Japanese Food
Paying Before You Sit Down
Buy the ticket, hand it over, sit and wait. Where the topping buttons hide, what kaedama costs, and why the machine wants cash far more often than cards.
Japan Know How archive
Category: Japanese Food
What is on the menu and how to order it without guessing: sushi versus sashimi, the umami question, regional ramen, convenience store food worth eating, and the dishes Americans think they know. Includes what to do about allergies and vegetarian eating in Japan.
Japanese Food
The Small Dish You Never Ordered and Must Pay For
Otoshi is a seat charge served as food, usually 300 to 500 yen a head. Why it is not a scam, how nomihodai timing works, and ordering in rounds.
Japanese Food
Ordering, Paying and the Rules Nobody States
Ticket machines, seat charges, no tipping, and paying at the register instead of the table. The systems behind a Japanese meal, venue by venue.
Japanese Food
Vegetarian, Vegan and Allergies in Japan
The problem is not the meat, it is the fish stock underneath almost everything. What is safe, what to ask, the eight allergens Japanese labels must declare, and where the law stops.
Japanese Food
Japanese Convenience Store Food: What to Buy
Three deliveries a day and a shelf life measured in hours. What to buy, how to open an onigiri without destroying it, and the six things a konbini does besides sell food.
Japanese Food
Regional Ramen Styles, and the Four Variables
Tonkotsu is a soup and shoyu is a seasoning, which is why tonkotsu shoyu is not a contradiction. Four independent variables, eight regional styles, and how to order.
Japanese Food
Sushi vs Sashimi: The Difference Is the Rice
Sushi is a word about rice, not about fish. Which is why a cucumber roll is sushi, a plate of raw tuna is not, and a seafood rice bowl still is not.
Japanese Food
Japanese Food for Beginners: How to Read a Menu
A Japanese menu lists techniques, not ingredients. Learn six characters and most of it explains itself - plus what to order first and how each kind of restaurant works.