Top 3 Vegetables Japanese eat

1 Daikon (Giant white radish)

Daikon is a very popular Japanese vegetable. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Daikon is quite spicy when eaten raw. However, it will become sweet when cooked.

Daikon Dishes

Oden – Oden is a popular hot pot consisting of daikon, eggs, and different types of fish cakes, simmered in soup stock.

Daikon-oroshi (grated daikon) – a refreshing topping mainly used for oily dishes like tempura or beef steak.

Takuan – Pickled daikon – One of the most popular pickles in Japan made of dried daikon.

There are many kinds of daikon radish found all over Japan.

●Sakurajima-daikon

Sakurajima-daikon is the largest radish in the world certified by the Guinness Book of Records. It is a traditional vegetable in Kagoshima Prefecture. On average it weighs about 6 kg while large ones weigh about 30 kg, with diameters of about 40-50 cm.

●Karami-daikon(Spicy radish)

Karami-daikon is a general term for radishes that are smaller than ordinary daikon, have a strong pungent taste, and contain less water. Due to their strong pungent taste, they are not suitable for simmered dishes like oden, so it is common to use them for daikon oroshi (grated radish) and dissolve them in soba(buckwheat) noodles’ dipping sauce.

2 Onion

Onions were commonly eaten in Japan since the Meiji era (1868 ~ 1912), but with the spread of Western cuisine, onions are now popular and are very common vegetables.

Nowadays, it is an indispensable vegetable for popular dishes in Japan such as curry and hamburger steak.

3 Cabbage

When cabbage was first introduced to Japan in the early Edo period(1603 ~ 1868), it was recognized as an ornamental flowering plant. It was not until the Meiji period(1868 ~ 1912) that it became widespread as food. Cabbage is often boiled or stir-fried, but in Japan it is often eaten raw. Since cabbage has a refreshing taste, it is very commonly used as a side dish for fried foods such as pork cutlet and fried shrimp.