Street Food Japan

29 Japanese Street Foods

posted by John Spacey, June 15, 2009 updated on June 29, 2015

Each year Japan holds more than 100,000 festivals and events. One of the charming features of Japanese events is the traditional street food vendors that appear in great numbers offering both sweets and savory snacks.

Most street food vendors, known as yatai in Japanese, follow an event circuit around Japan. While yatai can be found independently of events, its somewhat rare. Many Japanese cities don't have much street food at all. Exceptions do exist, for example the Nakasu district of Fukuoka is known for its street food.

Most Japanese street food is based on old classics that have been around since the early 20th century or longer. In many cases, these foods aren't sold by regular restaurants. In other cases, the foods are available at restaurants but somehow taste different from street vendors. It's common for vendors to offer extremely salty, sweet and flavorful versions of snacks. Classic Japanese street foods include:

1. Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki are savory Japanese pancakes. They are traditionally prepared to use up leftovers at home. The matsuri version is usually packed with filling items such as thick cut bacon.

2. Watame

American carnival classics such as cotton candy (watame) and candy apples are matsuri favorites. Yatai cotton candy comes wrapped in a plastic bag decorated with jpop bands or popular cartoon characters.

3. Yaki Imo

Yaki Imo are baked sweet potatoes cooked over a wood fire. Yaki Imo trucks and carts fitted with wood stoves can be found all over the Japan. The trucks may drive around slowly repeating "yaki imo ... yaki imo ... yaki imo" on a loudspeaker. This is either annoying or charming depending on your outlook. Most people become nostalgic about them. They are an aspect of old Japan that's quickly fading into the past.

4. Crepes

It's difficult to imagine how many crepe shops there might be in Japan. Certainly over 10,000. Many are trucks or street stalls. Crepe shops are usually surrounded by high school girls seriously contemplating the vast menu.

5. Imagawayaki

Imagawayaki resemble a thick-pancake with a filling of red bean paste, custard, cheese, meat, potatoes or curry. They are known by more than 20 different names depending on region of Japan, type and brand name.

6. Nikuman

Nikuman is the Japanese name for Chinese Baozi dumplings filled with pork.

7. Ikayaki

Grilled squid.

8. Bento

Japanese business districts attract bento yatai. They open for an hour or two at lunch on business days. The best of them sell out in 10 or 15 minutes.

This is a tough business that depends on loyal customers. Tokyo office workers are thinking about lunch all morning. They're looking for something spectacularly tasty.

There is intense competition for their business from restaurants, convenience stores and yatai. Word of mouth spreads. A bento yatai with a good reputation will enjoy a long line of customers each business day.

9. Onsen Tamago

Onsen tamago are eggs that have been cooked by a natural onsen hot spring. The slow cooking process gives the egg a texture like custard. It's typically served in dashi and soy sauce.

10. Jaga Bata

Baked potato with skin peeled topped with butter.

11. Tomorokoshi

Corn grilled with miso, butter and soy sauce on a stick.

12. Japanese Curry Rice

Japan is obsessed with mild curry similar to a spicy gravy. It's a staple of the Japanese diet. It's common to eat it twice a week.

13. Choco Banana

Banana coated in chocolate and sprinkles on a stick.

14. Taiyaki

Fish shaped cakes filled with custard, chocolate or cheese.

15. Ramen

Fukuoka is known for its many excellent ramen noodle yatai.

16. Takoyaki

Savory ball-shaped pancakes with octopus at the center topped with mayonnaise, ginger pickles and fermented fish flakes.

17. Yakisoba

Fried wheat noodles with pork in a thick, sweet sauce.

18. Shioyaki

Baked fish, often mackerel, on a stick. Saltier than salt itself.

19. Bebi Kasutera

Kasutera is a Japanese sponge cake inspired by Portuguese Pao de Castela. Bebi Kasutera are the bite sized or "baby" version of this popular cake.

20. Oden

Oden is a winter dish of meats, fish and vegetable items stewed in a light broth for a very long time. Good for warming up on a cold night. Oden yatai are often surprisingly lively.

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Yakitori (Japanese: 焼き鳥) is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. Its preparation involves skewering the meat with kushi (串), a type of skewer typically made of steel, bamboo, or similar materials. Afterwards, they are grilled over a charcoal fire. During or after cooking, the meat is typically seasoned with tare sauce or salt.^[1]

Yakitori as street food, with salty and sweet sauce

Preparation[edit]

As they are designed for convenience and portability, yakitori are typically cooked using step-by-step methods. Traditionally, it was accomplished using portable charcoal grills. That is the method most often employed by yatai, however, restaurants may use stationary grills and, depending on the situation, higher quality binchōtan charcoal.

At home, appliances known as takujō konro (卓上コンロ, "mini griller")^[2] or yakitori-ki (焼き鳥器, "yakitori device") are used. Yakitori-ki are small electrical appliances that use a heating element similar to that of a broiler or toaster to cook the food placed on top.

Several yakitori in food court areas

Yakitori are sold at sports matches

To facilitate even cooking, the meat is cut into small, roughly uniform shapes and then skewered with kushi; after which the yakitori are seasoned and cooked. Charcoal is the preferred method of cooking as it produces high heat and strong flames while giving off little to no water vapor. This allows for the ingredients to cook quickly while imparting a crunchy texture to the skin. While gas and electric heat sources can be used, they do not develop the same aromas or textures as charcoal-cooked yakitori.

Seasoning[edit]

Yakitori seasonings are primarily divided into two types: salty or salty-sweet. The salty type usually uses plain salt as its main seasoning. For the salty-sweet variety, tare, a special sauce consisting of mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar is used. Other common spices include powdered cayenne pepper, shichimi, Japanese pepper, black pepper, and wasabi, according to one's tastes.

Sales[edit]

Yakitori-ya (焼き鳥屋) are small shops specializing in yakitori. They usually take the form of a compact shop offering take-out services only,^[3] but sit-down restaurants and restaurant chains are also popular.^[1]

Yakitori is not limited to speciality shops: It is readily found on the menus of izakaya all across Japan and is sold pre-cooked, as frozen vacuum packs, or even canned. The latter was made popular by Hotei Foods Corporation, the first company that started selling yakitori-in-can in 1970,^[4] with nine flavors as of 2016. Their TV commercial song has been iconic to their brand name.^[5]

Due to its ease of preparation and portability, yakitori is a very popular street food, often sold from small carts and stalls known as yatai. Yatai are found, among other places, dotting streets during festivals or on heavily trafficked routes during the evening commute where customers enjoy beer and sake with yakitori.^[6]

Examples[edit]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (June 2010)

Due to a wide diversity in cuts and preparation methods,^[1] yakitori takes on many forms. Some popular examples include: