I am going to Japan this summer and i am not a huge seafood eater. I do like meats and vegetables and fruits and rice, but i am afraid that i will accidentally try a seafood option that will make me gag (i have a sensitive gag reflex) and i do not want to offend my hostess or chef. I have asked a similar question (if i go to japan, can i only eat rice?) but learned that not everything contains seafood and that they do have really good recipes. So, im re-wording my question. (Sorry if i offended anyone on my last question) But if you have any specific suggestions, list the ingredients to get me interested. =]
C2007-02-15T15:36:18Z
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♡There are so many! Here's just a few: (No seafood, right?) *Tonkatsu (breaded, fried pork cutlet with a side of cabbage) http://maki.typepad.com/justhungry/tonkatsu.jpg *Tenpura (battered deep fried vegetables and/or seafood..) http://www.kodamaso.com/archives/tenpura.jpg *Gyudon (Beef bowl) http://www.kaikan.com.mx/img/nagaoka/gyudon.jpg *Yakitori (grilled chicken on a stick, salted or sauce type. Some with veggies...) http://www.otsumami-land.com/images/yakitori.jpg *Yakisoba (fried noodles with veggies and/or pork...) http://acoruja.blogs.sapo.pt/arquivo/f_r_yakisoba.jpg *Yakiniku (grilling your own beef, pork, veggies or seafood at your table. Served with rice, salad...) http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~bakern/Nagahama/yakiniku.jpg http://harihari.main.jp/hariharidiary/archives/yakiniku%20012.jpg *Koroke (deep fried potato cakes with veggies and sometime meat fillings) http://t-momo.up.seesaa.net/image/koroke1.jpg *Soba (or any of the many 'noodle' dishes in Japan) http://www.quickspice.com/scstore/images/soba_sample.jpg Too many to list but I hope this helps! (*^o^*) You won't have a problem, believe me. You'll find many delicious dishes here in Japan. You don't just have to eat rice. There are even special flavored toppings, 'furikake', just for rice though IF you just really want to eat rice! http://www.e-dashi.com/Images/okazu/furikake_024-1.jpg *Corn soup is popular, pumpkin soup, onion soup....cream stew, beef stew, curry. You get the picture, right? Lots to eat!(^_-)-☆
Most restaurants have menus with pictures of the food.. I have two sons and we have been livingin Japan for almost 4 years. My older son is a picky eater also, so we have struggled to find things he will enjoy eating. So you like rice and meat, but not fish? No problem. Gyuudon or beef bowl, a bowl of rice with thin slices of beef on top.
Do you like noodles? How about ramen? Not a ramen fan, how about pasta? There are some interesting combinations of pasta in Japan and also your normal white or red sauce pastas Is bread OK? There are bakeries all over Japan, many are located in convenient neightborhood areas such a your local station. Despite what rumors someone may have told you, there is no fish in the bread. Unless you go to McDonalds and order a McFish Mac. Nothing but meat at Yakiniku, which translates literally to flaming the beef or maybe a better way to say it is Korean BBQ. At the end of your patience? You can try these great restaurants that are in Japan: TGIFridays Outback Steakhouse McDonalds Wendys First Kitchen - fat food uh I mean fast food MOS Burger, again good heart stopping burgers Denny's Jonathans - Denny's style place Royal Host - same as above
you probably get the point by now. Don't worry, have fun.
My instant favorite is a dish called, "YAKINIKU". I just fell in love with it the first time I had it. There are Yakiniku restaurants all over the place, too. Basically, you fry thin slices of meat (I prefer beef) on a hot plate and then dip it into a sauce, then eat it. You can also fry a large selection of vegetables at the same time. A lot of fun for home parties, too.
Another favorite is Okanomiyaki. It is sort of like a vegetable pancake. You can choose what to put inside it as far as mean and other garnishing go. They cook it on a hot plate in front of you at Okanomiyaki restaurants. It is a lot of fun. There are two styles, Osaka style, and Hiroshima style. Osaka style can be had anywhere because it is easier to make. They just mix everything together then fry it. The Hiroshima style is a little more complex, in that they stack the ingredients and at one point, they flip it. This, too, is a lot of fun at home parties, but you might want to cover your floor and walls before the flipping happens... if you know what I mean.
These are two MUSTS when you come to Japan. I would say sushi and stuff like that, but my own taste for the stuff has significantly diminished in the past few years so I can recommend something I myself don't like. Plus, you don't like seafood so it's okay!
You should try dishes that are as close to European food as possible. Yakiniku is not a Japanese dish, it actually means fried meat, so nothing yukky in that one. Kara age is one of my favorites. It is again meat (chicken mainly) cut into small pieces and fried on a stick. Kuroke can be good, but not always. Okonomiyaki is quite difficult to explain for me because i do not know the recipe, but everybody who has tried it absolutely loves it. There are a lot of ingredients, but basically you can choose from a quite big range so it is impossible not to find a combination you will not like. Try and get used to it, with small steps.and be open minded, you never know. I have lots of friend who thought they would never ever be able to eat some things they have here but now they eat almost everything and like it.