Weird Japanese Foods: The Top 10!

While Japanese food is undoubtedly delicious and popular worldwide, some questionable dishes aren’t popular with people from other countries.

We usually bring you news about delicious Japanese snacks and themed cafes! Today, however, we’re back with something completely different! You can read about the top 10 weird Japanese foods in this blog post!

1. Natto

Natto is a famous Japanese dish made of fermented soybeans. It is incredibly healthy, and many Japanese people like to eat it for any meal, usually in combination with rice. Still, it is a common ingredient in sushi or ramen!

The texture of this dish is ねばねば (nebaneba) in Japanese, which means “sticky.” While this is a familiar texture in Japanese food, most people from western countries have probably never tried something even remotely similar! Therefore it’s well-known that most non-Japanese people hate it for its sticky texture, awful smell, and bitter taste.

2. Basashi (horse meat)

Basashi is thinly sliced horse meat in sashimi! It is a specialty from Kumamoto Prefecture and is available in several restaurants and sushi places all over Japan!

In many European countries, people see horses as companions and wouldn’t even consider eating them. This is not the case in Japan. Many Japanese people love horse meat, especially together with soy sauce and garlic.

It is commonly referred to as Sakura Niku (cherry blossom meat) due to the vibrant color of the meat when it is freshly cut and the time of year when it is in season and tastes best.

Another reason for the unique naming comes from the Edo period in Japan when eating horse meat was not permitted, so sakura niku was used as a secret term. Other common ways to consume horse meat include Sakura Nabe (horse meat hot pot) and even Sakura Natto (horse meat with natto)!

3. Shirako

Shirako is a delicacy in Japan, and it’s available at restaurants and more expensive supermarkets. Upon first glance, it may appear a little odd, but it is only when you discover what it is that many people lose their appetite.

Shirako is a fish’s sperm sack! The texture is soft and creamy, like pudding, and it doesn’t have that much flavor. It is a versatile dish that can be raw, fried, steamed, or topped.

4. Goya

Goya is officially a bitter melon, but many people consider it a vegetable because of its bitter taste. You would mostly find it in Okinawa, an island in the South of Japan rather than in the North. This vegetable is extremely healthy and can lower blood sugar, but like most weird Japanese foods, it’s an acquired taste!

Looking to try out more exciting food? Check out TokyoTreat! TokyoTreat delivers limited-edition Japanese noodles, snacks, drinks, and sweets right to your door so you can enjoy the latest treats directly from Japan!

5. Raw chicken sashimi

While eating raw chicken is an absolute no-go in Europe and America, raw chicken is ubiquitous at restaurants and Japanese izakaya bars in Japan. It usually has some lemon on the side, and the texture resembles fish sashimi.

Upon hearing of this dish, many people’s first reaction is to avoid this at all costs because of the dangers of salmonella. Why, then, is this dish reasonably typical in Japan? To reduce the risk of eating raw chicken, the chicken sashimi comes from the inner breast of the chicken, which carries a lower risk of salmonella contamination.

Many restaurants serving this dish also source the chicken from small farms to ensure the chickens are fresh and high quality to further reduce the risk of salmonella poisoning. Nevertheless, there is still a slight risk of salmonella contamination, so proceed cautiously!

6. Mentaiko

Mentaiko, pollock roe, is the internal egg mass of the pollock fish. It has a very distinctive taste that is salty and sometimes spicy. This dish originated in Korea and came to Japan around WWII. Since then, it has become a ubiquitous side dish, but it’s also in onigiri, pasta, or as a sauce.

7. Motsunabe

Motsunabe is a type of “nabe” or Japanese hot pot comparable to a stew. Nabe is a typical dish served in the cold winter months and is essentially a mixture of ingredients simmered in one big pot of stew.

For motsunabe, a soup base of soy sauce and miso combines with cabbage, garlic chives, and tofu. The main ingredient is beef innards! The beef innards are very soft and chewy; they melt in your mouth like snow, which is rare for weird Japanese foods!

8. Whale meat (kujira)

Whale meat is another Japanese delicacy that can help fight dementia. Contrary to many other countries that ban whaling, commercial whaling still occurs in Japan.

Many Japanese people are not as opposed to the consumption of whale meat. While it is no longer a staple in the Japanese diet, it is still available in some restaurants. As whales are mammals, the taste is similar to land animals rather than fish.

9. Horumon or Horumonyaki

We see a trend in weird Japanese foods with exciting and unique Japanese dishes! Here is another one for you: horumonyaki. Horumonyaki is basically barbecued or fried innards. In many western countries, where consuming innards is not very common, this part of the animal is left as scraps or given to the dog.

However, Japanese people are not opposed to eating innards. In horumonyaki, a mixture of small and big intestines and stomachs of several animals are fried on the barbecue to make what is commonly referred to as a “stamina-building” food.

10. Nankotsu (chicken cartilage)

Similarly to consuming innards, many people in the west wouldn’t consider eating cartilage, but in Japan, people love it! It is crunchy and feels like you’re eating a bone. Since it doesn’t have a strong flavor, it is probably the texture people enjoy most. Cartilage is often found in izakayas (Japanese bars) and yakitori (fried chicken) restaurants.

Have you ever tried any of these weird Japanese foods, and did you like them? Is there a dish you wouldn’t eat for a million bucks? Let us know in the comments!