Dining in Japan

Ask an American to describe Japanese food and you are likely to hear two things; sushi and Benihana's.  That is about all we get in the States, and the former scares most people off.  After all, who in their right mind would want to eat a raw fish?  Well, as it turns out, a lot of people, and I do include myself in that group - with some qualifications.

A pretty typical dinner from my hotel in Tachikawa - Sashimi, rice, tempura, Japanese pickles, custard, and miso soup.

But what is real Japanese cooking?  Well for starters, the Benihana-style restaurant known as "Teppanyaki" where the food is prepared in front of you by a knife juggling, wise cracking chef is really quite rare.  I have  only seen one of these during my travels in Japan, and that was in a hotel catering to westerners.

What I do see commonly are specialty restaurants; selling mainly Sushi and Sashimi for example, others selling primarily noodle dishes like Ramen, Soba or Udon, other restaurants for Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu.

Tachikawa sushi bar at lunch time

 Confused by the names?  Here is a guide:

Fish
In my opinion, the Japanese do fish as well as anyone, and some fish is clearly better raw than cooked - Salmon and Tuna especially

Sashimi - Raw fish served on its own -usually dipped in soy sauce with wasabi.

Sushi - Often made with raw or cooked seafood, but sometimes with vegetables and always with rice

Sushi box lunch purchased at the station for my bullet train ride to Kobe

Noodles

Ramen - way better than the instant variety

Soba Noodles - made from buckwheat - supposed to be healthy

Udon Noodles - very thick and soft

Dipped stuff

Sukiyaki - Like hotpot but you simmer your food in a sweet soy sauce and broth mixture - lots of thin sliced beef, vegetables and tofu

Shabu Shabu - Like sukiyaki, but the broth is different - not as sweet

Fried Stuff

Tempura - dipped in a light batter, cooked in very hot oil - not greasy

I know I am just scratching the surface here, so I promise I will keep digging...