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Eating in Japan – What is Japanese Food?

In the US we frequently think Japanese food is limited to Sushi, Teriyaki, some sort of noodles, and rice. On a recent voyage to the land of half my heritage, I learned a lot about the small country’s incredible cuisine. I can certainly say the country is much more than the aforementioned dishes, and Japan is very serious about its food.

Mentioned by many Chefs as the place they wish to retire, spend their last days eating, or even die, Japan boasts a massive array of food and food types. It has a seemingly endless variety of seafood, vegetables, fruits, beautiful meats, and jaw dropping pastries, and that’s I’m just getting started. It is no wonder that this small island country is a must destination for chefs, foodies, and culinary thrill seekers.

When deciding how to write about Japan I wanted to do a few different things. So this post will be broken up in to 2 sections; this 1st one will be a small introduction to the different types of food, cuisines, dishes and ways of eaten. Then the 2nd will be base around my personal experiences and some of the great interactions I was able to have. Included in the next post will be serious food porn and information on the places we ate at.

Let me begin with a Japanese Michelin starred Chef’s description of eating out in Japan. He points out very eloquently in an interview on David Chang’s Mind of a Chef (PBS), that Japanese restaurants are divided by what type of dish they serve. Therefore their customers, the Japanese people, decide what they want to eat before they even go out. If they want Sushi, they go to a sushi place. If they want Yakitori (meat on sticks) they go to a place that serves Yakitori. If they want noodles, the must decide between Soba (Buckwheat noodles, served cold), Udon (traditional fat rice noodles in broth), or Ramen before landing on which restaurant they wish to dine. Thus the menus at these places aren’t very diverse, in fact, there might not even be a menu. Unlike American flagships like Cheesecake Factory who boast menus that are spiral bound with an index. This organizational way of eating out, also promotes an incredible quality to the cuisine that we don’t see here in everyday eating. But I will get into that more later.

So the idea here is that you basically need to figure out what you are craving, and then seek out that restaurant. That is how you eat in Japan. And let me say, it is awesome.

Japanese food in Japan is also very simple. Clean. Not a whole lot of filler or unnecessary items on your plate, dish, or bowl. For example, when you go and eat any type of noodles (Ramen, Udon or Soba), the basic order is simply noodles, broth or dipping sauce, and some light toppings like scallions, bamboo shoots or ginger. You have to ask for an egg, or meat, or something additional. It’s not a ploy to get you to spend more, my average bowl of Ramen fully loaded was $7. It’s because you don’t normally need that extra stuff on the noodles to enjoy them. Enjoy the noodles and broth. Lots of work went into them, so enjoy the tastes, flavors and textures. This is eating in Japan. Simple. Clean. No frills.

Japan is a culture that loves its food. Tokyo has more Michelin starred restaurants than Paris, and Japan has more Michelin starred restaurants than any other country in the world. It should be no surprise that this small island is slightly food obsessed. Next post, more detail.

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