We continue with the series of articles on what to order in restaurants that practice cuisine other than traditional Spanish. If a few weeks ago we taught you what to order in a Peruvian restaurant, today we want to help you choose so that you know what to order in a Japanese Restaurant.
The general ignorance that exists about Japanese food is curious. If we ask around us, many believe that in Japan we only eat raw fish when its cuisine is very varied and there is much more than sushi, sashimi and other preparations .
What to order in a Japanese restaurant
There are a few dishes that are characteristic of Japanese restaurants and that, in general, you can find in any establishment of this type. It must be said that in addition to the classic sushi restaurants and dishes based on fish, in Japanese restaurants you can enjoy one of the tastiest and most famous meats in the world for its quality, Wagyu beef such as Kobe .
The grilled preparations, its classic soups such as miso, Japanese omelettes and its original desserts, as well as other preparations that we will talk about are good proof of the gastronomic richness of the Japanese that we will detail below.
A) Appetizers and entrees
edamame
It’s the usual way to start. If in many Spanish restaurants they serve us a plate of olives while all the diners arrive or while we have a drink and think about what to choose from the menu, in Japanese restaurants it is customary to serve a small plate of edamame, soybean pods that are eaten raw while they arrive. the rest of the dishes.
gyoza
Among the most delicious snacks to eat in a Japanese restaurant we find the gyozas, a kind of dumplings filled with vegetables, meat or seafood, which can be steamed, finished on the grill or fried like ours , and which are always liked by all diners.
Wakame and sesame seaweed salad
It is a delicious starter and also a good accompaniment to other Japanese dishes. Its delicious and intense flavor, its beautiful green color and its crunchy texture is something essential for me that I always recommend asking those who do not know this delight. Here you can see how to prepare the wakame and sesame salad .
B) Dishes with rice
Rice is so important in Japanese cuisine that it gives its name to one of its most famous dishes , sushi , which means vinegared rice. Sushi is not raw fish, but rice with other ingredients – including fish, of course – which can be presented in numerous formats .
maki rolls
The simplest sushi is the classic maki, roll or maki roll, consisting of a nori seaweed covered with rice prepared for sushi and accompanied by vegetables and fish. If the roll is wrapped leaving the rice on the outside , it is what they call uramaki or california roll, also being a delicious dish.
Other varieties of sushi
In addition, there are many other varieties of sushi, such as nigiris, gunkan, temakis or onigiri , which we talked about some time ago in this other post about sushi varieties and which are surely on the menu of your favorite Japanese restaurant. We encourage you to try these other preparations that will undoubtedly surprise you pleasantly.
C) Other fish dishes
Fish and rice are the two most important ingredients in Japanese cuisine and that is why they are present in many of its preparations such as the ones we suggest below.
sashimi
Sashimi is the most common way to take portions or thin cuts of the tastiest parts of the fish. It can be made with many ingredients such as salmon, bluefin tuna, amberjack, and other varieties of fish. Here you can see how to prepare it, including a trick to make it perfect .
fish tataki
Tatakis are very common in Japanese cuisine. They consist of a cut of fish -also made with meat- in the form of an ingot that is cooked on the griddle until its exterior is marked, leaving the interior uncooked . It is a delicious way to enjoy fresh fish, which you can learn to make with this simple recipe for tuna tataki with Ponzu sauce.
D) Soups, broths
The dashi broth made with kombu seaweed and dehydrated tuna flakes or katsuobushi and miso soup are perhaps the bases of many of the usual soups and broths in Japanese restaurants like the one you have in the image . Don’t stop asking for them because they are really delicious.
E) Ramen, noodles and shabu shabu
Although restaurants specialized in ramen tend to be specific to this type of product, there are many general Japanese restaurants that include them in their menu. If you feel like trying this preparation, be sure to read this post by my colleague Liliana in which she tells us why it has become so popular and the most common types of this dish .
Pasta dishes are also very important in Japanese food culture . The different varieties of pasta such as Udon noodles and other varieties of noodles are perfect for a single and complete dish since they include many vegetables and proteins in addition to pasta. Here you have a good Minue recipe.
F) Meats
Both poultry meat and other animal meat are common on the menus of Japanese restaurants , the most common preparations being those prepared on the griddle or tepanyaki , such as tataki, or those that are made in a pot by cooking them with other ingredients such as in the case of Shabu shabu.
The shabu shabu is a variation on the Chinese hot pot , consisting of a pot full of broth in which the different ingredients are cooked, such as vegetables, seafood, meat and fish that are cooked and eaten accompanied by sauces. The meats are usually cut into very thin slices rolled up as if they were rolls.
The meats made in the tepanyaki or on the grill are perfect to end a visit to a Japanese restaurant. They are small portions similar to steaks that are cooked over high heat, leaving them very juicy.
G) Other Japanese dishes
In addition to all of the above, there are many more delicious Japanese dishes to order when you visit such a restaurant. Among others,
japanese omelette
Okonomiyaki or dough of different ingredients cooked on the grill
Nattō or fermented soybeans
Tsukemono , the Japanese pickles
Katsu , Japanese fried foods such as the tonkatsu in the image
Special dishes on the occasion of Tsukimi
H) Japanese desserts
For me, this is where Japanese cuisine has the most pending development, since, although there are a few possible desserts on all the menus, most of them are too sweet and cloying for me. One of the classics is the mochi , a bun made with rice and with various flavors such as adzuki or sweet bean paste. If you don’t like sweet desserts, my option is usually to choose a Japanese tea and enjoy all its liturgy.