3 Popular Japanese Street Food You should try!

The most famous Japanese food worldwide would definitely Sushi. However we do not eat Sushi all the time. There are tons of unique and delicious Japanese food that we ear every day, which are not as known as Sushi.

I would like to start with introducing my favorite everyday Japanese street food which you can find in every town.

1. Gyudon

Gyudon is a bowl of shredded beef cooked in soya-based sauce on bed of rice. This is probably No.1 fast food in Japan, as you can find Gyudon shops almost everywhere in cities in Japan - Thanks to Yoshino-ya and Matsu-ya :)

These Gyudon shops serve the dishes very quickly, so it is popular for busy people to grab a bowl for quick lunch. It is definitely not the kind of place where you can enjoy your lunch elegantly - this is why I call it street food.

2. Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake. It is made with flour and egg batter, cabbage, and anything you like for toppings. The popular topping are shrimps, squid, pork slices, but you can even add food like cheese or mochi (Japanese sticky rice cake).

All ingredients are mixed and cooked on a griddle. In many Okonomiyaki eateries, an iron griddle is embedded on each table, and the cook makes Okonomiyaki in front of you - or you can make it yourself.

I enjoy going to small Okonomiyaki eateries with some friends, where we can cook Okonomiyaki by ourselves. It is such a fun to cook together and share different flavors of Okonomiyaki. 

3. Yakitori

I never met any foreign visitor to Japan who did not enjoy Yakitori dishes (of course, except vegetarians).

Yakitori is a chicken skewer - bite-sized chicken meat on a skewer grilled on charcoal fire. The chicken is dipped into soya-based, a little sweet sauce a few times while it's being cooked. You can also have it simply with salt as well.

Yakitori is one of the most popular dish at Izakaya (Japanese style pubs), and you can often find them in street markets as well. I recommend to try ones at small Izakayas where they grill Yakitori in front of you.