7 Japanese Foods You Can Easily Cook in Germany

When living away from Japan, there are times when you really want to eat Japanese food.

However, even if you try to eat what you like at a local Japanese restaurant, it is often expensive or there is no menu in the first place.
This article is especially recommended for those of you who want to solve the problem by cooking yourself.

Introducing Japanese food that is easy to make in Germany

From now on, I will explain Japanese food and familiar dishes that can be cooked relatively easily when making Japanese food in Germany.

There are parts that can be used as a reference when cooking in countries other than Germany, so I would appreciate it if you could read it to the end.

curry

First of all, there are many people who like it from children to adults, and it is an excellent curry that can be made ahead of time.
The main ingredients used in curry, such as onions, carrots, potatoes, and meat, can be purchased at any supermarket in Germany.

Just because these are German vegetables doesn't mean they taste much different from Japanese vegetables, and it doesn't matter.
Curry roux is hard to find in supermarkets, but you can basically buy it at Japanese food stores, so it's a good idea to go look for it at your nearest store.

Also, British-style curry powder is sold in the spice section of supermarkets, and if you use it, you can make something similar to Japanese curry, so if you don't have a Japanese grocery store nearby, try it. Isn't it good to see it?

Fried rice

Fried rice is not exactly a Japanese food, but it is introduced here as a familiar dish.
All basic ingredients such as vegetables and eggs can be purchased at German supermarkets.

Some people may want to make more authentic fried rice.
German supermarkets don't sell the ingredients for chicken stock and the paste for Chinese food that are used in that case, so I recommend looking for a Japanese food store.

Okonomiyaki

If you want to make okonomiyaki in Germany, you can get all the ingredients at the supermarket except for the okonomiyaki sauce.

The basic ingredients are flour, eggs, cabbage, zucchini or potatoes (substitute for yam), bouillon (substitute for Japanese-style dashi), and add pork or bacon, potato chips instead of fried balls, etc., to your liking. Isn't it easier than you think?

And the must-haves are mayonnaise, green laver, and bonito flakes.

Of course, you can buy mayonnaise in German supermarkets, but Japanese mayonnaise and German mayonnaise taste quite different, and you can't buy green laver and bonito flakes.
So when you buy your favorite sauce at a Japanese food store, it's a good idea to look for it together.

In addition, many Japanese food stores sell okonomiyaki powder, so if you are particular about that, it would be a good idea to buy this as well.

Stir-fried eggplant and minced meat with miso

This dish is easy to make and delicious, and above all, it goes well with rice.
Of course, you can buy eggplant and minced meat in German supermarkets.

When adding ginger, some supermarkets sell ginger itself.

Miso is not often sold in supermarkets, but you can buy it at Japanese food stores.
Sake and mirin are basically not sold at supermarkets, so you need to go to a Japanese food store, but white wine can be substituted for sake, so why not try it?

Oyakodon

I think there are many people who love oyakodon and want to eat it even when they are abroad.

Main ingredients such as chicken, onions, and eggs are easily available at supermarkets.
As with eggplant and minced meat stir-fried in miso, mirin is rarely available at most Japanese grocery stores, but you can substitute with sake and sugar.
That said, sake is only available at Japanese food stores, so in the end, you either buy it at a Japanese food store or don't use it in the first place.

And the handling of soy sauce is increasing considerably even in German supermarkets.
So it's probably possible to buy it at a nearby supermarket, so please look for it.

Pork cutlet

In Germany, there is a German-style cutlet called schnitzel, but there is no tonkatsu sauce here, and I think some people want to eat Japanese tonkatsu.

The pork used for tonkatsu should be the same meat used for schnitzel.
However, unlike Japan, tenderloin is often not available or available in small quantities, so loin is the main ingredient.
Flour and eggs are prepared at supermarkets, but bread crumbs may not be available depending on the supermarket.
In that case, you can use shavings of hard or dry bread.
If you really want bread crumbs but can't find them in supermarkets, Japanese food stores often carry them, so it's worth trying to find them.

cooked rice

It may come as a surprise to some, but takikomi gohan is relatively easy to make, and you can enjoy a variety of variations.

For example, when using dashi, if the dashi comes in a pack for simmering, open the pack, mix the contents with rice, add soy sauce and other ingredients you want to add, and cook. You can make takikomi gohan.
Of course, you should be able to reproduce it with a granule type, so please try it.

However, dashi soup stock is basically not available in German supermarkets, so you need to purchase it at a Japanese food store.

If you don't use dashi, you can also make cooked rice using tomato whole.
In this case, using bouillon instead of dashi makes it more delicious, and you can also add parsley, vegetables, etc., or add cheese if you like.

There are many other recipes for takikomi gohan, so I think it would be fun to find and devise them yourself.

summary

So far, we have introduced Japanese food that can be prepared relatively easily in Germany.
I would be happy if I could help you cook more happily.

If you don't have a Japanese food store in your neighborhood, or if you want to save the trouble of looking for a Japanese food store, we recommend using our online shop.

Our Germany-based online shop also carries soy sauce, mirin, and various other Japanese food ingredients, ranging from table-sized to commercial use.