It’s very hot when summer comes sowhat do you eat in the summer in Japan? Find out in this article:
- Summer meals in Japan
- Soramame and edamame for aperitif
- Nasu, Japanese eggplant
- Ume, Japanese plum
- Maguro, tuna
- Katsuo, tuna’s cousin fish
- Ayu, fresh water fish
- Kakigori, crushed ice
- Hiyashi chuka, cold ramen
Summer meals in Japan
Summer in Japan is a season when it is very hot and humid. June starts with a rainy season and then in July and August, the heat invades the country. Most summer foods are salty, vinegary and light to refresh and stimulate the appetite. What do we eat in summer in Japan?
Soramame and edamame for aperitif
When summer arrives, Japanese people gather in bars izakaya to enjoy bowls of soramame (flat bean) and edamame (soy bean) with japanese beer. These legumes are simply salted after cooking. They are crunchy, delicious and above all very good for the health.
Nasu, Japanese eggplant
The popular summer dish is shigi yaki, which consists of grilling half of a nasu eggplant and covering it with neri miso (a sweet and spicy miso cooked with sugar, ginger and sake and ginger). It is important to know that the nasu is a Japanese eggplant, it is much thinner and smaller than the one we know in France.
The ume, Japanese plum
June is the month ofume, Japanese plums. Indeed, the harvest is intense, plums are used to make umeshu (plum alcohol) and the less green ones are used to make umeboshi (salted plums that we can find in many dishes such as onigiri, rice ball). This alcohol is made by many Japanese people at home.
Maguro, the tuna
Maguro means tuna, this fish is very popular as sashimi and sushi. Another popular dish made with maguro is yamakake. This dish consists of cutting the raw tuna into small square pieces, topping them with yamaimo sauce (a mixture of yam, soy sauce, wasabi) The whole thing is sprinkled with strips of nori (seaweed). This dish also exists in donburi(yamakake-don), which means that a bowl of rice is integrated under the yamakake. Photo source
Katsuo, the fish cousin of tuna
The most popular dish in summer is katsuo no tataki. Katsuo (tuna’s cousin) is cut into 5 pieces, pierced with metal spikes and then quickly flambéed. These pieces are then soaked in ice water for a short time to stop the cooking process and finally sliced. This dish is accompanied by wasabi, fine onions and daikon. This dish is accompanied by wasabi, fine onions and ginger.
The Ayu, freshwater fish
Ayu is a freshwater fish similar to trout eaten in late spring and mid-summer (June to late July). This fish is a delicacy and is eaten just grilled and salted with tadezu sauce, a spicy dressing Ayu like koi is an important symbol in Japanese culture as it is a fish that swims upstream, going against the current of rapids and waterfalls. This symbol is often associated with children to hope for their growth and development. Waka ayu (young ayu) or also called ayugashi is a very popular confectionery at the beginning of summer. Waka-ayu looks more or less like ayu fish. The body is made of a waffle-like pancake and it is stuffed. The eyes, mouth, gills and fins are marked on the waffle with a hot iron. A video of SweetTales ‘ waka ayu:
Kakigori, crushed ice
The Kakigori is a very light Japanese shaved ice that you will find only in summer in Japan. It is a refreshing ice cream flavored with fruit syrups most often.
Hiyashi chuka, cold ramen
Hiyashi chuka is a Japanese dish consisting of a plate of ramen topped with fresh toppings such as cucumbers, ham, tomatoes, carrots, thin slices of tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette)… Fresh and colorful, Japanese people can’t do without ramen even in summer!
Despite the stifling heat of summer in Japan, all these dishes will delight your palate and enhance your stay!
