Japanese cuisine does not abuse too much spices but focuses on highlighting the fresh, pure, natural flavor of the food. The taste of Japanese food is usually elegant, gentle, subtle and suitable to the nature of each season. If you can enjoy all the dishes in this country, you probably can’t miss some of the following foods. These are all popular foods in Japan. Many of them are Japanese street food, but their appeal is undeniable. Now, let’s check it out our list of the budget Japanese food with top 11 popular dishes in Japan that but make the fame for Japanese cuisine including most popular Japanese snacks, most popular food in Japan, budget Japanese dishes, famous and popular Japanese food with Living Nomads below.
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- Tokyo street food blog — 17+ best street food in Tokyo & must eat food in Tokyo
- Visiting Nishiki Market Kyoto — Exploring 400 year old traditional kitchen of Kyoto, Japan
- What to eat in Tokyo? — 8+ must try food, best food to eat in Tokyo
Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki, also known as Japanese pancake, is not only a popular street food in Japan but also a favorite dish by many tourists. This dish is also called by many Japanese crepe but the ingredients that make up this dish are salty. The main ingredient of the cake is flour, cabbage combined with other ingredients such as meat, cheese, seafood and wasabi. There are many different versions of Okonomiyaki in Japan in each region.
Takoyaki
This is a popular street food in Osaka, then spread out and enjoyed in many places throughout Japan. The round Takoyaki cake is made of octopus, vegetables, served with Takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise and Katsuobushi (dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna).
Shabu Shabu
Shabu Shabu can be understood as a kind of Japanese hotpot with the main ingredient is thinly sliced beef and dipped in a hotpot and then dip in sauce. This dish has a simple way of cooking, in which the delicious taste depends very much on beef. Traditional Shabu shabu must be eaten with beef but recently people can also eat chicken and pork meat.
Onigiri
Onigiri rice balls are very popular street food in Japan. This rice ball has a variety of different kernels and wrap a bit of seaweed outside. Onigiri is a popular dish, sold at many convenience stores. With Japanese people as well as tourists traveling to Japan, this is a fast-food option, the price is quite cheap for busy time or want to save trip budget.
Dango
Dango can be understood as a sweet Japanese rice dumplings with ingredients mainly of rice flour, making round balls but usually skewers 3, 4 balls in a stick and then pourn with sauce. In Japan, dango is eaten all year round, however there are many types of dango to suit each season and time.
Udon Noodles
Japan has many famous noodles, one of which is Udon. Udon is a type of noodles made from wheat flour, big and thick fiber, served with broth and many other side dishes such as tofu, eggs, tempura. Udon has both hot and cold versions.
Yakitori
Yakitori is a Japanese type of skewered chicken on charcoal. Although ingredients, the ways of cook are not picky but this is quite a popular snack. Yakitori can be processed from many different parts of the chicken such as breast, heart, intestine, organs..
Read more: Chicken Yakitori — How to make, enjoy Chicken Yakitori in Japan.
Popular Japanese food: Taiyaki
The fish-shaped taiyaki cakes, filled with red bean paste, are popular Japanese food. Taiyaki is especially delicious when just baked, fragrant, crispy and soft crust. Today, Taiyaki has many other kinds of kernels such as custard, chocolate or even salty.
Budget Japanese food: Ramen
This is the most famous noodle food of Japan and has great influence in many countries around the world. Ramen has many types, the most popular ones are shoyu, shio, miso and tonkotsu. Ramen noodles are characterized by small fibers, served with a variety of foods such as eggs, meat, seaweed, onions, bean sprouts.
Most popular food in Japan: Tempura
Tempura is a dish usually consists of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried, tempura really diverse when it can be applied from seafood such as shrimp, squid to vegetables, mushrooms, eggplant and more. Because Tempura is coated by a thin layer of batter so it is very crispy. This dish is often served as a Japanese appetizer and snack dish.
Most popular food in Japan: Mochi
For many years now, this traditional Japanese cake has been enjoyed by food lovers all over the world. Traditional mochi cake is made from glutinous rice flour with red bean paste, but today, the cake has a lot of different flavors and kernels such as ice cream and strawberry … making people more and more interested and favored.
Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, to and from Tokyo you can refer to
- Private Narita International Airport Transfers (NRT) for Tokyo 23 Wards, Hakone, or Karuizawa
- Private Haneda International Airport Transfers (HND) for Tokyo 23 Wards, Hakone, or Karuizawa
- Airport Limousine Bus Transfers from/to Narita and Haneda International Airport (Free Wifi Onboard)
- Tokyo Amazing Sightseeing Bus Day Tour
- Tokyo Highlights Private Day Tour
- Nikko Day Tour from Tokyo
- Mt Fuji & Hakone Day Tour: Lake Ashi & Ropeway Day Trip from Tokyo
- Nikko Cultural Day Tour from Tokyo
- Tokyo Subway Ticket (24, 48, or 72 Hours)
- Tokyo Skyliner and Tokyo Subway Ticket
- Shuttle Bus Transfers (One Way/Round Trip) from Shinjuku/Ikebukuro to Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea
- Sky Hop-on and Hop-off Bus Pass
- 4G Prepaid Sim Card (JP Airports Pick Up) for Japan
- 4G WiFi (Japan Pick Up) for Japan
- JR Pass for Whole Japan (7, 14, or 21 Days)
Are you finding more top things to do in Japan: Tours, activities, attractions and other things? Let’s check it out here.