The Japanese are known to love their food and this can be seen by the number of takeaway and restaurants that have become well established and cooking programmed on TV are now showing more far eastern cuisine dishes.
The West has now embraced Japanese cuisine and seafood is a popular dish served at many restaurants, even takeaway Japanese has become popular. Many Japanese restaurants and takeaways are fast popping up across the UK. Chinatown in London is diverse with Japanese restaurants. These restaurants provide the ultimate experience in Japanese dining.
Here are some popular Japanese dishes:
Sashimi and sushi
Many people don’t realise that these two dishes are more or less the same. Sashimi is a dish that is comprised of raw fish thinly sliced that is served with a spicy Japanese horseradish known as wasabi where sushi is also thinly sliced raw fish but served with vinegared rice. Norimaki or sushi roll where the filling is rolled in rice is also a well known Japanese dish. Sushi is available in many supermarkets as pre-packaged dishes and many people now go to sushi bars where customers can sit at a counter and choose what they want to eat by choosing the dishes from a moving conveyor belt.
Domburimo
Domburimo are dishes that consist of a bowl of rice which are covered with a variety of toppings including boiled beef, chicken, egg, deep-fried shrimp or deep fried pork and egg. These are popular takeaway dishes ordered and are complimented well by additional dishes including miso soup and pickles.
Tempura
Perhaps the most well known dish in Japanese cuisine, Tempura is a simple but delicious dish. Tempura is a light batter and seafood and vegetables are dipped in this batter then deep fried, the end result is delicious and crispy food which is served with a dipping sauce. Tempura is best served with a side bowl of rice and soup or on a bowl of rice (tendon) or noodles (tempura udon, tempura soba).
Sukiyaki
Suriyaki is a savoury stew dish of vegetables and beef. The choice of vegetables used is usually green onions, shiitake mushrooms with the addition of tofu and gelatinous noodles. All these ingredients are cooked together in a sauce made of soy sauce, sugar and sweet cooking sake.
Yakitori
Translated yakitori means broiled chicken. Chicken is threaded onto skewers and cooked over a hot charcoal grill. Yakitori is good as a starter and more of a snack food before your main course. For vegetarians an assortment of vegetables including green bell peppers and onions can be used. Once the yakitori is cooked it is served with a tangy sauce to compliment it making it mouth watering and delicious.