Top 5 Japanese Dishes by Ido Fishman

Admit it, whenever you hear the name of the country Japan, the first thing that comes to your mind is Sushi or Ramen. This is exactly what comes to my mind and the majority of the people as well. Japan is one of the countries, which although becoming very advanced, is still sticking to its traditions.

When we talk about traditions, then one of the most prominent things about the Japanese culture is the food. Just like the rest, Japan is an extremely proud country when it comes to the food, the ingredients, and the methods that the people use in the country in order to prepare them. This is the reason why people from around the world want to visit the land of Japan and try out its unique and tasty food.

Ido Fishman’s Journey to Japan

For decades, many food lovers and food adventurers have set their compasses towards Japan in order to visit the country and find the best foods found there. This is exactly the kind of ambition that Ido Fishman Chef had. Although Ido Fishman is known to be one of the most promising chefs in European cuisines, he was always fond of trying out Japanese food.

The best part about his fondness and ambition was that he wanted to visit Japan in order to try the dishes there instead of visiting a local restaurant in Europe that offers Japanese cuisines. Finally, when the opportunity came, Ido Fishman visited Japan and experienced almost every dish that he could find. After a long trip to Japan, Ido Fishman was finally able to make a list of the top five dishes that are extremely popular and tasty in Japan.

Therefore, I am going to list the 5 dishes, which as per Ido Fishman are the top 5 ranked in the empire of the rising sun:

Udon

Udon is famously known among the Japanese people for its unique and thick noodles. It is one of the most traditional and extremely popular dishes in the country. The dough for the Udon noodles is the final product from saltwater mixed into the flour. Then the dough is well-kneaded only to be finely cut into beautiful and plan noodles.

After taking care of the first step, the newly made noodles are then boiled in the hot water. Then the Udon noodles can be put into a bowl and filled with soup or seafood broth soup. People also enjoy adding tempura to the Udon noodles in order to enhance the taste.

Onigiri

The term Onigiri means rice balls and is also one of the top dishes in Japan as per Ido Fishman. The traditional dish is also known by the more common name “Omusubi”. Although Onigiri may look like a ball of plain rice, most of the time, they come wrapped with nori seaweed sheets or have a savory filling inside of them.

Most of the families in Japan tend to add Onigiri in bento lunches. If you are in Japan, then you can easily find Onigiri at the supermarkets and convenience stores.

Soba

This particular dish comprises of noodles that are made from buckwheat flour. In order to prepare the noodles, the buckwheat flour is mixed with water and common flour. Then the dough made from the mixture is thinly spread. Once done, it is up to you whether you would want to make 1cm or 2cm wide noodles from the flour. Once the noodles are ready, they can be eaten either with hot soup or cold soup. The noodles also come with a unique broth that is made up of dried bonito broth or from kombu.

Then the broth is seasoned with mirin and soy sauce in order to fully ready the Soba and enjoy them hold or cold.

Unagi

In the English language, Unagi is called the eel fish that is mostly found in freshwaters such as rivers and streams. In the country of Japan, Unagi has a status of being the dish of high-class as it is one expensive dish. However, you can also find it at mediocre level restaurants that tend to mix them with many other dishes.

Most of the common restaurants in Japan serve Unagi at kabayaki. On the kabayaki, you can put the Unagi on skewers and can also grill it with the help of a unique sauce. This particular sauce is made from sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar.

Sashimi

Sashimi is another beautiful and unique dish that is eaten a lot by the Japanese people. If we compare it with Sushi, it is almost similar to it but it does not have rice with it. Sashimi is a fish that has been cut into fine pieces and these slices can be eaten quite easily.

The Sashimi fish can be found in any region of Japan so it is eaten by people all over Japan. Sashimi does not come in a single type. Similar to Sushi, Sashimi can also be found in a wide variety and some of the most popular fish include tuna and maguro.