese specialty. The chef responsible for preparing it must be licensed.
• Ikizukuri
  Ikizukuri
  In Japanese cuisine, is the preparation of sashimi from a live sea animal, such as fish, shrimp, and lobster .Ikizukuri usually involves the customer selecting the animal they wish to eat from a saltwater tank. The chef, who is often a sashimi , takes the animal out of the tank, and carefully...
  
  : live sashimi
• Tataki
  Tataki
  Tataki , also called tosa-mi, is a manner of preparing fish or meat in Japanese cuisine. The meat or fish is seared very briefly over a hot flame or pan, briefly marinated in vinegar, sliced thinly and seasoned with ginger .The method originated in Tosa Province, now part of...
  
   (:ja:たたき): raw/very rare
  Temperature (meat)
  Temperature is a description of how thoroughly cooked a cut of meat is based on the color, juiciness and internal temperature when cooked. The gradations of cooking are most often used in reference to beef but are also applicable to lamb, pork, poultry, veal, and seafood .Gradations, their...
  
   skipjack tuna
  Skipjack tuna
  The skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the aku, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna, or victor fish...
  
   or beef
  Beef
  Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
  
   steak seared on the outside and sliced, or a finely chopped fish, spiced with the likes of chopped spring onions, ginger or garlic paste.
• Basashi (:ja:馬刺し): horse meat sashimi, sometimes called sakura
  Sakura
  A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese . Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit...
  
  (桜), is a regional speciality in certain areas such as Shinshu (Nagano, Gifu and Toyama prefectures) and Kumamoto. Basashi features on the menu of many izakayas, even on the menus of big national chains.
• Torisashi: chicken breast sashimi, regional specialty of Kagoshima, Miyazaki prefectures.
• Rebasashi: usually liver of calf, completely raw (rare version is called "aburi" (あぶり)), usually dipped in salted sesame oil rather than soy sauce.
• Shikasashi: deer meat sashimi, a rare delicacy in certain parts of Japan, frequently causes acute hepatitis E
  Hepatitis E
  Hepatitis E is a viral hepatitis caused by infection with a virus called hepatitis E virus . HEV is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA icosahedral virus with a 7.5 kilobase genome. HEV has a fecal-oral transmission route. It is one of five known hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D, and E...
  
   by eating hunted wild deer.

Soups (suimono (吸い物) and shirumono (汁物))

Soup

Soup

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...

s include:

• Miso soup
  Miso soup
  is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called "dashi" into which is mixed softened miso paste. Many ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes, and personal preference.-Miso paste:...
  
   (味噌汁): soup made with miso
  Miso
  is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus , the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso...
  
   dissolved in dashi
  Dashi
  Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. In 1980, Shizuo Tsuji wrote: "Many substitutes for dashi are possible, but without dashi, dishes are merely à la japonaise and lack the authentic flavor." Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth, noodle...
  
  , usually containing two or three types of solid ingredients, such as seaweed, vegetables or tofu.
• Tonjiru
  Butajiru
  - both literally mean pig/pork soup - is a Japanese soup made with pork and vegetables, flavoured with miso.Compared to normal miso soup, tonjiru tend to be more substantial, with a larger quantity and variety of ingredients added to the soup....
  
   (豚汁): similar to Miso soup, except that pork is added to the ingredients
• Dangojiru (団子汁): soup made with dumplings along with seaweed, tofu, lotus root, or any number of other vegetables and roots
• Imoni
  Imoni
  is a type of thick potato and meat soup eaten traditionally in the autumn in the Tōhoku region of Japan. Yamagata Prefecture in particular is famous for its imoni, but other prefectures in the region also have their own different varieties....
  
  (芋煮): a thick taro potato stew popular in Northern Japan during the autumn season
• Sumashijiru (澄まし汁) or osumashi (お澄まし): a clear soup made with dashi
  Dashi
  Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. In 1980, Shizuo Tsuji wrote: "Many substitutes for dashi are possible, but without dashi, dishes are merely à la japonaise and lack the authentic flavor." Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth, noodle...
  
   and seafood or chicken.
• Zoni
  Zoni soup
  , often with the honorific "o-" as o-zōni, is a Japanese soup containing mochi rice cakes. The dish is strongly associated with the Japanese New Year and its tradition of osechi ceremonial foods....
  
   (雑煮): soup containing mochi rice cakes along with various vegetables and often chicken. It is usually eaten at New Years Day.
• Kiritanpo
  Kiritanpo
  is a Japanese dish particularly in Akita Prefecture. Freshly cooked rice is pounded until somewhat mashed, then formed into cylinders around japanese cedar skewers, and toasted over an open hearth. It can then be served with sweet miso or used as dumplings in soups....
  
  : freshly cooked rice is pounded, formed into cylinders around cryptomeria skewers, and toasted at an open hearth. The kiritanpo are used as dumplings in soups.

Pickled or salted foods (tsukemono 漬け物 (pickled or fragrant things)

These foods are usually served in tiny portions, as a side dish to be eaten with white rice, to accompany sake or as a topping for rice porridges.

• Ikura: salt cured and　pickled　soy sauce salmon
  Salmon
  Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
  
   caviar.
• Mentaiko
  Mentaiko
  is the marinated roe of pollock, and is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. Mentaiko originated from myeongran jeot of Korean cuisine and was introduced to Japan after the Russo-Japanese War. , a Busan-born Japanese, adapted Korean mentaiko to Japanese tastes in Fukuoka in the 1950s. The name...
  
   (明太子): salt-cured and red pepper pickled pollock
  Pollock
  Pollock is the common name used for either of the two species of marine fish in the Pollachius genus. Both P. pollachius and P. virens are commonly referred to as pollock. Other names for P...
  
   roe
  Roe
  Roe or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, such as shrimp, scallop and sea urchins...
  
  .
• Shiokara
  Shiokara
  is a food in Japanese cuisine made from various marine animals that consists of small pieces of meat in a brown viscous paste of the animal's heavily salted, fermented viscera. The raw viscera are mixed with about 10% salt, 30% malted rice, packed in a closed container, and fermented for up to a...
  
   (塩辛): salty fermented viscera.
• Tsukemono
  Tsukemono
  are Japanese pickles. They are served with rice as okazu with drinks as an otsumami , as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and as a course in the kaiseki portion of a Japanese tea ceremony....
  
  (漬物): pickled vegetables, hundreds of varieties and served with most rice-based meals.
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi
    Umeboshi are pickled ume fruits common in Japan. Ume is a species of fruit-bearing tree in the genus Prunus, which is often called a plum but is actually more closely related to the apricot. Umeboshi are a popular kind of tsukemono and are extremely sour and salty...
    
     (梅干): small, pickled ume
    Ume
    Prunus mume, with the common names including Chinese plum and Japanese apricot, is an Asian tree species classified in the Armeniaca section of the genus Prunus. The flower, long a beloved subject in the traditional painting of East Asia, is usually translated as plum blossom. This distinct tree...
    
     fruit. Usually red and very sour, often served with bento
    Bento
    is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware...
    
     (弁当) lunch boxes or as a filling for onigiri
    Onigiri
    , also known as or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori . Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume , salted salmon, katsuobushi, kombu, tarako, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a natural preservative...
    
    .
• Tsukudani
  Tsukudani
  is small seafood, meat or seaweed that has been simmered in soy sauce and mirin. High osmotic pressure preserves the ingredients. Its name originates from Tsukudajima, the island where it was first made in the Edo period. Many kinds of tsukudani are sold...
  
   (佃煮): Very small fish, shellfish or seaweed stewed in sweetened soy for preservation.

Miscellaneous

• Agedashi dofu
  Agedashi tofu
  Agedashi tofu is a Japanese way to serve hot tofu. Silken firm tofu, cut into cubes, is lightly dusted with potato starch or cornstarch and then deep fried until golden brown...
  
   (揚げ出し豆腐): cubes of deep-fried silken tofu
  Tofu
  is a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is part of East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and others. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu...
  
   served in hot broth.
• Bento
  Bento
  is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware...
  
   or Obento (弁当,御弁当): combination meal served in a wooden box, usually as a cold lunchbox.
• Chawan mushi　(茶碗蒸し): meat (seafood and/or chicken) and vegetables steamed in egg custard.
• Edamame
  Edamame
  or Edamame bean is a preparation of immature soybeans in the pod commonly found in Japan, China, and Hawaii. The pods are boiled in water together with condiments such as salt, and served whole....
  
   (枝豆): boiled and salted pods of soybeans, eaten as a snack, often to accompany beer.
• Himono (干物): dried fish, often aji (鯵, Japanese jack mackerel). Traditionally served for breakfast with rice, miso soup and pickles.
• Hiyayakko
  Hiyayakko
  is a popular Japanese dish made with chilled tofu and toppings. It is usually served during the summer season. There are two kinds of tofu used in hiyayakko: kinugoshi , which is more frequently used, and the less common momen ....
  
   (冷奴): chilled tofu with garnish.
• Natto
  Natto
  is a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis. It is popular especially as a breakfast food. As a rich source of protein and probiotics, nattō and the soybean paste miso formed a vital source of nutrition in feudal Japan. Nattō can be an acquired taste because...
  
   (納豆): fermented soybeans, stringy like melted cheese, infamous for its strong smell and slippery texture. Often eaten for breakfast. Typically popular in Kantō and Tōhoku but slowly gaining popularity in other regions in which Natto was not as popular
• Ohitashi (お浸し): boiled greens
  Boiled greens
  Boiled greens are leaves cooked for food. They are part of many cuisines, and may be the leaves of common cultivated vegetables, such as spinach, fennel, mustard, or turnip, or the leaves of wild plants such as dandelion, wild radish, and purple amaranth....
  
   such as spinach, chilled and flavoured with soy sauce, often with garnish.
• Osechi
  Osechi
  Osechi-ryōri are traditional Japanese New Year foods. The tradition started in the Heian Period . Osechi are easily recognizable by their special boxes called jūbako , which resemble bentō boxes...
  
   (御節): traditional foods eaten at New Year.
• Sunomono (酢の物): vegetables such as cucumber or wakame
  Wakame
  , Undaria pinnatifida, or Miyeok in Korean, is a sea vegetable, or edible seaweed. It has a subtly sweet flavour and is most often served in soups and salads....
  
  , or sometimes crab, marinated in rice vinegar
  Rice vinegar
  Rice vinegar is a vinegar made from fermented rice or rice wine in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.-Chinese:Chinese rice vinegars are stronger than Japanese ones, and range in colour from clear to various shades of red and brown...
  
  .

Chinmi

Chinmi

Chinmi

is a Japanese term meaning literally "rare taste", but more appropriately "delicacy". They are local cuisines that have fallen out of popularity or those cuisines that are peculiar to a certain area. Many involved pickled seafood. The three best known chinmi of Japan are salt-pickled sea urchin...

 are regional delicacies, and include:

• Ankimo
  Ankimo
  is a Japanese dish made with monkfish liver.The liver is first rubbed with salt, then rinsed with sake. Then its veins are picked out and the liver is rolled into a cylinder and steamed. Ankimo is often served with chili-tinted grated daikon radish, thinly sliced green onions and ponzu sauce.Ankimo...
  
  
• Karasumi
  Karasumi
  Karasumi , Romaji: karasumi; ) is a food product made by salting mullet roe and drying it by the sunlight. A theory suggests that it got its name from its resemblance to a block of sumi imported from China and used in shodo...
  
  
• Konowata
• Mozuku
• Uni
  Sea urchin
  Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...
  
  : Specifically salt-pickled sea urchin

Although most Japanese eschew eating insects, in some regions, locust

Locust

Locusts are the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory...

 (inago, :ja:イナゴ) and bee larvae (hachinoko, :ja:蜂の子) are not uncommon dishes. The larvae of species of caddisflies

Trichoptera

The caddisflies are an order, Trichoptera, of insects with approximately 12,000 described species. Also called sedge-flies or rail-flies, they are small moth-like insects having two pairs of hairy membranous wings...

 and stoneflies

Plecoptera

Plecoptera are an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. There are some 3,500 described species worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica...

 (zaza-mushi, :ja:ざざむし), harvested from the Tenryū river

Tenryu River

The is a river arising from Lake Suwa in Okaya, Nagano Prefecture, grazing Aichi Prefecture and flowing through western Shizuoka Prefecture in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river.-Geography:...

 as it flows through Ina, Nagano

Ina, Nagano

is a city located in Nagano, Japan.The city was founded on March 31, 2006 when the old city of Ina merged with the town of Takatō and the village of Hase, both from Kamiina District, to form the new city of Ina.-Surrounding municipalities:*Nagano Prefecture...

, is also boiled and canned, or boiled and then sautéed in soy sauce and sugar. Japanese clawed salamander

Clawed Salamander

The genus Onychodactylus or clawed salamanders is composed of two species, both endemic to East Asia. The species Onychodactylus fischeri is found on the Korean peninsula, as well as in the Russian Far East and adjacent regions of China. The species Onychodactylus japonicus is found in Japan, on...

 (Hakone Sanshōuo, :ja:ハコネサンショウウオ, Onychodactylus japonicus) is eaten as well in Hinoemata, Fukushima

Hinoemata, Fukushima

is a village located in Minamiaizu District, Fukushima, Japan. It is locally famous for its soba and known nationally for its kabuki performances and as a gateway to the Oze marshlands....

 in early summer.

Sweets and snacks (okashi (おかし), oyatsu (おやつ))

See also :Category:Japanese desserts and sweets

Japanese-style sweets (wagashi, 和菓子)

Wagashi

Wagashi

is a traditional Japanese confectionery which is often served with tea, especially the types made of mochi, azuki bean paste, and fruits.Wagashi is typically made from natural ingredients...

 include

• Amanatto
  Amanatto
  is a Japanese traditional confectionery that is made of azuki or other beans, covered with refined sugar after simmering with sugar syrup and drying....
  
  
• Dango
  Dango
  is a Japanese dumpling made from mochiko , related to mochi. It is often served with green tea.Dango are eaten year-round, but the different varieties are traditionally eaten in given seasons...
  
  : rice dumpling
• Hanabiramochi
  Hanabiramochi
  is a Japanese sweet , usually eaten at the beginning of the year. Hanabiramochi are also served at the first tea ceremony of the new year.- Origin :The name "hanabiramochi" literally means "flower petal mochi"...
  
  
• Higashi
  Higashi (food)
  Higashi , is a type of wagashi, which is dry and contains very little moisture, and thus keeps relatively longer than other kinds of wagashi....
  
  
• Hoshigaki: Dried persimmon fruit
• Imagawayaki
  Imagawayaki
  is a Japanese dessert often found at festivals, also eaten in Taiwan . It is made of batter in a special pan , and filled with sweet azuki bean paste, although it is becoming increasingly popular to use a wider variety of fillings such as vanilla custard, different fruit...
  
  : also known as 'Taikoyaki' is a round Taiyaki and fillings are same
• Kakigori
  Kakigori
  is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and condensed milk.Popular flavors include: strawberry, cherry, lemon, green tea, grape, melon, "Blue Hawaii," sweet plum, and colorless syrup. Some shops provide colorful varieties by using two or more different syrups. To sweeten kakigōri,...
  
  : shaved ice with syrup topping.
• Kompeito
  Kompeito
  Kompeito, also spelled as konpeito is a Japanese candy.-History:The word "konpeito" comes from the Portuguese word confeito, which means a sugar candy. This technique for producing candy was introduced to Japan in the early 16th century by Portuguese traders. The infrastructure and refining...
  
  : crystal sugar candy
• Manju: sticky rice surrounding a sweet bean center
• Matsunoyuki
• Mochi: steamed sweet rice pounded into a solid, sticky, and somewhat translucent mass
• Oshiruko
  Oshiruko
  Red bean soup refers to a number of traditional Asian soups, all made with azuki beans.-China:In China, red bean soup is a popular dish. The soup is commonly thinner than the Japanese oshiruko version. It is categorized as a tang shui糖水, , or sweet soup...
  
  : a warm, sweet red bean (an) soup with mochi: rice cake
• Uiro
  Uiro
  is a traditional Japanese steamed cake made of rice flour and sugar. It is chewy, similar to mochi, and subtly sweet. Flavors, among others, include azuki bean paste, green tea , yuzu, strawberry and chestnut...
  
  : a steamed cake made of rice flour
• Taiyaki
  Taiyaki
  is a Japanese fish-shaped cake. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, or cheese. Some shops even sell taiyaki with okonomiyaki, gyoza filling, or a sausage inside....
  
  : a fried, fish-shaped cake, usually with a sweet filling such as an: red bean paste
  Red bean paste
  Red bean paste or Azuki bean paste is a sweet, dark red bean paste originating from China. It is used in Chinese cuisine, Japanese confectionery, and Korean cuisine. It is prepared by boiling and mashing azuki beans and then sweetening the paste with sugar or honey...
  
  

Old-fashioned Japanese-style sweets (dagashi, 駄菓子)

• Karumetou: Brown sugar cake. Also called Karumeyaki
• Sosu Senbei: Thin wafers eaten with soy sauce
• Mizuame
  Mizuame
  is a sweetener from Japan which is translated literally to 'water candy'. A clear, thick, sticky liquid, it is made by converting starch to sugars. Mizuame is added to wagashi to give them a sheen, eaten in ways similar to honey and can be a main ingredient in sweets...
  
  : sticky liquid sugar candy

Western-style sweets (yōgashi, 洋菓子)

Yōgashi are Western-style sweets, but in Japan are typically very light or spongy.

• Kasutera: "Castella" Iberian-style sponge cake
• Mirukurepu: "mille crepe": layered crepe (in French, "one thousand leaves")

Sweets bread (kashi pan, 菓子パン)

• Anpan
  Anpan
  is a Japanese sweet bun most commonly filled with red bean paste. Anpan can also be prepared with other fillings, including white beans , sesame and chestnut .- History :...
  
  : bread with sweet bean paste in the center
• Melonpan
  Melonpan
  , also known as Melon pan, Melon buns or Melon bread, are sweet bakery products from Japan, but also popular in Taiwan and China. They are made from an enriched dough covered in a thin layer of crisp cookie dough. Their appearance resembles a melon, such as a rock melon...
  
  : a large, round bun which is a combination of regular dough beneath cookie dough. It occasionally contains a melon-flavored cream, though traditionally it is called melon bread because of its general shape resembling that of a melon (not due to any melon flavor).

Other snacks

See also List of Japanese snacks and :Category:Japanese snack food

Snack

Snack

A snack is a small portion of food eaten between meals. The food might be snack food—items like potato chips or baby carrots—but could also simply be a smaller amount of any food item.-Snacks and health:...

s include:

• Azuki Ice: vanilla
  Vanilla
  Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
  
   flavored ice cream
  Ice cream
  Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
  
   with sweet azuki beans
• Koara no māchi
  Koara no machi
  is a bite-sized cookie snack with a sweet filling inside. It is made by Lotte, and the product was first released in Japan, and was released in March 1984 as "Koala Yummies" in the United States...
  
  
• Umai Bō
  Umai Bo
  or "delicious stick" is a small, puffed, cylindrical corn snack that resides at the bottom of most Japanese convenience store candy shelves. It is produced by Riska and sold by Yaokin. It has a suggested retail price of 10 yen, but because profit margin is so slim, its length can change without a...
  
  　Puffed corn food with various flavors
• Pocky
  Pocky
  is a Japanese snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico Company of Japan.-History:Pocky was first sold in 1966, and consists of a biscuit stick coated with chocolate. It was named after the Japanese onomatopoetic word for the sound Pocky makes when bitten, pokkin . The original was followed by...
  
  
• Hello Panda
  Hello Panda
  Hello Panda is a brand of Japanese biscuit, manufactured by Meiji Seika. Each biscuit consists of a small hollow shortbread layer, filled with either Milk cream, strawberry, or chocolate filling; chocolate is the most commonly available variety...
  
  
• Hi-chew
  Hi-chew
  is a fruit-flavored chewy Japanese candy sold by Morinaga & Company.- About the candy :The soft, chewy kouros was first released in 1975. It was re-released in its current shape in February 1986....
  
  
• Ice cream
  Ice cream
  Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
  
   - usual flavours such as vanilla and chocolate are the most common. Distinctly Japanese ones include Matcha Ice (green tea ice cream
  Green tea ice cream
  or Matcha ice is a Japanese ice cream flavour. This flavour is extremely popular in Japan and other parts of East Asia, and almost all ice cream manufacturers produce a version of it, including foreign vendors such as Häagen-Dazs and Baskin Robbins. The name matcha comes from a specific type of...
  
  ), less common ones include Goma (black sesame seed) and sweet potato
  Sweet potato
  The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
  
   flavours.

Tea and other drinks

Tea and non-alcoholic beverages

Sea also Japanese green teas and Japanese drinks

• Amazake
  Amazake
  is a traditional sweet, low-alcoholic Japanese drink made from fermented rice. Amazake dates from the Kofun period, and it is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki. It is part of the family of traditional Japanese foods made using that includes miso, soy sauce, and sake....
  
  
• Genmaicha
  Genmaicha
  is the Japanese name for green tea combined with roasted brown rice. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as "popcorn tea" because a few grains of the rice pop during the roasting process and resemble popcorn...
  
  : green tea combined with roasted brown rice.
• Gyokuro
  Gyokuro
  Gyokuro is a fine and expensive type of green tea from Japan. It differs from the standard green tea known as sencha , because it is grown under the shade rather than the full sun. Another Japanese green tea that is shaded during growth is kabusecha , which differs from gyokuro in the length of...
  
  : Gyokuro leaves are shaded from direct sunlight for approximately 3 weeks before the spring harvest. Removing direct sunlight in this way enhances the proportions of flavenols, amino acids, sugars, and other substances that provide tea aroma and taste. After harvesting the leaves are rolled and dried naturally. Gyokuro is slightly sweeter than sencha and is famous for its crisp, clean taste. Major growing areas include Uji, Kyōto and Shizuoka prefecture.
• Hojicha
  Hojicha
  is a Japanese green tea that is distinguished from others because it is roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal; Japanese tea is usually steamed. The tea is fired at high temperature, altering the leaf colour tints from green to reddish-brown...
  
  : green tea roasted over charcoal.
• Kombucha (tea)
  Kombucha
  Kombucha is an effervescent tea-based beverage that is often drunk for its anecdotal health benefits or medicinal purposes. Kombucha is available commercially and can be made at home by fermenting tea using a visible, solid mass of yeast and bacteria which forms the kombucha culture, often referred...
  
  : specifically the tea poured with Kombu
  Kombu
  Kombu or konbu , also called dashima or haidai , is edible kelp from the family Laminariaceae widely eaten in East Asia....
  
   giving rich flavor in monosodium glutamate
  Monosodium glutamate
  Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate or MSG, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the most abundant naturally occurring non-essential amino acids....
  
  .
• Kukicha
  Kukicha
  Kukicha , or twig tea, also known as bōcha , is a Japanese blend made of stems, stalks, and twigs. It is available as a green tea or in more oxidized processing. Kukicha has a unique flavor and aroma among teas, due to its being composed of parts of the tea plant that are excluded from most other...
  
  : a blend of green tea made of stems, stalks, and twigs.
• Kuzuyu
  Kuzuyu
  Kuzuyu is a sweet Japanese beverage produced by adding kudzu flour to hot water. It has a thick honey-like texture, and in color it appears pale and somewhat translucent. It is served in a mug or tea bowl. Kuzuyu is traditionally served as a hot dessert drink in the winter months.-Name:In...
  
  : a thick herbal tea made with kudzu
  Kudzu
  Kudzu is a plant in the genus Pueraria in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine native to southern Japan and southeast China. Its name comes from the Japanese name for the plant, . It is a weed that climbs over trees or shrubs and grows so...
  
   starch.
• Matcha
  Matcha
  refers to finely-milled green tea, most popular in Japan. The cultural activity called the Japanese tea ceremony centers on the preparation, serving, and drinking of matcha. In modern times, matcha has also come to be used to flavour and dye foods such as mochi and soba noodles, green tea ice cream...
  
  : powdered green tea. (Green tea ice cream is flavored with matcha, not ocha.)
• Mugicha
  Mugicha
  Roasted barley tea is a caffeine-free, roasted-grain-based tisane made from barley, which is popular in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cuisine. It is also used as a caffeine-free coffee substitute in American cuisine...
  
  : barley tea, served chilled during summer.
• Sakurayu
  Sakurayu
  Sakurayu or cherry blossom tea is a Japanese beverage created by mixing pickled cherry blossoms with boiled water. This combination becomes a type of herbal tea, and has been enjoyed in East Asian culture for many generations.-Preparation:...
  
  : an herbal tea made with pickled cherry blossoms.
• Sencha
  Sencha
  Sencha is a Japanese green tea, specifically one made without grinding the tea leaves. The word "sencha" means "decocted tea," referring to the method that the tea beverage is made from the dried tea leaves...
  
  : steam treated green tea
  Green tea
  Green tea is made solely from the leaves of Camellia sinensis that have undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originates from China and has become associated with many cultures throughout Asia. It has recently become more widespread in the West, where black tea is traditionally...
  
   leaves then dried.
• Umecha: a tea drink with umeboshi
  Umeboshi
  Umeboshi are pickled ume fruits common in Japan. Ume is a species of fruit-bearing tree in the genus Prunus, which is often called a plum but is actually more closely related to the apricot. Umeboshi are a popular kind of tsukemono and are extremely sour and salty...
  
   giving refreshing sourness.

Soft drinks

• Calpis
  Calpis
  is a Japanese uncarbonated soft drink, manufactured by , headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo.The beverage has a light, somewhat milky, and slightly acidic flavor, similar to plain or vanilla-flavored yogurt or Yakult...
  
  
• C.C. Lemon
  C.C. Lemon
  C.C. Lemon is a Japanese soft drink created by Suntory. It is known for its lemon flavor and for its advertisements featuring characters from the popular American cartoon The Simpsons.-Sizes:...
  
  
• Mitsuya Cider
  Mitsuya Cider
  is a Japanese carbonated soft drink, created in 1884 and now produced by Asahi Soft Drinks. While branded as a "cider", the East Asian use of "cider" refers to a very different drink – the basic flavor can be described as a cross between Sprite and Ginger Ale, though Asahi has come out with...
  
  
• Oronamin C Drink
• Pocari Sweat
  Pocari Sweat
  is a popular Japanese soft drink and sports drink, manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. It was launched in 1980 and is now also available in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East....
  
  
• Qoo
  Qoo
  is a non-carbonated beverage from the Coca-Cola Company. Originally introduced in Japan in 1999, Qoo is now available throughout much of Asia in a variety of flavors including grape and orange. In Germany, the product line was discontinued in November 2005....
  
  
• Ramune
  Ramune
  is a carbonated soft drink originally sold in Japan which was introduced in Kobe by Alexander Cameron Sim.-Bottle design:Ramune is widely known for the distinctive design of its bottle, often called Codd-neck bottles after the inventor, Hiram Codd. They are made of glass and sealed with a marble;...
  
  
• Yakult
  Yakult
  is a Japanese probiotic milk-like product made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk with a special strain of the bacterium Lactobacillus casei Shirota. It was created by Minoru Shirota who graduated from the Medical School of Kyoto University in 1930. In 1935, he started manufacturing and...
  
  

Alcoholic beverages

• Awamori
  Awamori
  Awamori is an alcoholic beverage indigenous to and unique to Okinawa, Japan. It is made from rice, and is not a direct product of brewing but of distillation ....
  
  
• Sake
• Shōchū
  Shochu
  is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from barley, sweet potatoes, or rice, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as brown sugar, buckwheat or chestnut. Typically shōchū contains 25% alcohol by volume...
  
  
• Umeshu
  Umeshu
  is a Japanese liqueur made from steeping ume fruits in and sugar. It has a sweet, sour taste, and an alcohol content of 10-15%. The taste and aroma of umeshu can appeal to even those people who normally dislike alcohol. Famous brands of umeshu include Choya and Takara Shuzo...
  
  
• Japanese beer
  Japanese beer
  Beer in Japan had its start in the 17th century during the Edo Period when the Dutch opened a beer hall for sailors working the trade route between Japan and the Dutch Empire...
  
   - leading brands are Sapporo, Asahi and Kirin

Imported and adapted foods

Japan has incorporated imported food from across the world (mostly from Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and to a lesser extent the Americas), and have historically adapted many to make them their own.

Foods imported from Portugal in the 16th century

• Tempura
  Tempura
  ], is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried.-Batter:A light batter is made of cold water and soft wheat flour . Eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices may also be added...
  
   - so thoroughly adopted that its foreign roots are unknown to most people, including many Japanese. As such, it is considered washoku.
• castella - sponge cake, originating in Nagasaki
• Pan
  Bread
  Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
  
   is bread, introduced by Portugal
  Portugal
  Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
  
  . (Bread is Pão in Portuguese
  Portuguese language
  Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
  
  .) Japanese bread crumbs, panko, have been popularized by cooking shows.

Yōshoku

Yōshoku

Yoshoku

In Japanese cuisine, refers to a style of Western-influenced cooking which originated during the Meiji Restoration. These are primarily Japanized forms of European dishes, often featuring Western names, and usually written in katakana.- History :...

 (洋食) is a style of Western-influenced food.

• Breaded seafood or vegetables (furai, フライ, derived from "fry"), and meat (katsuretsu, カツレツ, derived from "cutlet" and often contracted to katsu), are usually served with shredded cabbage and/or lettuce, Japanese Worcestershire or tonkatsu sauce and lemon. Tempura, a related dish, has been heavily modified since its introduction to Japan by use of batter and dashi-flavored dip, and is usually considered to be washoku (和食, native food).

• Kaki furai (カキフライ,牡蠣フライ) - breaded oyster
• Ebi furai
  Fried prawn
  is a deep fried cuisine popular in Japan as well as Japanese restaurants worldwide. It is a speciality of the city of Nagoya.A popular ingredient of Japanese bento, is a common menu item at bentō shops....
  
   (エビフライ,海老フライ) - breaded shrimp
• Korokke
  Korokke
  Korokke is the Japanese name for a deep fried dish originally related to a French dish, the croquette. It was introduced in the early 1900s. This dish is also popular in South Korea where it is typically sold in bakeries....
  
   ("croquette"コロッケ) - breaded mashed potato and minced meat patties. When white sauce is added, it is called cream korokke. Other ingredients such as crab meat, shrimp, or mushrooms are also used instead of minced meat which are called kani-, ebi-, or kinoko-cream korokke, respectively.
• Tonkatsu
  Tonkatsu
  Tonkatsu , invented in the late 19th century, is a popular dish in Japan. It consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet one to two centimeters thick and sliced into bite-sized pieces, generally served with shredded cabbage and/or miso soup...
  
  , Menchi katsu
  Menchi katsu
  is a breaded and deep-fried ground meat cutlet or croquette. The meat is usually ground beef, or pork, or sometimes a mixture of the two. It is a rather pedestrian dish often served in inexpensive bento and teishoku....
  
  , chicken katsu, beef katsu, kujira katsu - breaded and deep-fried pork, minced meat patties, chicken, beef, and whale, respectively.

• Japanese curry
  Japanese curry
  is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is commonly served in three main forms: , karē udon and karē-pan . Curry rice is most commonly referred to simply as ....
  
  -rice - imported in the 19th century by way of the United Kingdom and adapted by Japanese Navy chefs. One of the most popular food items in Japan today. Eaten with a spoon. Curry is often eaten with pickled vegetables called fukujinzuke
  Fukujinzuke
  is one of the most popular kinds of pickles in Japanese cuisine, commonly used as a relish for Japanese curry. In fukujinzuke, vegetables including daikon, eggplant, lotus root and cucumber are finely chopped, then pickled in a base that is flavored with soy sauce. The end result has a crunchy...
  
   or rakkyo
  • Curry Pan
    Curry bread
    Curry bread , also called curry doughnut, is a popular Japanese food. An amount of Japanese curry is wrapped in a piece of dough, and the dough breaded in panko, and deep fried. On occasion it is baked instead of deep fried, but deep frying is the most common method of cooking...
    
     - deep fried bread with Japanese curry sauce inside. The pirozhki
    Pirozhki
    Pirozhki , sometimes transliterated as piroshki , is a generic word for individual-sized baked or fried buns stuffed with a variety of fillings. The stress in pirozhki is properly placed on the last syllable: . Pirozhok is the diminutive form of the Russian cognate pirog , which refers to a...
    
     of Russia
    Russia
    Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
    
     was remodeled, and Curry bread was made.
  • Curry udon
    Udon
    is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle of Japanese cuisine.Udon is usually served hot as noodle soup in its simplest form as kake udon, in a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru which is made of dashi, soy sauce , and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions...
    
     - is a hot noodle dish where the soup is made of Japanese curry. May also include meat or vegetables.

• Hayashi rice
  Hayashi rice
  Hashed beef rice or Hayashi rice is a dish popular in Japan as a Western-style dish. It usually contains beef, onions, and button mushrooms, in a thick demi-glace sauce which often contains red wine and tomato sauce. This sauce is served atop or alongside steamed rice. The sauce is sometimes...
  
   - beef and onions stewed in a red-wine sauce and served on rice

• Nikujaga
  Nikujaga
  is a Japanese dish of meat, potatoes and onion stewed in sweetened soy sauce, sometimes with ito konnyaku and vegetables. Generally, potatoes make up the bulk of the dish, with meat mostly serving as a source of flavor. It usually is boiled until most of the liquid is evaporated...
  
   - soy-flavored meat and potato stew. Has been Japanised to the extent that it is now considered washoku, but again originates from 19th Century Japanese Navy chefs adapting beef stews of the Royal Navy.

• Omu raisu
  Omurice
  Omurice, sometimes spelled , is an example of contemporary Japanese fusion cuisine consisting of an omelette made with fried rice and usually topped with ketchup. Omu and raisu being contractions of the words omelette and rice, the name is a wasei-eigo...
  
   - ketchup-flavored rice wrapped in omelet.

Other items were popularized after the war:

• Hamburg steak - a ground beef patty, usually mixed with breadcrumbs and fried chopped onions, served with a side of white rice and vegetables. Popular post-war food item served at homes. Sometimes eaten with a fork.

• Spaghetti
  Spaghetti
  Spaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin. Spaghetti is made of semolina or flour and water. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy it may be made with other kinds of flour...
  
   - Japanese versions include:
  • with tomato ketchup, wieners, sliced onion and green pepper (called "naporitan
    Naporitan
    Naporitan or Napolitan is the name of a pasta dish, which is popular in Japan. The dish consists of spaghetti, tomato ketchup or a tomato-based sauce, onion, button mushrooms, green peppers, sausage, bacon and Tabasco sauce. Naporitan is claimed to be from Yokohama...
    
    " or "napolitan")
  • with mentaiko
    Mentaiko
    is the marinated roe of pollock, and is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. Mentaiko originated from myeongran jeot of Korean cuisine and was introduced to Japan after the Russo-Japanese War. , a Busan-born Japanese, adapted Korean mentaiko to Japanese tastes in Fukuoka in the 1950s. The name...
    
     sauce topped with nori
    Nori
    is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red alga Porphyra including most notably P. yezoensis and P. tenera, sometimes called laver. Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles papermaking...
    
     seaweed
  • with Japanese curry
    Japanese curry
    is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is commonly served in three main forms: , karē udon and karē-pan . Curry rice is most commonly referred to simply as ....
    
    

Other homegrown cuisine of foreign origin

• Japanese American
  Japanese American
  are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
  
   cuisine
  • Burger
    Hamburger
    A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
    
    s have various variations in Japan. MOS Burger
    MOS Burger
    , doing business as , is a fast-food restaurant chain that originated in Japan. It is now the second-largest fast-food franchise in Japan after McDonald's, and owns numerous overseas outlets over East Asia, including Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, and until 2005, Hawaii...
    
     developed Teriyaki
    Teriyaki
    Teriyaki is a cooking technique used in Japanese cuisine in which foods are broiled or grilled in a sweet soy sauce marinade...
    
     Burgers and kinpira
    Kinpira
    is a Japanese cooking style that can be summarized as a technique of "sauté and simmer". It is commonly used to cook root vegetables such as carrot, burdock and lotus root, seaweeds such as arame and hijiki and other foods including tofu and wheat gluten ,and even meat .The dish features the use of...
    
     rice burger

• Korean cuisine
  • Kimchi
    Kimchi
    Kimchi , also spelled gimchi, kimchee, or kim chee, is a traditional fermented Korean dish made of vegetables with varied seasonings. There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi made with a main vegetable ingredient such as napa cabbage, radish, green onions or cucumber. It is the most common...
    
     - from Korea is often served with Japanese Chinese cuisine
    Japanese Chinese cuisine
    Japanese Chinese cuisine is a unique style of Chinese cuisine served by Chinese restaurants in Japan. Many of these restaurants are Japanese-owned, though there are some which are operated by overseas Chinese...
    
    , though the local variant may use thinner cabbage.

• Japanese Chinese cuisine
  Japanese Chinese cuisine
  Japanese Chinese cuisine is a unique style of Chinese cuisine served by Chinese restaurants in Japan. Many of these restaurants are Japanese-owned, though there are some which are operated by overseas Chinese...
  
  
  • Ramen
    Ramen
    is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as , , kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn...
    
     and related dishes such as champon
    Champon
    , also known as Chanpon, is a noodle dish that is a regional cuisine of Nagasaki, Japan. Due to the inspiration from Chinese cuisine, it is also a form of Japanese Chinese cuisine. Champon is made by frying pork, seafood and vegetables with lard; a soup made with chicken and pig bones is added. A...
    
     and yaki soba
  • Mābō Dōfu
    Mapo doufu
    Mapo doufu, or mapo tofu, is a popular Chinese dish from the Sichuan province. It is a combination of tofu set in a spicy chili- and bean-based sauce, typically a thin, oily, and bright red suspension, and often cooked with minced meat, usually pork or beef...
    
     tends to be thinner than Chinese Mapo doufu.
  • Japanese-only "Chinese dishes" like Ebi Chili
    Ebi Chili
    Ebi Chili is a Japanese dish derived from China's Szechuan cuisine. It consists of stir-fried shrimp in chilli sauce....
    
     (shrimp in a tangy and slightly spicy sauce)
  • Nikuman
    Nikuman
    Nikuman is a Japanese food made from flour dough, and filled with cooked ground pork or other ingredients. It is a kind of chūka man similar to the Chinese baozi , also known in English as pork buns.Nikuman are steamed and often sold as street food...
    
    , anman, butaman and the obscure negi-man are all varieties of mantou
    Mantou
    Mantou, often referred to as Chinese steamed bun/bread, is a kind of steamed bun originating in China. They are typically eaten as a staple in northern parts of China where wheat, rather than rice, is grown. They are made with milled wheat flour, water and leavening agents...
    
     with fillings.
  • Gyoza are a very popular dish in Japan. Gyoza are the Japanese take on the Chinese dumplings
    Jiaozi
    Jiǎozi 餃子 or 饺子 , bánh bột luộc , gyōza , Mo:Mo: or Momocha म:म: or ममचा , or pot sticker is a Chinese dumpling widely spread to Japan, Eastern and Western Asia.Jiaozi typically consist of a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into...
    
     with rich garlic flavor. Most often, they are seen in the crispy pan-fried form (potstickers), but they can be served boiled or even deep fried, as well.
• Japanese English cuisine
  • Purin
    Pudding
    Pudding most often refers to a dessert, but it can also be a savory dish.In the United States, pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, though it may also refer to other types such as bread and rice pudding.In the United Kingdom and...
    
     is a version of custard pudding.

Adaptations

• California roll
  California roll
  The California roll is a maki-zushi, a kind of sushi roll, usually made inside-out, containing cucumber, crab meat or imitation crab, and avocado. In some countries it is made with mango instead of avocado...
  
   - invented in California, just as its name suggests
• Spam musubi
  Spam musubi
  Spam musubi is a popular snack and lunch food in Hawaii composed a slice of grilled Spam atop of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori in the tradition of Japanese omusubi....
  
   - a snack from Hawaii
  Hawaii
  Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
  
   resembling onigiri
  Onigiri
  , also known as or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori . Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume , salted salmon, katsuobushi, kombu, tarako, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a natural preservative...
  
   made with Spam
  Spam (food)
  Spam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, and sodium nitrite as a preservative...
  
  .

Japanese flavorings

Many Japanese foods are prepared using one or more of the following:

• Kombu
  Kombu
  Kombu or konbu , also called dashima or haidai , is edible kelp from the family Laminariaceae widely eaten in East Asia....
  
  (kelp), katsuobushi
  Katsuobushi
  is the Japanese name for dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna .Shaved Katsuobushi and dried kelp - kombu - are the main ingredients of dashi, a broth that forms the basis of many soups and sauces in Japanese cuisine.Katsuobushi's distinct umami flavor comes from its high...
  
  (flakes of cured skipjack tuna
  Skipjack tuna
  The skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the aku, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna, or victor fish...
  
  , sometimes referred to as bonito) and niboshi
  Niboshi
  Niboshi are Japanese dried baby sardines . They are one of many varieties of small dried fish used throughout Asia in snacks and as seasoning for soup stocks and other foods....
  
  (dried baby sardines) are often used to make dashi
  Dashi
  Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. In 1980, Shizuo Tsuji wrote: "Many substitutes for dashi are possible, but without dashi, dishes are merely à la japonaise and lack the authentic flavor." Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth, noodle...
  
  stock.
• Negi (Welsh onion
  Welsh onion
  Allium fistulosum L. is a perennial onion. Other names that may be applied to this plant include green onion, spring onion, escallion, and salad onion...
  
  ), onion
  Onion
  The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
  
  s, garlic
  Garlic
  Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
  
  , nira (Chinese chives), rakkyō (a type of scallion
  Scallion
  Scallions , are the edible plants of various Allium species, all of which are "onion-like", having hollow green leaves and lacking a fully developed root bulb.-Etymology:The words...
  
  ).
• Sesame seeds, sesame oil
  Sesame oil
  Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. Besides being used as a cooking oil in South India, it is often used as a flavor enhancer in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and to a lesser extent Southeast Asian cuisine.The oil from the nutrient rich seed is popular in alternative...
  
  , sesame salt (gomashio
  Gomashio
  Gomashio is a dry condiment, similar to furikake, made from unhulled sesame seeds and salt . It is often used in Japanese cuisine, such as a topping for sekihan. It is also sometimes sprinkled over plain rice or over an onigiri...
  
  ), furikake
  Furikake
  is a dry Japanese condiment meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. It typically consists of a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate...
  
  , walnut
  Walnut
  Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
  
  s or peanut
  Peanut
  The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
  
  s to dress.
• Shōyu (soy sauce
  Soy sauce
  Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
  
  ), dashi
  Dashi
  Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. In 1980, Shizuo Tsuji wrote: "Many substitutes for dashi are possible, but without dashi, dishes are merely à la japonaise and lack the authentic flavor." Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth, noodle...
  
  , mirin
  Mirin
  is an essential condiment used in Japanese cuisine, consisting of 40%–50% sugar. It is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content—14% instead of 20%. There are three general types. The first is hon mirin , which contains alcohol. The second is shio mirin, which contains...
  
  , sugar
  Sugar
  Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
  
  , rice vinegar
  Vinegar
  Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
  
  , miso
  Miso
  is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus , the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso...
  
  , sake.
• Wasabi
  Wasabi
  , also known as Japanese horseradish, is a member of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish, and mustard. Its root is used as a condiment and has an extremely strong flavor. Its hotness is more akin to that of a hot mustard rather than the capsaicin in a chili pepper,...
  
  (and imitation wasabi from horseradish
  Horseradish
  Horseradish is a perennial plant of the Brassicaceae family, which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, and cabbages. The plant is probably native to south eastern Europe and the Arab World , but is popular around the world today...
  
  ), karashi
  Karashi
  is a type of mustard used as a condiment or as a seasoning in Japanese cuisine. Karashi is made from the crushed seeds of Brassica juncea. Karashi is usually sold in powder form or paste form in tubes...
  
  (hot mustard), red pepper
  Capsicum
  Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
  
  , ginger
  Ginger
  Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
  
  , shiso
  Perilla
  Perilla is the common name of the herbs of the genus Perilla of the mint family, Lamiaceae. In mild climates, the plant reseeds itself. There are both green-leafed and purple-leafed varieties, which are generally recognized as separate species by botanists. The leaves resemble stinging nettle...
  
  (perilla or beefsteak plant) leaves, sansho
  Sichuan Pepper
  Sichuan pepper is the outer pod of the tiny fruit of a number of species in the genus Zanthoxylum , widely grown and consumed in Asia as a spice. Despite the name, it is not related to black pepper or to chili peppers...
  
  , citrus
  Citrus
  Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
  
   peel, and honeywort
  Cryptotaenia
  Cryptotaenia is a genus of two species of herbaceous perennial plants, native to North America and eastern Asia, growing wild in moist, shady places.-Species:*Cryptotaenia canadensis...
  
   (called mitsuba).
• A citrus fruit called yuzu
  Yuzu
  The yuzu is a citrus fruit and plant originating in East Asia. It is believed to be a hybrid of sour mandarin and Ichang papeda...
  
   is also a frequent condiment, mashed up into a relish, sold as yuzukoshō
  Yuzukoshō
  is a type of Japanese seasoning. It is a paste made from chili peppers, yuzu peel and salt, which is then allowed to ferment. It is usually used as a condiment for nabemono dishes, miso soup, and sashimi...
  
   and is blended with pepper/chili and salt. Yuzukoshō
  Yuzukoshō
  is a type of Japanese seasoning. It is a paste made from chili peppers, yuzu peel and salt, which is then allowed to ferment. It is usually used as a condiment for nabemono dishes, miso soup, and sashimi...
  
   is eaten with many dishes, adding a flavorful kick to broth/soup items such as oden
  Oden
  Oden is a Japanese winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and processed fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Ingredients vary according to region and between each household...
  
  , nikujaga
  Nikujaga
  is a Japanese dish of meat, potatoes and onion stewed in sweetened soy sauce, sometimes with ito konnyaku and vegetables. Generally, potatoes make up the bulk of the dish, with meat mostly serving as a source of flavor. It usually is boiled until most of the liquid is evaporated...
  
  , tonjiru, udon
  Udon
  is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle of Japanese cuisine.Udon is usually served hot as noodle soup in its simplest form as kake udon, in a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru which is made of dashi, soy sauce , and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions...
  
  , etc... Yuzu
  Yuzu
  The yuzu is a citrus fruit and plant originating in East Asia. It is believed to be a hybrid of sour mandarin and Ichang papeda...
  
   is also seen to flavor teas, jams or zeri (jelly), and any number of sweets from yuzu-an (a type of Anpan
  Anpan
  is a Japanese sweet bun most commonly filled with red bean paste. Anpan can also be prepared with other fillings, including white beans , sesame and chestnut .- History :...
  
  ) to yuzu-hachimitsu (yuzu-honey).

Less traditional, but widely used ingredients include:

• Monosodium glutamate
  Monosodium glutamate
  Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate or MSG, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the most abundant naturally occurring non-essential amino acids....
  
  , which is often used by chefs and food companies as a cheap flavor enhancer. It may be used as a substitute for kombu, which is a traditional source of free glutamate
• Japanese-style Worcestershire sauce, often known as simply "sauce", thicker and fruitier than the original, is commonly used as a table condiment for okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), tonkatsu (トンカツ), croquette ("korokke", コロッケ) and the like.
• Japanese mayonnaise is used with salads, okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), yaki soba (焼きそば) and sometimes mixed with wasabi or soy sauce.

See also

• List of Japanese cooking utensils
• List of Japanese ingredients
• List of Japanese condiments