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76 Food

Japanese Food

There are a great number of different kinds of eating places in Japan. Among the kinds you are most likely to encounter are kissaten (coffee shops), where cakes and other snacks are often available; resutoran (restaurants), which specialise either in western, Japanese, or Japanese interpretations of western food; ryOriya, which serve only Japanese food; and, on the streets, you will come across yatai (street stalls on wheels) selling hot sweet potatoes, noodles and other reasonably priced light meals.

Popular Dishes

sushi & saskimi iT U <Ł c* L 'b Perhaps the most famous of Japanese dishes, sushi and sashimi are often confused by westemers. Sushi is lightly vinegared rice topped with a little wasabi (horse radish) raw seafood or egg. Sashimi, on the other hand, is thinly sliced raw Fish served with, among other things, soya sauce, wasabi, and thinly sliced ginger. tenpura X & h

Originally introduced by the Portuguese, seafood and vegetables are dipped in an egg and flour batter and deep-fried.

sukiyaki H c?

Thin slices of beef are dipped into a sweetened soy sauce broth and simmered together with bean curd, vegetables and dried mushrooms on the table in front of the diner.

Food 77

shabu shabu U& U

The diner places thin slices of beef and vegetables into a thin, simmering broth. ramen y — > >

Chinese noodles adapted to the Japanese palate, ramen is always a good, Iow budget meal for the traveller. yakitori ^

Barbecued chicken on skewers, this snack, and others like it, are often available as a popular accompaniment to drinks in bars.

teishoku AE:f£

This is not a dish, rather a common practice whereby restaurants offer dishes from their menu at a special lunch time price. globe fish

Also known as fuga, restaurants serve this poisonous Fish to the many aficionados in Japan who get a thrill out of taking smali risks. Although prepared by certified cooks, people do occasionally die from improperly prepared fugu.

Noodle Dishes

noodles

o-udon

tea-flavoured buckwheat noodles cha sobą

thick noodles in fish broth chikara udon thin noodles in pork broth gomoku sobą