Foreign-influence Food

Foods from other countries vary in their authenticity. In Tokyo, it is quite easy to find restaurants serving authentic foreign cuisine. However, in most of the country, in many ways, the variety of imported food is limited; for example, it is rare to find pasta that is not of the spaghetti or macaroni varieties in supermarkets or restaurants; bread is very rarely of any variety but white; and varieties of imported breakfast cereals are limited to flakes or granola.

[edit]Tonkatsu

kind of pork cutlet, Tonkatsu

Japanese rice is usually used instead of imported rice (in dishes from Thailand, India, Italy, etc.) or including it in as a side dish to dishes that do not usually feature it, such as steak or omelets.

[edit]Curry rice

Curry, which was originally imported from India into Japan by the British in the Meiji era, was first adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army, eventually leading to its presence in Japanese cuisine. Japanese curry is unlike Indian or any other forms of curry. Unique Japanese ingredients include apples and honey. Even Japanese curry branded as Indian curry is quite different. For instance, some Japanese "Indian-style" curries contain beef and pork, making them unacceptable to most Hindus, Jains, Jews and Muslims.

Japanese versions of curry powder and sauces can be found in many foods, among them curry udon, curry bread, and curry tonkatsu.

[edit]Ramen

Ramen (noodle)

Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat stock broth known as ramen have become extremely popular over the last century.

Chinese food is the most popular foreign cuisine throughout Japan. It is closely followed by Korean barbecue and Italian pasta.^[36]

[edit]Wafū burgers

Hamburger chains include McDonald's, Burger King, First Kitchen, Lotteria and MOS Burger. Many chains developed uniquely Japanese versions of American fast food such as the teriyaki burger, kinpira rice burger, fried shrimp burgers, and green tea milkshakes.

[edit]Japano-Italian

"Italian" restaurants tend to only have pizza and pasta on their menus. The cheaper Italian places in Japan tend to serve more Americanized versions of Italian foods, which often vary wildly from the versions found in Italy or in other countries. For pizza delivery, Pizza Hut and Domino's can easily be found in major cities, although the menus are localized. Corn, mayonnaise, and seafood toppings are popular. In sit-down restaurants, the vast majority of pizzas have crusts that are thinner and crispier, and have far less cheese and other toppings than in the U.S.

Many Italian dishes are changed, however high-class Japanese chefs have preserved many Italian seafood dishes that are forgotten in other countries. These include pasta withprawns, lobster (a specialty known in Italy as pasta all'aragosta), crab (an Italian specialty; in Japan it is served with a different species of crab), and pasta with sea urchin sauce (sea urchin pasta being a specialty of the Puglia region).