adapted from wikipedia.com

Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of Shogun rule. In the early modern era massive changes took place that introduced non-Japanese cultures, most notably Western culture, to Japan.

The modern term "Japanese cuisine" (nihon ryōri, or washoku) means traditional-style Japanese food, similar to what already existed before the end of national seclusion in 1868. In a broader sense of the word, it could also include foods whose ingredients or cooking methods were subsequently introduced from abroad, but which have been developed by Japanese who made them their own. Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality of food ,quality of ingredients and presentation.

• Gohan or Meshi: plainly cooked white rice. It is such a staple that the terms gohan and meshi are also used to refer meals in general, such as Asa gohan/meshi  breakfast), Hiru gohan/meshi (lunch), and Ban gohan/meshi (dinner). Also, raw rice is called kome ( rice), while cooked rice is gohan ([cooked] rice). Some alternatives are:

• Genmai gohan : brown rice
• Okowa : cooked glutinous rice
• Mugi gohan/meshi : white rice cooked with barley
• Rice with a raw egg (Tamago kake gohan), nori, and furikake are popular condiments in Japanese breakfast
• Ochazuke: hot green tea or dashi poured over cooked white rice, often with various savory ingredients such as umeboshi or tsukemono.
• Onigiri: balls of rice with a filling in the middle. Japanese equivalent of sandwiches.
• Takikomi gohan: Japanese-style pilaf cooked with various ingredients and flavored with soy, dashi, etc.
• Kamameshi: rice topped with vegetables and chicken or seafood, then baked in an individual-sized pot
• Sekihan: red rice. white rice cooked with azuki beans to Glutinous rice

• Curry rice: Introduced from the UK in the late 19th century, "curry rice" (karÄ“ raisu is now one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is much milder then its Indian counterpart.
• Hayashi rice: thick beef stew on rice; origin of the name is unknown but presumably named after a Mr. Hayashi.
• Omurice (Omu-raisu: omelet filled with fried rice, apparently originating from Tōkyō
• Mochi: glutinous rice cake
• Chāhan: fried rice, 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 (porridge), sometimes egg dropped and usually served to infants and sick people as easily digestible meals
• Zosui (Zōsui, 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 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 (big bowl) full of hot steamed rice with various savory toppings:

• Katsudon: donburi topped with deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (tonkatsudon), chicken (chickendon)
• Tekkadon: donburi topped with tuna sashimi
• Oyakodon (Parent and Child): donburi topped with chicken and egg (or sometimes salmon and salmon roe)
• GyÅ«don: donburi topped with seasoned beef
• Tendon: donburi topped with tempura (battered shrimp and vegetables).
• Unadon: donburi topped with broiled eel with vegetables.

Sushi

Sushi comes from Japan and is a vinegared rice topped or mixed with various fresh ingredients, usually fish or seafood.

• Nigiri-sushi: 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) 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 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.

Alcoholic beverages

Sake is a rice wine that typically contains 12%ndash;20% alcohol and is made by a double fermentation of rice. Kōjji 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 or otsumami.

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

Noodles (men-rui)

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 broth.
  • Soba: thin brown buckwheat noodles. Also known as Nihon-soba ("Japanese soba"). In Okinawa, soba likely refers to Okinawa soba (see below).
  • Udon: thick white wheat noodles served with various toppings, usually in a hot soy-dashi broth, or sometimes in a Japanese curry soup.
  • Somen: 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: 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: 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

• Okinawa soba: thick wheat-flour noodles served in Okinawa, often served in a hot broth with sōki, steamed pork. Akin to a cross between udon and ramen.
• Zaru soba: Soba noodles served cold
• Yaki soba: Fried Chinese noodles
• Yaki udon: Fried udon noodles

Bread (pan)

Bread (the word "pan" is derived from the Portuguese 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 (karÄ“ pan): deep fried bread filled with Japanese curry sauce.
• Anpan: sweet bun filled with red bean(anko) paste.
• Yakisoba-pan: bread roll sandwich with yakisoba (fried noodles and red pickled ginger) filling.
• Melon-pan: very sweet fluffy bread.
• Katsu-sando: sandwich with tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) filling.

Deep-fried dishes (agemono)

• Karaage: bite-sized pieces of chicken, fish, octopus, or other meat, floured and deep fried. Common izakaya food, also often available in convenience stores.
• Korokke (croquette): breaded and deep-fried patties, containing either mashed potato or white sauce mixed with minced meat, vegetables or seafood. Popular everyday food.
• Kushikatsu: skewered meat, vegetables or seafood, breaded and deep fried.
• Tempura: deep-fried vegetables or seafood in a light, distinctive batter.
• Tonkatsu: deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (chicken versions are called chicken katsu).

Grilled and pan-fried dishes (yakimono)

• Gyoza: Chinese ravioli-dumplings (potstickers), usually filled with pork and vegetables and pan-fried.
• Kushiyaki: skewers of meat and vegetables.
• Okonomiyaki: savory pancakes with various meat and vegetable ingredients, flavoured with the likes of Worcestershire sauce or mayonnaise.
• Takoyaki: a spherical, fried dumpling of batter with a piece of octopus inside. Popular street snack.
• Teriyaki: grilled, broiled, or pan-fried meat, fish, chicken or vegetables glazed with a sweetened soy sauce.
• Unagi, including Kabayaki: grilled and flavored eel.
• Yakiniku ("grilled meat"): 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 before being eaten.
  • Horumonyaki ("offal-grill"): similar homegrown dish, but using offal
  • Genghis Khan barbecue: barbecued lamb or mutton, with various seafoods and vegetables. A speciality of Hokkaidō.
• Yakitori: 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: flame-grilled fish, often served with grated daikon. One of the most common dishes served at home. Because of the simple cuisine, fresh fish in season are highly preferable.

Nabemono (one pot "steamboat" cooking)

Nabemono includes:

• Oden: surimi, 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: beef offal, Chinese cabbage and various vegetables cooked in a light soup base.
• Shabu-shabu: 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: 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)

 

• Kakuni: 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: beef and potato stew, flavoured with sweet soy
• Nizakana: fish poached in sweet soy (often on the menu as "nitsuke")
• sōki: Okinawan dish of pork stewed with bone

Itamemono (stir-fried dishes)

Stir-frying 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:

• ChanpurÅ«: A stir-fry from Okinawa, of vegetables, tofu, meat or seafood and sometimes egg. Many varieties, the most famous being gōyā chanpurÅ«.
• Kinpira gobo: Thin sticks of greater burdock (gobo) and other root vegetables stir-fried and braised in sweetened soy.

Sashimi

Sashimi is raw, thinly sliced foods served with a dipping sauce and simple garnishes; usually fish or shellfish served with soy sauce and wasabi. Less common variations include:

• Fugu: sliced poisonous pufferfish (sometimes lethal), a uniquely Japanese specialty. The chef responsible for preparing it must be licensed.
• Ikizukuri: live sashimi
• Tataki ): raw/very rare skipjack tuna or beef 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 : horse meat sashimi, sometimes called sakura , 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" ), 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 by eating hunted wild deer.

Soups (suimono and shirumono)

Soups include:

• Miso soup: soup made with miso dissolved in dashi, usually containing two or three types of solid ingredients, such as seaweed, vegetables or tofu.
• Tonjiru: similar to Miso soup, except that pork is added to the ingredients
• Dangojiru: soup made with dumplings along with seaweed, tofu, lotus root, or any number of other vegetables and roots
• Imoni: a thick taro potato stew popular in Northern Japan during the autumn season
• Sumashijiru: a clear soup made with dashi and seafood
• Zoni: soup containing mochi rice cakes along with various vegetables and often chicken. It is usually eaten at New Years Day.
• Kiritanpo: 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

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 salmon caviar.
• Mentaiko: salt-cured pollock roe.
• Shiokara: salty fermented viscera.
• Tsukemono: pickled vegetables, hundreds of varieties and served with most rice-based meals.
  • Umeboshi: small, pickled ume fruit. Usually red and very sour, often served with bento lunch boxes or as a filling for onigiri.
• Tsukudani: Very small fish, shellfish or seaweed stewed in sweetened soy for preservation.

Miscellaneous

• Agedashi dofu: cubes of deep-fried silken tofu served in hot broth.
• Bento or Obento: combination meal served in a wooden box, usually as a cold lunchbox.
• Chawan mushi: meat (seafood and/or chicken) and vegetables steamed in egg custard.
• Edamame: boiled and salted pods of soybeans, eaten as a snack, often to accompany beer.
• Himono: dried fish, often aji (Japanese jack mackerel). Traditionally served for breakfast with rice, miso soup and pickles.
• Hiyayakko: chilled tofu with garnish.
• Natto: 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: boiled greens such as spinach, chilled and flavoured with soy sauce, often with garnish.
• Osechi: traditional foods eaten at New Year.
• Sunomono: vegetables such as cucumber or wakame, or sometimes crab, marinated in rice vinegar.

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