We enter fully into another post that I am going to divide into two parts since Japanese cuisine is very varied and deserves special attention, especially to demystify a bit the fact that Japanese eat everything raw like fish. We must remember that we are in a country whose customs, also culinary ones, are far from western ones, so try not to be surprised if in a restaurant they make noise when sipping a kind of noodle soup called WindowsIn Japan, making noise while eating this dish is a sign that the diner is enjoying the food and is to their liking.
El sushi It is the most famous Japanese dish, both inside and outside its borders, but sushi is much more than just raw fish. In Tokyo you will be able to enjoy 100% of the totality of Japanese gastronomy and you will be able to observe in wonder the ornamentation of its dishes and the incredible variety of them.
Sushi
It should be noted that many of the Tokyoites eat outside the home since they work long distances from home, therefore the city has countless restaurants with a daily menu at affordable prices where the food is varied. It is also customary to go out for a drink Sake or beer with co-workers after work hours.
Japanese restaurant
Get ready to live an authentic culinary adventure in Tokyo since many of its restaurants do not have cutlery, they will simply give you the chopsticks (Ohashi) and not all have a letter in English. But not everything was going to be bad, the vast majority of them have a replica of the plate made in wax to give a visual reference.
Without further ado let's start our culinary odyssey knowing some of the most important dishes of the Japanese kitchen
Sushi
Without a doubt the star dish. It could be said that it is a small sandwich of rice with a portion of fish. It can be tuna, salmon, squid, fish roe, etc. When they are rolled up with a dehydrated seaweed called Cloud (which we can find in the international food section of department stores) is called norimaki. And be careful when you have this delicatessen, because sometimes it is accompanied by a small bowl of wasabi, an extremely spicy vegetable paste, be cautious.
To enjoy this dish, it is almost a must visit a Kaiten sushi, the typical restaurant that we have all seen in the movies where a circular bar rotates offering a great variety of dishes and where you can see the cooks preparing the food.
In the following link you will find a list of restaurants in Tokyo where you can enjoy sushi in all its forms and flavors. Restaurant guide
Different sushis
Sashimi
Another of the star dishes. This is raw fish, but cut into thin slices, traditional style. carpaccio which is accompanied by a soy sauce and a little wasabi.
There are completely specialized restaurants where the diner chooses the fish he wants from a large fishbowl and the cook in front of him prepares the sashimi and presents it in an exquisite way. Sometimes the fish is still presented alive, the cook leaving the head, spine and tail on a cradle of vegetables and the thin fillets bordering the plate.
Sashimi
Teppanyaki
Leaving fish aside in Japan, meat is also enjoyed of excellent quality. The word tep pan means iron plate and yaki meat, which is something like a grill for meat, although vegetables can also be prepared. They are prepared with very little oil, which makes it a healthy way to eat. One of the best meats in the world is found in the nearby town called Kobe, where the cows are given beer to drink and massaged, getting the fatty tissues to mix well with the meat, giving it an exquisite consistency and flavor.
This meat can be prepared t-styleeppanyaki or fried in a pan with a drop of oil and yes, sugar.
shabu shabu
It is a style of fondue of meat and vegetables. A fun meal because the diners themselves are the cooks, it is prepared in a saucepan in a small gas stove set in the center of the table. Both meat and vegetables are cut into small pieces and served with two different types of sauce.
The restaurants that have these tables offer two very interesting options for those who eat well; the tabehodai where you choose to eat until you can no longer signal the waiter not to continue bringing you food (a style to Brazilian meat restaurants called rollers) and the other option is called nomihodai where you can drink all the beer your body can handle. A curious experience, right?
shabu shabu
So far the first part of our journey through the Tokyo kitchens. Do you still think that you only eat raw fish and rice in Japan?