30 Japanese-Inspired Recipes That Go Way Beyond Sushi

Yakitori (Japanese for "grilled chicken") is one of the oldest and most popular traditional Japanese dishes. Though you'll often find it served from flat tops by street vendors, yakitori is grilled skewers made from all parts of the chicken, including chicken breast, chicken thighs, hearts, and gizzards. Most yakitori places will offer two seasoning options: salt (shio) or yakitori sauce (tare). Tare is made of just four ingredients, soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar. It slightly resembles teriyaki sauce with both sweet and salty elements. You can add ginger and other ingredients, but in this case, minimalism is a great approach.

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When you’re craving something thick, hearty, and soul-soothing, there’s really nothing better than a Japanese curry. Unlike Thai or Indian curries that are thickened with yogurt or coconut milk, Japanese curry gets its richness from a deep, dark roux. Trust us, you’re going to want to serve this with something that can sop up the delicious sauce—try it over white or brown rice, udon noodles, or with thick slices from a hearty bread. Any of our katsu recipes—tofu katsu, Southern-fried catfish katsu, or chicken katsu—would also be nice served atop this curry.

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Making sushi at home can be intimidating, what with making sushi rice, rolling it up just right, and dealing with raw fish. With these baked salmon sushi cups, you can skip all that but still get all the flavors of your favorite roll. Baked in mini muffin tins, these also come together fast, making them perfect to eat for a quick lunch or to serve as a bite-sized app at your next party. Pro tip: To really do these right, use a Japanese mayonnaise—Kewpie is the brand most commonly found in the U.S. It’s got a touch more sweetness and a lot more umami than your regular mayo and is worth seeking out for this recipe.

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Simple, steamed edamame is an amazing snack that is nutritious and comes together really quickly. The little soybeans are endlessly poppable and are a fun, hands-on hors d'oeuvre (especially with the addition of our homemade chicken-salt).

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Mochi is a sweet, chewy rice treat that hails from Japan. Serve these small, sweet cakes with a matcha hot chocolate or simply green tea. Use your leftover glutinous rice flour to make tang yuan, Chinese glutinous rice balls served for Lunar New Year that are similar to mochi (and are delicious year-round).

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This hearty Japanese dinner comes complete with crispy sesame-panko-crusted tofu, tender vegetables, and a rich and flavorful curry sauce. For a quicker version, swap out the curry for some cold shredded green cabbage, along with some katsu sauce for dipping.

Get the Tofu Katsu Curry recipe.

Japanese chicken karaage is basically fried chicken, but with a twist. The word karaage (pronounced kah-raa-geh) refers to the Japanese method of frying, and there’s one main difference between it and other fried foods. If the meat is seasoned, then coated with flour, it's karaage. If the meat is coated with a seasoned flour, then it's fried chicken. Beyond the semantics, we love it because it’s a quick and easy way to jazz up one of our favorite foods, using ingredients you’re already using at home.

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Rainbow rolls include a lot of elements of traditional Japanese sushi—seasoned rice, raw fish, nori—but the composition is definitely Americanized. This inside-out roll (or uramaki) has rice on the outside, while the sheet of nori on the inside holds the avocado, cucumber, and crab in place. Top your rolls with sushi-grade fish, or get creative and try thinly sliced avocado, roasted red peppers, or smoked salmon.

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This cod recipe is an easy and healthy dinner that's ready in just 40 minutes. The cod and bok choy roast together, keeping things simple. Serve it with some rice or quinoa for a complete meal. The miso butter gets a little kick from sriracha and makes the fish flavor packed. It's an umami rich meal that couldn't be easier–and that's always what we want with a weeknight dinner.

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Castella cake, simply referred to as castella, is an impossibly airy and light Japanese sponge cake flavored with honey. It’s humble—never decorated, always loaf-shaped—and so simple. It uses just six ingredients: bread flour, eggs, sugar, honey, and a dash of milk with a pinch of salt.

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Braised pork belly, aka a little slice of heaven, is the star in this amazing homemade ramen. Making ramen from scratch is pretty darn elaborate, but we promise your patience will be more than rewarded.

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A riff on chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s famous miso-glazed cod, these scallops are our new date night go-to. Though they feel kinda fancy, but they’re so easy to make (and so hard to screw up) that they're the perfect thing to serve when we’re in the mood to impress. Put them out as a poppable appetizer for a party, or make it a full meal and serve with steamed rice, simply cooked bok choy, and a salad dressed with carrot ginger dressing. For dessert, follow up with homemade mochi or green tea ice cream.

Get the Air Fryer Miso-Glazed Scallops recipe.

In restaurants, spicy tuna sushi rolls usually involve raw, sushi-grade fish. But if raw fish is out of reach, this recipe uses humble canned tuna. That’s not to say you can’t use the basic skeleton of this recipe for raw tuna if you can find it—just substitute in sushi-grade fish, finely chopped, and proceed onward!

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Okonomiyaki is a Japanese cabbage pancake blanketed with toppings. The batter is so simple–eggs, flour, baking powder, and good old S&P. It’s traditionally flavored with dashi, an essential base stock used in Japanese cooking made of kombu (dried kelp) and bonito (dried fish) flakes. A generous amount of sliced cabbage is folded into the batter to start, but it doesn't stop there. There are also the add-ons for both flavor and texture: pork belly, ground pork, bacon, shrimp, squid, octopus, or cheese. Either fold them into the batter or layer them on top right after spreading the batter into the hot pan.

Get the Okonomiyaki: Japanese Cabbage Pancake recipe.

Japanese soufflé pancakes are an undoubtedly tough breakfast treat to master but with a combination of technique, zen-like patience and a dash of luck, you’ll be snacking on these pillowy confections in no time. Top them with anything you would add to your favorite American-style pancakes, French toast, waffles, etc. Fresh fruit, whipped cream, and powdered sugar are the most traditional options, but feel free to get creative with your favorite chocolatey (melted Nutella), crunchy (candied nuts), creamy (sweetened, whipped mascarpone) combinations!

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Get ready for your next food obsession. Mochi donuts, also called pon de ring donuts, are a crispy, springy, sweet treat that combines the chewy texture of Japanese mochi with the crispy fried goodness of the American donut. Though its origins are in Hawaii, these adorable and shareable donuts were popularized by Mister Donut, a chain in Japan. We took this recipe one step further by dipping some of them in a matcha-hazelnut glaze you'll want to put on everything.

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Chirashizushi (ちらし寿司) translates to "scattered sushi" and is a style of sushi that entails exactly what the name suggests: pieces of sashimi over sushi rice. Chirashizushi—or chirashi bowls—is probably the simplest way to enjoy what you love about sushi without having to learn how to roll maki.

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Crispy and tender, fried fish sandwiches have nothing on these crispy shrimp katsu burgers. Inspired by a popular sandwich at a Japanese chain called Lotteria, you may have even spied these (also known as ebi katsu) at several McDonald's internationally or in restaurants across the US. The patty is made with chopped shrimp and is coated in panko bread crumbs that give the burger a deliciously crunchy coating. Serve them with French fries and follow with an ice-cold milkshake.

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This starring dish is shrimp tempura roll, which is stuffed with avocado and battered jumbo shrimp that are fried until crisp perfection. The shrimp is slightly sweet and nicely dense, the avocado is super-soft and rich, and the rice is mixed with vinegar, sugar, and salt for a base that enhances all the flavors. It’s a classic for a reason!

Get the Shrimp Tempura Rolls recipe.

You haven't had tempura at its best until you've had it freshly fried. This simple batter is totally worth deep frying in your home kitchen. We love serving them with a punchy, garlicky mayo for dipping, but all you really need is a squeeze of lemon. (P.S. this works for way more than just veggies—shrimp would also be killer.)

Get the Classic Tempura Batter recipe.