Styles of Japanese Foods

Popular and Healthy Japanese Cuisine

Sushi and teriyaki chicken are very popular Japanese foods across the world. Sushi roll shops can be seen in every town or shopping mall.

Did you know that Japanese people don’t actually eat sushi as a daily food? We eat it for special occasions or for seasonal festivals, it means celebration food. Some of you would already be familiar with and love the flavour of Teriyaki chicken. The name Teriyaki name comes from a specific Japanese cooking method.

Styles of Japanese foods - Tonkatsu pork cutlet

Other Japanese foods growing in popularity are noodle dishes like; udon, yakisoba noodle, tonkatu ramen, as well as miso soup, and gyoza.

Japanese foods are beneficial for both weight loss and good health, being full of healthy vegetables and often suitable for those who wish to follow a vegetarian or a gluten free diet.

Different Types of Japanese Cuisine

When I think of Japanese cooking and food, there are quite a few different styles that come to mind..

Traditional food—sushi, grilled fish, miso soup, udon, soba
Adopted food from other countries – tempura, tonkatu, ramen, gyoza, japanese curry
Syojin ryouri (japanese vegetarian food) – Buddhist food
Donburi (rice bowl dish) – healthy fast food for office worker or busy people and home meal
Bento food – special occasion and festive picnic food
Snack and street food – “Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki” are Osaka prefecture’s speciality
Izakaya food – food for eating with drinks (alcohol)
Home style food – every house hold and each region have unique dishes
Japanese old style inn food — when you stay at a Japanese inn (known as a Ryokan), the food is included in the cost. Each place offers specialities that encourages people to travel all over Japan.
Modern restaurant and café food – specially created mix with western cuisine

There is top restaurant food where world top ranking chefs are working or family restaurant food. When Japanese people drink alcohol they always eat some food and that is why many “izakaya”( pub style) foods ( “Tumami” kind of tapas) have developed over time.

As you can see from the above list, Japanese cuisine offers a great variety of dishes. Japan is a food lover’s nation and wherever you go there will be many kinds of delicious food available. People travel everywhere to enjoy eating regional specialities.

The Importance of Home Cooked Food

There are so many different foods available in Japan but when I look at the healthy food point of view; I personally want to explore more the home cooked meals. For myself, I haven’t done anything special to become healthy in life. I just ate traditional Japanese dishes that I made and western meals between.

The Japanese think that three main meals are important for their daily healthy eating and they respect the quality and preparation of food too. Men and women put lots of effort to make meals and a variety of dishes each day. They are the back stage power to Japan being a healthy nation.

So Many Healthy Japanese Foods You Can Eat

I can proudly say that 90% of Japanese meals are low fat and healthy foods. It is both the cooking methods and ingredients that are the main reasons for Japanese cuisine being healthy. There are occasional deep fried foods such as Tempura, Tonkatu which are less healthy. But those foods are carefully cooked and Japanese eat them with vegetables for nutritional balance during the day. So you can adjust and learn from Japanese eating style.

What Can I Offer You?

Even if I put 100 Japanese recipes on this website I would only be scratching the surface of Japanese cuisine. So I won’t do that.

I want to focus more on foods you may like, the health benefits of foods, as well as dishes that are easy to make in your kitchen and my favourite foods. I will also add “side dishes” and “izakaya” tapas style dishes. They are easy to make and essential for balanced meals that you will learn from this site.

I’m happy to introduce Japanese foods that inspire you!

I guarantee that you will LIKE IT, you will COOK IT and EAT IT!