|
|
|
|---|
Yes, the food in Japan may be very different to what you are used to, but with a little experimentation and an open mind, you are sure to discover a least a few favourite Japanese dishes you simply cannot live without; most leaving JETs are pretty frustrated that they won't be able to eat some of the things in their home countries that they have come to really enjoy in Japan. Common Japanese favourites include: okonomiyaki (pancake with noodles, cabbage, pork, egg, beansprouts and okonomiyaki sauce all cooked on a hotplate), ramen (Chinese noodles in various soups), yakitori (marinated, baked, skewered chicken) and yakisoba (noodles fried with various fish, meats and vegetables), but there are hundreds of other tasty dishes you can have fun trying.
Fish and rice are the two staple foods of the Japanese diet. Rice is served with almost every meal and fish is a favourite main part of many dishes, sometimes being slipped into the most unlikely of foods (pizza, spaghetti etc). Japanese rice is a lot stickier than the Indian or Chinese rice that most foreigners are used to, but it soon becomes an indispensable part of most meals. Fish is served in many meals, both cooked and raw. By the way, contrary to popular belief, sushi is actually a kind of vinegared rice. It is often (but not always) served with raw fish, which is why many foreigners think of sushi as raw fish itself. In fact, raw fish alone is called sashimi.
If either rice or fish repulse you or bring you out in rashes then you may find things a little more difficult, but otherwise it is usually a diet change that you will learn to live with and probably love. In the beginning, if you are unused to Japanese food, then everything will probably "taste like fish" but all in all your tastes will change so that the revolting stuff from your first two weeks might eventually become your staple afternoon snack.
If you are a vegetarian or have other special dietary requirements, you may find things will be a little tough going until you get acquainted with how to find what you need, as the concept of and reasoning behind vegetarianism is largely not understood in Japan. If you are planning on sticking to a strict vegetarian diet, here are some useful phrases.
I'm a vegetarian.
Watashi wa saishoku shugi desu.
I don't eat meat.
Niku o tabemasen.
I don't eat seafood.
Kai san butsu o tabemasen.
Is there any meat in this?
Kono naka ni niku o haitemasu ka.
Do you have any vegetarian meals?
Saishoku shugi no ryouri wa arimasu ka.
In Japan, seafood is not classed as meat, so you should specify this separately.