One of my favorite Japanese dish is okonomiyaki  お好み焼き. It is like a pancake filled with an egg, cabbage, meat and different sea products (shrimps, calmar, etc.). These pancakes are then covered with a sweet sauce, bonito flakes and seaweed in powder.

There are two kinds of okonomiyaki, those of the Kansai region (Osaka) and those of Hiroshima. The latter is caracterized by the fact it is served on Japanese noodles, yakisoba 焼きそば. During my stay in Hiroshima, I even tried some served on thick noodles called udon うどん.

Hiroshima being famous for its oysters, I also tried okonomiyaki with grilled oysters. It was delicious !

A famous japanese dish is tai-yaki 鯛焼き, literally “cooked bream”. It’s not a dish made of fish though, but a kind of Japanese waffel filled with sweet red bean paste (an 餡). There also some filled with custard cream or chocolate cream sometimes.

The tai-yaki of the above picture, I bought it in a shop located in Nezu, not far from Ueno. This kind of shop usually prepare a certain amount of ingredients, and thus close when they have used and sold it all. In the case of the most popular shops, the time they close can come very fast. So if you plan to have some tai-yaki from a famous shop, it is better to go early.

One of my favorite dishes in Japan is râmen ラーメン, chinese noodles served in a soup with vegetables and meat. This Japanese dish of Chinese origins was immortalized by film maker Itami Jûzô (1933-1997) in his movie “Tampopo” (1985). If you haven’t seen this movie, I strongly recommend you to watch it. To make your mouths water, here is a short passage.

Let’s get back to râmen, here are a few things to know about it. This Japanese national dish is actually diversified. There are indeed many types of râmen depending on the regions of Japan. There are thus Hakata râmen 博多ラーメン (Fukuoka), Sapporo râmen 札幌ラーメン (Sapporo), etc. The difference usually resides in the noodles (shape, thickness), the soup (salt, soy sauce, etc.), or other ingredients.

If you ask about râmen, Japanese people will tell you they prefer this or that kind of soup, the latter playing an important role in the overall taste of the dish. There are shôyu râmen 醤油ラーメン (soy sauce soup), shio râmen 塩ラーメン　(salt soup), miso râmen 味噌ラーメン (miso soup) or again tonkotsu râmen 豚骨ラーメン (pork bone bouillon). Personally, I must say I have a preference for miso râmen, but not all restaurants serve excellent râmen. One generally goes to the same râmen restaurants when one has found good ones.

Besides, Japanese people being gourmets, there are special magazine presenting the best râmen restaurants in town. This kind of guide books has actually helped us, a friend and I, in finding a restaurant that serves miso râmen with squid ink oil (see picture below). The look is quite incredible.

Another important element of is the other ingredients. There are generally bamboo shoots (shinachiku 支那竹/menma 麺麻),roasted pork (châshû 叉焼), soft-boiled eggs (hanjuku tamago 半熟卵), etc. Personally, I usually order châshû râmen, that is râmen with extra slices of roasted pork.

Also, are usually served very hot. It is thus necessary to swallow them together with air. In Japanese, they call this way of eating susuru 啜る. This is often the most difficult part for foreigners as most of us have been told not to make noise when eating as a kid.

I hope this will have made you hungry. 😉