Japan’s street food has been around for a long time, and the country often has big festivals where tasty warm foods are served. Some of these foods are available at stores across Osaka at any time of the year. Check out some of our top recommendations for things that are a must-do while you’re in Japan.
Osaka is widely regarded as one of Japan’s most important centers for gastronomy, and the city’s food streets are consistently noisy and crowded. Osaka is more than just a gorgeous tourist destination since the locals know how to captivate guests with many tempting meals.
1. Takoyaki
Takoyaki is made with a batter made from wheat flour and filled with small pieces of octopus, pickled ginger, and green onion. The most important thing about authentic Osaka takoyaki is that the dough is made with dashi soup. Usually, takoyaki is topped with dried bonito flakes, mayonnaise, and takoyaki sauce. However, people in Osaka like their takoyaki lightly salted, which is said to help bring out the flavors of the ingredients.
2. Kushikatsu
In Japan, kushiage, or seasoned meat skewered and grilled on a stick, is called “kushikatsu” or “kushiage.” The skewers are Kushi, while katsu is a deep-fried beef cutlet. Kushikatsu can be cooked with various ingredients, including chicken, pork, fish, and even fresh seasonal vegetables in a variety of shapes and forms. They are deep-fried in vegetable oil and served on bamboo skewers after being coated with egg and panko breadcrumbs. They’re a tasty snack either by themselves or with a tonkatsu sauce. Osaka’s Shinsekai area is renowned for its street food offerings, including this dish.
3. Taiko-Manju
Taiko-Manju is a kind of baked sweet from Japan. It is made by mixing flour, eggs, and sugar into a batter and baking it in a steel or copper drum-shaped mould with steamed bean paste. The word “taiko” means “drum,” so it makes sense that the shape looks like a drum. They are called “Ohban-yaki” or “Kaiten-yaki” or “Imagawa-yaki” in other parts of Japan.
4. Mitarashi-Dango
Mitarashi-Dango is a popular snack in Tokyo, and it’s easy to see why. Sticky-sweet soy sauce coats the skewers of newly grilled sticky rice dumplings, giving them a deep, caramelized charred flavor that is the ideal counterpoint to the sweetness. Kiyasu Sohonpo, a wagashi (traditional sweet shop) with a little takeaway stall outside the restaurant, is a popular choice.
5. Long Soft Cream
The “Long Soft cream” could be the most Instagrammable street food item in Osaka. Soft-serve ice cream is piled up about 40cm high in a single cone to make a dessert that you have to slurp down carefully or fall on the floor.
6. Tako Tamago – Octopus Egg
The Tako Tamago is another octopus-based dish that you may enjoy. Tako (octopus) and Tamago (egg) are both Japanese words. Instead of an octopus egg, we’ve got an egg from the poultry family, the quail family, nestled inside of red-glazed baby octopuses.
According to legend, Tako Tamago is said to have its origins at Kyoto’s Nishiki Market. A popular street food snack in Kansai marketplaces, this dish now has a cult following.
Osaka’s Kuromon Ichiba Market is one of the best places in the city to eat street cuisine, and these octopus sticks are no exception.
7. Yakiniku
Cooking meat over an open fire and serving it with a sauce is known as yakiniku. It is comparable to an indoor version of a self-service barbeque, except that only meat is done. It is not similar to a steak in any way. It is reported that a Korean resident of Osaka was the one who started the trend. Thus you may consider it a dish that was first prepared in Osaka even though its roots are in Korea. Tsuruhashi, located in Osaka, is currently the epicenter of the largest Korean town in the Kansai region.
8. Okonomiyaki
Osaka natives have been making Okonomiyaki or Japanese pancakes since the 1930s. It’s called “grilled as you like” in Japanese and is frequently made with Japanese restaurants’ shredded cabbage, prawns, octopus, and squid.
Due to a lack of rice following World War II in Japan, the dish became more popular. Because it was less expensive, Okonomiyaki was a great fallback option.
A unique brown sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and powdered nori seaweed are served alongside the cooked pancakes. In the Kansai style, Nanaimo, a long yam, is commonly used, and the dish is cooked on a teppan.
9. Torikara
Torikara is similar to Karaage, a well-known deep-fried chicken dish, but it is not the same. Even though both recipes call for flouring chicken pieces and then deep-frying them in hot oil, Karaage uses chicken thighs, and Torikara uses chicken breasts.
Also, chefs in Osaka often serve Torikara on skewers. Each skewer might have three pieces of Fried Chicken on it. On occasion, you’ll also get French fries with this delicious food.
10. Yaki Tomorokoshi – Japanese Corn On The Cob
In Japan, Yaki Tomorokoshi is unexpectedly popular among street vendors and matsuri shops, notably in Yatai. Butter, miso, and soy sauce are drizzled over these Japanese grilled corns. The corn is served on a stick by the street vendors to make it more portable for customers to consume.
These Smokey, barbeque-flavored corns are hard to stop eating when grilled over charcoal. The combination of soy sauce, miso, and butter contribute to the corn’s sweetness and saltiness. When corn is in season, this celebration food becomes even more popular. Most Japanese maize is farmed in Hokkaido, where Yaki Tomorokoshi is most popular.
11. Taiyaki
A cake in the shape of a fish traditionally packed with red bean paste is called taiyaki. The Pati Tai is a cute miniature version of this Western-style Japanese snack that is 5 centimeters (two inches) long. When you bite into the cake, you’ll be able to taste the cream inside. You can get custard, red bean, caramel, chocolate, and many other flavors.
12. Ramen
Ramen has changed over time and now has more Japanese cultural symbols that make it a popular dish. People in Japan love this dish so much that they will wait in line for hours to get a bowl of hot noodles in a rich soup made from Shoyu, Miso, or pork bones.
It will be great to enjoy a bowl of hot noodles when it’s cold outside. A chef has to put a lot of heart into making ramen. To keep all of the good things in the broth, noodles, and toppings, he has to make them by hand with care.
13. Yaki Imo – Baked Japanese Sweet Potatoes
The aroma of freshly cooked sweet potatoes from street food vendors in Japan will make you drool. The potatoes’ velvety, warm texture and candy-like flavor make them an ideal wintertime snack.
Satsuma potatoes are commonly used in this meal. On the other hand, Baked Annou and Beni Haruka potatoes are a big hit.The vendors will begin selling Yaki Imo on food trucks as winter approaches. “Yaki Imooo” will be sung incessantly to entice customers to sample this delectable treat on the street.
There are many kiosks at local festivals and near supermarkets that sell this delicacy, in addition to the Yaki Imo food trucks mentioned previously.
14. Negiyaki
A more nutritious alternative to Okonomiyaki is called teriyaki. Teriyaki is distinguished from other Japanese dishes by the absence of cabbage, pork, or shellfish and the presence of an abundant amount of spring onion on top of the batter. Because it is typically consumed with soy sauce rather than okonomiyaki sauce, its flavor is lighter and more conducive to good health. Because so many people in the Kansai region enjoy eating foods created with flour, Negiyaki and Okonomiyaki have become popular choices among the locals.
15. Horumonyaki
Horumonyaki — grilled beef and hog offal – is a must-try for adventurous eaters in Osaka. Those who aren’t picky about their food can enjoy everything from the heart and lungs to the stomach and pancreas. Osakans go to Sora Tsuruhashi Honten, which serves more than 30 varieties of horumonyaki, even though it is generally sold as a street food snack. Located just a short walk from Tsuruhashi Station, this restaurant’s lunchtime line can stretch around the block and is best reserved in advance.
16. Yakisoba
Don’t be fooled by the word “soba” in the name. These are just regular wheat noodles, like the chow mein from China that this dish was based on. Before being put on a hot iron skillet, they are usually mixed with cabbage and other vegetables and your choice of meat. Adding oyster sauce at the end becomes one of the most popular cheap meals for one.
17. Oden
It’s hard to beat this when it comes to Japanese street food. On the other hand, oden is rapidly vanishing from the modern Japanese street food scene, unlike its Korean relative “odeng.”
Try a piece of fish cake, radish, eggs, and edible roots that have been simmered in a savory broth all day if you’re lucky enough to find it. A delicious and hearty treat on a cold day.
18. Waffle
One of the most famous Belgian delicacies is a waffle, a type of sweet cake. People in Japan added several modifications to the original dish when it arrived in the country. Japanese waffles can be topped with whipped cream and different colored syrups, among other things.
As a result, you may anticipate tasting even better combinations of these elements. Waffles’ signature sweetness is complemented by the toppings’ creaminess, freshness, or bitterness in a single bite.
19. Onigiri
Onigiri is rice balls in their most basic form, although they are typically loaded with a flavorful filling. Even if they are shaped like a patty or cylinder, they are still considered onigiri even though they are most frequently seen made into a triangle shape. These are known as yaki-onigiri; they begin in the same manner as regular onigiri but are subsequently grilled and glazed with sauce.
20. Yakitori
It is possible to make people worldwide salivate by serving exquisite grilled chicken that has just been plucked from the coals. The result is Yakitori, where “yaki” is examined, and “tori” is chicken. When it comes to street fare, this one can be enjoyed on any day or night.
