In 2019, Tokyo held the record for having the most Michelin stars in a city, clocking in at an extraordinary 230 restaurants holding one or more stars. In comparison, Paris came in second at 123 stars. Third was Kyoto and fourth was Osaka, two more Japanese cities. Japan has such a rich food culture it even invented (or discovered rather) the fifth flavor called umami. But, what makes Japan have such a rich food culture? It may lie in their use of dashi.

Dashi is a Japanese soup stock which forms the foundation of Japanese cooking. It’s a soup stock that’s used in a wide range of Japanese dishes like miso soup, noodles, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and more. The simple form of dashi is made by boiling kombu (Japanese kelp) and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) in water (they sell dashi in packs where you can use it like tea bags).

Dashi was actually the main reason the fifth flavor of umami was discovered. In the early 20th century, Chemistry Professor Kikunae Ikeda came home from a long days work and was sipping on soup that had dashi in it. As he was tasting this he wondered, “Why is it so good? What am I tasting?”. It wasn’t salty, sweet, bitter or sour, it was “pleasant”. He went on to call this umami (umami is derived from the word umai which means delicious).To best describe the taste of umami , it’s a pleasant, savory taste. But, dashi isn’t the only food that has umami in it. Cheese, nuts, tomatoes, eggs, fish, meats, and even human breast milk have umami in it. But what ties all these different foods together? Professor Ikeda discovered that it had something to do with the chemical compound of these foods.

Foods that are high in glutamates have a lot of umami in it. Our taste receptors respond to glutamates separately from the other four flavors. Kombu and katsuobushi, the two main ingredients of dashi is very high in glutamates which is why it has a lot of umami in it.

A dorayaki is basically a pancake sandwich with a red bean filling, usually enjoyed with a cup of tea. The word dorayaki consists of two parts - dora means gong and yaki is baked/fried meaning it's a baked gong - which makes sense after looking at its shape. This traditional confection dates back to the edo period (1603-1868) and legend states that it was accidentally baked in a gong once giving way to it’s name. It used to be one layered, but changed its current form of sandwiching the red bean in the early 1900s. You can find dorayakis at Japanese confection shops or even on our Tokyo food tour!

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The Japanese fruit parfait is popular in cafes and family restaurants across Japan. It’s usually made out of a base layer of granola and sponge cakes, with another layer of whipped cream and topped off with ice cream, mochi and fruits. It’s a perfect snack and/or dessert. Anyone from the United States might consider these a sundae rather than a fruits parfait. Depending on the season, they might have different seasonal fruits covering the fruits.

Photo Credit: Timeout Tokyo

The fruits sandwich is exactly what it sounds like, a sandwich with fruit fillings. Typically it uses milky white bread with the ears cut off with cream and some kind of fruit in it (strawberry is the most popular and common).

The origin of the fruit sandwich is not exactly clear but it is definitely an adoption of western culture in the 1900s. There are a couple interesting theories on how it was invented but it's thought to have been invented in either cafes in Kyoto during the 1920s or by Senbikiya, Japan’s first fruits parlor shop in Tokyo. Some other interesting theories are that it was invented for geisha workers to eat fruits without getting their hands sticky and dirty. It’s also thought to have been invented as a cheap way to enjoy fruits and cake, two luxury items during the early-mid 19th century in Japan because it uses small slices of fruits and replicates the taste of cakes by being sandwiches by two pieces of bread.  There are many interesting theories, but all we know is that Japan invented these wonderful sweet and savory snacks.

Photo Credit: Roti n Rice

In Japan there has been a huge green tea, or matcha flavored boom.Green tea is a traditional, old tea, but there has been a modern trend in green tea fusion snacks and drinks. For example matcha ice cream and matcha lattes.

The origins of match ice cream are not clear, but it is said that it has existed as a flavor in Japan since the meiji period as it was an item on the emperors menu. Green tea ice cream was always handmade but it was not properly merchandised by major companies because they stuck to normal flavors like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. However, the reason for its recent boom in popularity is actually from California. Maeda-en USA, the Japanese green tea company in the US started selling green tea ice cream saying it was pure japanese style from California. It became a huge popular dessert in California and even started to sell it in sushi restaurants. They began to import it to Japan and sold it in combinis and advertised it in newspapers. So, chefs began to realize that they can't just stick to the original three flavors and started including green tea as a modern twist. Maeda-en also invented the matcha latte in 1999 in the world's first ever Matcha cafe. Now matcha flavored snacks and drinks are literally everywhere in Japan.

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Gyutan is Japanese cow tongue and a popular dish in Sendai. It usually comes either in the form of a set meal or as a yakitori at izakayas (they are usually called just tan at izakayas). The set meal is popular to eat with barley rice, tail soup, pickles and sometimes grated yam. You can get gyutan set meals at gyutan restaurants or just tan on yakitori at izakayas.

Photo Credit: Japan Brand

Some of the most commonly consumed alcoholic drinks in Japan are beers and sours. But another favorite alcoholic drink is the highball. A highball is essentially a beverage with a base spirit - typically whiskey - and a majority of a carbonated mixer with ice. The regular highball in Japan is whiskey mixed with carbonated water. Some other common ones include coca cola highball and ginger ale highball. You can drink highballs at almost any restaurants and drinking establishments.

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These traditional, crispy, candied sweet potatoes are the perfect snack - they're cheap AND addicting! Imo Kenpi are a very common snack from Kochi Prefecture that are made by frying thin strips of sweet potatoes and coating them with sugar afterwards. They look like french fries but are crispier and sweeter. You can buy imo kenpi at select Japanese sweets shops or convenience stores. You can also try them on out tokyo food tour!

Photo Credit: Koichi City website

Japanese curry or Curry Rice is a widely popular dish in Japan. Basic Japanese curry consists of the curry sauce, potatoes, carrots, some kind of meat and onions inside. It was introduced by the British in the 1800s but has developed into its own unique Japanese style since then. Compared to Indian or Thai curry, Japanese curry is much thicker and sweeter. The sweetness comes from the caramelized onions, carrots and grated apples. Oftentimes, Indian and Thai curry are very spicy making it hard for children to eat, but as Japanese curry is a lot milder and sweeter, it’s very popular among children in Japan. Curry specialty stores can be found anywhere in Japan.

Photo Credit: Matcha JP

Kaisen Don is the combination of two words combined - kaisen means seafood and don is from donburi which means rice bowl - meaning a seafood rice bowl. Kaisen Don usually consists of a variety of different raw seafood over white rice. It’s not to be confused with chirashizushi which looks the same, except the rice is usually sushi rice meaning it's seasoned with vinegar. Kaisen Don restaurants and places like the Tsukiji Outer Market are popular places to get kaisen don.

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