Japanese food?!
Japanese food?
For my birthday, I'm going to a Japanese resturant! What are some really great dishes you people recommend...that are not Sushi.....^^
Answers: Domburimono
These dishes consist of a bowl (domburi) of rice covered with one of a variety of toppings such as boiled beef (gyudon), chicken and egg (oyakodon), deep-fried shrimp (tendon) or deep-fried pork cutlet and egg (katsudon). They are often eaten as part of a reasonably priced 'lunch set', with miso soup and pickles.
Tempura
Seafood or vegetables dipped in batter and deep-fried, tempura is served with a dipping sauce and daikon. The word 'tempura' comes from the Portuguese 'tempero' (gravy or sauce) and this dish dates from the mid-16th century, when Portuguese and Spanish culture was first introduced to Japan. Tempura can be served with a side bowl of rice and soup or on a bowl of rice (tendon) or noodles (tempura udon, tempura soba).
Sukiyaki
This is a savoury stew of vegetables and beef cooked in a large nabe and dipped in a bowl of beaten raw egg. The vegetables usually used are green onion, shiitake mushrooms and chrysanthemum leaves (shungiku). Also added are tofu and gelatinous noodles (shirataki) and the ingredients are cooked in a sauce made of soy sauce, sugar and sweet cooking sake (mirin).
Shabushabu
For this dish, diners dip paper-thin slices of beef in a pot of boiling water and stock for a few seconds and then dip the cooked beef in sesame sauce (goma dare) before eating. Later, vegetables such as enoki mushrooms and Chinese cabbage, tofu and shirataki are added. When cooked, these are dipped in a soy and citrus sauce (ponzu). After the beef and vegetables have been finished, udon can be added to the pot and eaten with the broth. Other flavorings used include crushed garlic, chives and daikon. Economical (for those with a big appetite) all-you-can-eat meals are common in Shabushabu restaurants. Teriyaki, Tempura, lots of things- it's all good! hmmm, steak. i like rolls. in particular the lobster roll with shrimp and lobster wrapped with salmon and rice and something else im not quite sure about but its crunchy...heh heh...uhhh some saki...and those dumplings are the **** too. all that with a soup or salad...cant get much better...except thai. It depends on the restaurant. Most Japanese food is really good, but depending on your location and the season, certain things might taste best in that particular restaurant. Also, the chef might have a specialty. Ask the server what the chef's specialties are and if anything is in season or if there is anything that the restaurant is known for. It's usually quite a treat to eat whatever the chef makes. I've had lots of chef's surprises before. This might sound like lame advice, but sukiyaki might be wonderful at one restaurant and lame at the next. I went to a Mexican restaurant in the midwest once that used crepes instead of tortillas and ketchup instead of salsa. Especially with ethnic foods there are lots of ways to make them, so find out what the chef is good at and you'll have a wonderful birthday. (Happy birthday, by the way!) Tongatsu -- pork with a fruit like sauce
Shabu shabu -- thin steak poached at the table with noodles and vegetables.
Oh, really, you can't go wrong. If the menu has pictures see what looks good. Don't be afraid to get information from your wait person. Japanese food is the best in the world. It really is. There are lots of non sushi items usually.
If you like chicken, then yakatori is good, and so is teriyaki anything. Tempura is great if you don't mind deep fried stuff. Also, you may enjoy Miso soup, sunomono (thinly sliced cucumbers) and also tonkatsu (pork coated in panko and fried)
Whatever you decide to get, I bet you will like it.
Happy Birthday!! PooPoo Plater to start with. Two of everything:
egg rolls, pot stickers, crab rangoon, chicken on a stick, and sometimes chicken wings with teryaki sauce. (this might be Chinese) Miso Soup
I personally don't like it, but you may. First of all, you may not know that not all sushi is raw fish. That's sashimi. There are veggie sushis and ones that are made with cooked and/or smoked fish. Those are the ones I eat, and I LOVE them.
If you really don't want to try those, there are tons of other options. Teriyaki is pretty tame. It's basically meat or fish that is brushed w/ a slightly sweet soybased sauce and grilled. yaki soba are noodles with a really great sauce. Tempura is some of the best fried food out there. There are other things as well. Now if you are going to one of the japanese grill resturants that have the floor show with all the flames, you aren't going to have to worry about most of this. It's going to be grilled meat or fish or chicken with a huge mound of rice and veggies. I'm not a big fan of the food they make during those floor shows, but those flames sure are impressive. LOL
Here are a few links to articles about japanese food...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/japanese_cu...
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e620.html...
One thing to remember if you are new to Japanese resturants. DO NOT EAT THE WAD OF GREEN STUFF that comes with sushi. It's HOT!! I mean really hot. Starts out as a slow burn, but it will make you feel like your sinuses are on fire if you eat a lump of it by itself. So don't do it. It's a trick lots of people play on newbies at Japanese places, know better than to eat the wasabi by itself. It's wonderful in small doses with the sushi, but by itself it's really bad. Gyoza are never a wrong choice. They're like potstickers, but steam fried generally. Chicken yakitori
Teriyaki anything
Udon
Tempura Why not Sushi? It not raw fish you know Sushi refers to the rice. Sashmi is the raw fish, But there is Tampura and Terrakki. FYI, not all sushi contains raw fish. There are lots of types of sushi which include cooked seafood and/or veggies. Take a good look at the menu so you don't miss out on some good stuff. If you like ramen, you'll love udon, which is a noodle soup made of thick rice noodles and broth with veggies and/or meat. Tempura is fried veggies, and those are good for dipping in sauce. I love fried oysters with a sqeeze of lemon. Agedashi tofu...... deep fried silken tofu, served with a really tasty sweet/salty sauce!