Food

Japan has a huge variety of foods. When people think of Japan, they usually imagine fish. There is definitely a lot of fish in Japan but there are also at least six other styles of food, from fried pork cutlets to barbecued pork noodle soups…

Tonkatsu: This form of Japanese cuisine is fried pork cutlet. Tender pork is fried in breadcrumbs in various forms, including: filled with spring onion, plain fried pork and filled with prawn.

Ramen: One of my favourite. Large bowls of tasty chicken, beef or vegetable stock (soup). These bowls are piled high with your choice of thick or thin noodles. The thick noodles are called udon and the thin vermicelli noodles are called ramen noodles. Thinly sliced barbecued pork, beef or chicken is added along with ginger, spring onions and sometimes chilli. Probably the most hunger satisfying dish, ramen is often served with duck, chicken or vegetable gyoza, which is a crescent shaped parcel, often steamed and soft at the top but crispy at the base. Eat these with chilli sauce for a spicy treat.

Kaiseki: Most common in traditional Japanese ryokans (inns), this type of meal is not hard to find in Tokyo but is invariably quite expensive. A many course traditional Japanese meal which consists of tiny plates with intricate designs of fish and vegetables. One may find, for example, a slice of salmon on a bed of Japanese pickle topped with salmon roe and fish sauce. Dishes are a lot more imaginative than this, but only true fish lovers and curious travellers should try this as a number of the courses can involve various fish parts, including heads, eyes and tails.

Sushi: Thinly sliced pieces of raw fish are either served alone or in seaweed parcels with rice. There are many combinations of sushi with odd ingredients such as fish eggs and sometimes sea urchin, a yellow paste. Sushi restaurants are very common in Tokyo.

Yakiktori: This type of cooking is where skewers of chicken or other meats are dipped in a thick sauce and grilled before being served. Sometimes the plain meat is put on skewers however more commonly used is the unwanted parts of the animal. Gizzards, wombs and cartilage are turned into a rich, saucy dish.

Tempura: Tempura is the name of the batter that various objects are deep-fried in. Despite the word “Deep” fried, the object is usually visible through the thin batter. Crunchy vegetables, fish and prawns are served with various sauces including sweet chilli or sesame.

Shabu-shabu: This style of cooking is exciting, healthy and a real experience in itself. Look at the section about Ginza for my favourite shabu-shabu restaurant. Named after the supposed sound the chopsticks make while swishing through the water during the meal, wafer thin raw meat is put on a plate, usually beef and pork. There is a pot of boiling water in front of you. After a piece of raw thin meat is put in, it cooks after about 20 seconds. The meat is then eaten while your designated waitress continuously offers free refills of iced tap water (Japan water is safe to drink and you will crave it after trawling the humid Tokyo streets in summer), rice, vegetables, delicious sesame sauce and chilli oil. By the end of the meal, you will always be filled to the brim… Guaranteed! Oh, and when you have cooked all your spring onions, lettuce, mushrooms, noodles and meat the boiling water is seasoned with pepper and chilli oil before being poured into a bowl and drunk as a delicious soup.

Teppan-yaki: If you like steak or seafood, this would be ideal. Although many teppan-yaki restaurants are expensive, there are a few well-priced ones, you have to find them first though. I recommend “Pandora’s steakhouse” in Shinjuku, near the Main Post Office. You sit at the bar counter with a huge flat metal grill in front of you. Sit and watch as master chefs prepare your food on the grill before your very eyes. Juicy steaks and garlic rice, chilli squid and bok choy. This is definitely worth trying.

Planning Transport

Before you leave for Japan, you will obviously