Hey everyone, hope you’re doing well. I have a small starter question, then a main question.
I’m planning to go to Japan in June with some friends. We’ve never been, so it’s going to be Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and possibly Ise. In general, I’d like to know if you expect June to be packed, what with (1) borders reopening and (2) students getting out of school / wanting to go on vacation.
My main question, though, is about food. I have ARFID, which is a sensory-based eating disorder. I called it “picky eating” in the title, but that’s not exactly right. ARFID is much more debilitating and restricting, and someone can want to get rid of it desperately but not make headway for years. Due to that, I have no idea what’s normal and what’s not when it comes to eating habits, even in the USA. Not to mention the fact I struggle with the smell of fish, and also struggle to eat unbreaded meat…
Being unable to eat normally makes travelling really tough, but I thought up a few questions that might help. I would be very grateful for answers to any of them.
* What are the typical things you can get at any Japanese restaurant, especially things which are simple but not odd to order- like, is it weird to just order rice? What things is it strange to put sauce on, and what kind of sauces are often offered in restaurants?
* Are there any ramen chains where you can pretty much build your order, including the type of broth and toppings? What ramen would you recommend for someone who doesn’t like fish?
* What foods in general would you recommend to someone who doesn’t like fish? The fewer textures being mixed together (or generally the less mushy) the better. I especially love foods that have a crunch to them.
* I know I can find things like apples, oranges, cheese and nuts in corner stores in the States. Can I find these things in a convenience store in Japan? What other healthy or quasi-healthy snacks do they have? Are there good places to pick fruit in June in the cities listed above, if I want to make an adventure out of getting food I can actually eat?
* Any other “picky eater” in Japan advice, including names of good chain restaurants?
Thanks so much for your help, and hope you all have a lovely day / night.
3 comments
I’ve yet to see fruits in convenience stores, but there are 24 hour supermarkets which are basically big convenience stores and you can find fruits or what ever in them.
Ichiran has build your own ramen bowls. They hand you a paper sheet and you mark off how fatty you want the broth, noodle hardness, toppings, spiciness etc. They only really have one type of broth (tonkotsu) but nearly everything else can be customized.
Fruit is a big deal in Japan and most of it will be expensive but much tastier than stuff found elsewhere. 7/11s will usually have a small selection of apples/bananas and other fruit but most of their specialties would be packaged foods. If you can handle breaded pork and white bread, there are pork Katsu sandwiches at most 7/11s.
https://www.insider.com/7-eleven-foods-japan-2019-2
Avoiding fish is doable, I’m not a fan of it myself.
Soy sauce is the most ubiquitous and generally the Japanese will put it in a little dish and dip things into it. Teriyaki sauce (soy sauce, mirin + brown sugar) is the next most common and it’s usually a glaze or sauce dumped onto dishes. If you can manage teriyaki sauce, then your options for a lot of dishes opens right up.
You may be able to handle tempura and Katsu style chicken & pork dishes, as they are both breaded and fried. Katsu is made with panko bread crumbs, tempura with flour & egg. Same with chicken karaage.
I liked yoshinoya for quick cheap AF food. Their basic offering is rice with sliced beef and onions for like $4. If you don’t like the beef or onions, you can pick it off the top because they don’t mix it in and the onions are in big slices and easy to pick out. The rice is cooked in broth so it’s a bit saltier than plain rice. They also have a lot of fried chicken options.
McDonalds is pretty much the same over there too if you’re desperate and need basic calories.
>What are the typical things you can get at any Japanese restaurant, especially things which are simple but not odd to order- like, is it weird to just order rice? What things is it strange to put sauce on, and what kind of sauces are often offered in restaurants?
This is really hard to say. Rice are probably available. Shoyu are probably available. But that’s probably it. You will have to look for a specific restaurant.
>Are there any ramen chains where you can pretty much build your order, including the type of broth and toppings? What ramen would you recommend for someone who doesn’t like fish?
Most ramen place only has one or two broth type. Most of the ramen that is generally available are either pork broth or chicken broth, but some do use fish broth (katsuo-dashi).
>What foods in general would you recommend to someone who doesn’t like fish? The fewer textures being mixed together (or generally the less mushy) the better. I especially love foods that have a crunch to them.
You are in luck as fried food are the actual staple food in Japan. You can probably find tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) easily. Beware of the soup and/or condiment though — they may be from fish stock (katsuo-dashi)
>I know I can find things like apples, oranges, cheese and nuts in corner stores in the States. Can I find these things in a convenience store in Japan?
Cut fruits are generally available in convenience store. They are expensive though.