6 Delicious Japanese Dishes You Should Not Miss

Japanese cuisine is one of the most popular in the world, and you can now find Japanese dishes across the world. The food often features a lot of rice, fish and meat, along with soybean products, and cooked and pickled vegetables.

Perhaps the most well known Japanese dish is ramen, but the country has lots more to offer, so here are 6 Japanese dishes you must not miss:

# Sushi

Sushi is probably one of the most famous Japanese dishes. It is made with vinegared sushi rice and topped, or mixed with, seafood or vegetables. There are various forms of this popular Japanese dish, and it is often served with pickled ginger (gari), wasabi, and soy sauce. Sheets of black seaweed wrappers (called nori) may also be used as a wrap.

# Onigiri

This portable and easy to eat meal consists of rice balls made filled with salty or sour ingredients such as pickled plums (umeboshi), dried bonito flakes, or tsukudani ;(meat or seaweed that has been simmered in soy sauce and mirin). It is then formed into a triangular or cylindrical shape and wrapped in seaweed.

# Mochi

This dessert is a rice cake made of a paste of short-grain glutinous rice moulded into shapes with water, sugar and cornstarch. Mochi is eaten year-round but is traditionally associated with the Japanese New Year. It comes in many flavours and with fillings such as sweetened red bean paste, white bean paste, or plums.

# Miso Soup

A soup made with miso (a thick paste of fermented soybeans), and a clear broth or stock and few solid ingredients, such as seaweed, vegetables or tofu, this is another iconic Japanese dish.

# Tempura

This popular dish is made of battered and fried fish, seafood, or vegetables which are eaten with a dipping sauce. The light batter is made with water and wheat flour and is said to have been influenced by Portuguese cooking techniques.

# Zōsui

Zōsui is a mild rice soup that is made with pre-cooked rice and water or stock that is seasoned with miso or soy sauce. Other ingredients, such as egg, meat, seafood, vegetables or mushrooms may also be added.