A Guide to Japanese Picnic Food

Enjoying a picnic is a popular activity for food lovers in Japan. The pastime has been enjoyed for hundreds of years, with hanami season, when the cherry blossom blooms in spring, offering the most popular time for picnicking! Whether you’re preparing to celebrate hanami, or just want an excuse to enjoy a picnic, we’ve put together a guide to some of the most popular picnic foods in Japan.

Kara-age

Fried chicken pieces prove to be a popular addition to picnic baskets all over the world, and Japan is certainly no exception. Kara-age is the name for Japanese-style fried chicken. The chicken portions will be coated in soy sauce, ginger and potato starch before being deep-fried to create a crispy and flavourful bite. Extra tastes can be added to the dish by squeezing some fresh lemon juice over the nibbles just before serving with a mayonnaise dip!

Edamame

Edamame is a type of soybean pod that are commonly enjoyed as a side dish, starter, or snack in Japan. The bean pods are typically steamed and then lightly salted, making them a similar snack to nuts. As a snack dish, these soybean pods are ideal for packing into a picnic and can be easily shared within a group.

Tamagoyaki

One of the most popular picnic foods in Japan is tamagoyaki, a type of rolled omelette that can be cut into handy slices. The egg mixture is typically flavoured with sugar and dashi, providing some more complex flavours and sweet notes.

極地狐

A type of Japanese pickle, sunomono involves vegetables coated in a vinaigrette made from rice vinegar. Cucumber sunomono is the most popular type; however, almost any ingredient can be used, including bitter melon, seaweed, radish and octopus!

Korokke

Potato croquettes, or korokke, are made from mashed potato deep-fried with a panko breadcrumb coating. Variations of the dish include minced chicken or crab as a filling. Crispy on the outside but with a soft filling, these delicious bites are the perfect addition to any picnic.

Potato Salad

While this is definitely not a traditional Japanese dish, this Western picnic food has been adopted into Japanese cuisine as a popular addition to a picnic spread. The dish has been modified slightly to better suit Japanese tastes, with sugar and corn added for sweetness and extra ingredients such as cucumber or ham mixed in for more flavour.

Inarizushi

A fried tofu pouch filled with sushi rice, these sushi bites are perfect for picnics as they do not involve any raw ingredients, like sashimi, allowing them to keep well outside while setting up the picnic.

Image Credit: Ocdp

Offering similar benefits to inarizushi, onigiri are rice shaped into balls, triangles or other interesting shapes. These popular picnic snacks can be left as plain rice, or be wrapped in a sheet of nori seaweed. They can be filled with a variety of ingredients, including pickled ume, tuna, or other fish. Nishiki rice is ideal for making your own onigiri.

Hiyayakko

A type of creamy tofu, hiya-yakko is served in a block topped with soy sauce, spring onions, bonita flakes and fresh ginger, making for an incredible mixture of textures and flavours.

Bento Box

Many of the above ingredients will be packed into a bento box, which sees little dishes arranged into neat sections in a lunchbox. These are great for sharing or enjoying individually. There are a wide variety of different bento box types, with some holding symbolic significance, and others just being arranged to look like a cartoon character or cute animal. While it is fairly easy to pack your own bento box more and more people are turning to boxes produced by supermarkets or restaurants, as these provide a quick and easy lunchtime option!

If you want to celebrate the splendid springtime blooms brightening up the parks and gardens with a delicious picnic, then get any ingredients you need to create an authentic Japanese picnic from our Japanese supermarket! What will you be adding to your picnic basket? Let us know by reaching out via our social media channels!