Japanese food guide

New to Japanese food? Learn what to buy, how to cook it, and where to find it in store.

1. Explore

Discover the cuisine and where to find it in our stores

2. Buy

What to pick from the shelves and why

3. Cook

Simple ways to use what you bought

Start here

START HERE · 3 MIN READ

Your first Japanese pantry: 7 things to buy

Seven staples that cover most everyday Japanese home cooking, what each one does, and how to use it.

Read the guide

All guides

BUY · 3 MIN READ

Japanese noodles: ramen, udon, soba and yakisoba

COOK · 3 MIN READ

Sushi at home: what to buy and how to start

Food and culture

One soup, three sides

A traditional home meal is ichiju-sansai: rice, one soup (often miso) and three small dishes. Washoku is on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

Slurping is fine

Slurping hot noodles cools them down and is seen as enjoying your food, not bad manners.

Soba on New Year’s Eve

Many families eat toshikoshi soba (“year-crossing noodles”) on 31 December. The long noodles stand for a long life.

At the table

Say “itadakimasu” before you eat.
Don’t pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks, or stand them upright in rice: both are linked to funerals.
Dip nigiri fish-side down in soy sauce, so the rice doesn’t fall apart.
Rest chopsticks on the holder or across your bowl when you pause.

Before and after the meal

いただきますitadakimasu“I humbly receive”: said before a meal

ごちそうさまでしたgochisōsama deshita“Thank you for the meal”: said after

Taste of the regions

HokkaidoMiso ramen

KagawaSanuki udon

OsakaOkonomiyaki and takoyaki

KyotoTofu and kaiseki

FukuokaHakata tonkotsu ramen

Seigaiha, the overlapping “blue sea waves” pattern, is a traditional sign of calm and good fortune.

Say it right

Five words you’ll see on the shelves, with how to say them.

Shoyu醤油Soy sauce“show-yoo”

MirinみりんSweet rice seasoning“mee-rin”

DashiだしJapanese soup stock“dah-shee”

Miso味噌Fermented soybean paste“mee-so”

Pankoパン粉Japanese breadcrumbs“pan-ko”