9 Best Japanese Party Snacks in 2024

Yakitori

Yakitori is a dish made by skewering bite-sized pieces of ingredients and grilling them over an open flame. Various parts of chicken are used as ingredients, but meat and vegetables other than chicken are also used as ingredients. Two types of seasoning are standard: “salt,” which is mainly salt, and “sauce,” which is a sweet and spicy sauce adjusted from soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, etc., and then grilled. The fish is eaten directly from the skewer without the use of chopsticks, and its strong seasoning makes it a perfect partner for sake. Because of this, it is a staple menu item at Japanese-style drinking establishments called “izakaya” (Japanese style pubs). The cheapest skewers can be purchased for about $0.7 per skewer.

Takoyaki

Takoyaki is a flour dough filled with octopus and other ingredients and baked into a spherical shape about 3-5 cm in diameter. The dough, which has a strong taste of dashi (Japanese soup stock), is usually filled with octopus, tenkasu (fish cake), green onions, and red pickled ginger. To finish the dish, a generous amount of sauce, bonito flakes, and mayonnaise is poured over the top. The crunchy outside and thick texture inside will surely make you addicted to takoyaki. The process of making takoyaki is also enjoyable. Takoyaki parties are very popular, where people use home takoyaki cookers to bake takoyaki with various ingredients such as cheese and seafood.

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is a Japanese one-pot dish in which meat and other ingredients are cooked in a shallow iron pot. Standard ingredients include thinly sliced beef, green onions, Chinese cabbage, shungi mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, grilled tofu, konjak and shirataki. It is stewed in a sauce characterized by a sweet and spicy flavor made from soy sauce, sugar, sake, mirin, and other ingredients. It is delicious eaten as is, but is also often dipped in beaten raw chicken eggs. The standard way to eat sukiyaki is to gather around a large pot with several people. Sukiyaki is a special dish served over a pot on a cold day.

Yakisoba

Yakisoba is a noodle dish consisting of stir-fried meat and vegetables combined with noodles. The noodles used for yakisoba are not Japanese buckwheat noodles, which are made from buckwheat seeds, but Chinese noodles, which are made from wheat flour. The standard ingredients are meat such as pork and vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, and onions. Sauce is the most common seasoning. When serving, aonori (green laver), nori (seaweed), and shaved bonito flakes are sprinkled on top, and chopped red ginger is garnished. It is very popular not only as a home-cooked dish, but also as a standard dish at barbecues.

Yakiniku

Yakiniku is a Japanese dish of beef, pork, and other meats grilled over an open flame. The meat is grilled using a yakiniku net or griddle and dipped in a special sweet and spicy yakiniku sauce made from a mixture of soy sauce, sake, sugar, fruit, garlic, sesame seeds, and other ingredients. When grilled with a grill, the fat drips off the meat and the surface becomes crispy, resulting in a relatively light flavor. When grilled on a griddle, the meat loses little moisture and becomes relatively juicy and rich in texture. The savory grilled meat and the rich sauce go perfectly with beer.

Kushikatsu

Kushikatsu is a Japanese dish consisting of bite-sized pieces of ingredients skewered, coated with batter, and deep-fried in oil. The ingredients vary from small cuts of beef, seafood, and vegetables. The kushikatsu is usually dipped in a special sauce made from a thin Worcestershire sauce base and a mixture of soy sauce and brewed vinegar. The kushikatsu is eaten directly from the skewer, without the use of chopsticks, and its strong flavor makes it an excellent partner for sake. For this reason, it is a staple menu item at Japanese-style drinking establishments called “izakaya” (Japanese style pubs). The cheapest skewers can be purchased for about $0.7 per skewer.

Sushi

Sushi is a Japanese dish that combines rice and other ingredients, mostly seafood. Sushi is made by placing fresh sushi ingredients such as tuna, salmon, sea urchin, salmon roe, shrimp, squid, etc. on a small piece of vinegared rice and holding it with both hands to blend the ingredients. It is eaten by hand or with chopsticks, dipped in soy sauce if necessary. It is a staple menu item at restaurants. Some family restaurants serve it for as little as $0.3 per piece, while others charge more than $110 per piece. It is also very popular among people of all ages, and is a staple at home parties.

Pizza

Pizza is a dish that originated in Italy. It is made by kneading flour, water, salt, and yeast, fermenting the dough, rolling it out into a thin, circular shape, adding tomatoes, cheese, and various other ingredients, and baking it in an oven or in a special oven. In Japan, the unique Japanese flavors are also very popular, such as “corn mayo” with corn and mayonnaise, “mentaiko mayo cheese” with mentaiko, cheese, and rice cake, and “teriyaki chicken mayo” with teriyaki chicken and mayonnaise. As a staple menu item at home parties, it is highly popular among people of all ages.

Gyoza

Gyoza is a dish that originated in China, in which a flour-based skin is used to wrap a filling made of meat, shrimp, vegetables, etc., and cooked by boiling, baking, steaming, or frying. Japanese gyoza has undergone a unique transformation in Japan, and is generally grilled. The skin is thin and the standard ingredients are minced pork, cabbage, garlic, and chives. They are eaten with a sauce made from a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and raayu. The savory skin with firm grill marks, the juicy bean paste, and the thickly seasoned sauce make a perfect pairing with beer.