What Japanese Foods DON'T You Like?

[Ashikaga]

I'd have to say Inago.

The way it is prepared, it's not like you really taste anything unpleasant. There's not much "Inago-ness" to its taste. All you taste is the sause (usually soy sauce and sugar?). Just the thought of popping a grasshopper in your mouth and biting down on it.... I don't know. What if... like, an Inago leg got stuck between your teeth?

 

[aardwolf]

So far, Nothing! 🙂

I don't imagine i would like nattou.. but i still would like to try it.

バカバカバカ！
I accidentally clicked nattou.. lmao!

 

[origamicandy]

I'd never heard of basashi. Surely they don't make it anymore...?

 

[RavenRockstar]

Miso Soup oddly enough
i just dont like the taste of it >_<

 

[Riona-Chan]

Anything that contains sea food because I have bad luck to be alergic to basicly everything that comes from the sea. I also hate everything raw oh and I hate miso soup.

 

[ginam]

My vote is nattou, but I have to say I've never knowingly tried crab brains. How would I even know? I've never even heard of it, and I eat out all of the time. Is this some kind of specialty I'd have to ask for or have I likely eaten it? Seriously, I'm quite uninitiated and will take any and all information about this...

On another note, I was at an izakaya and was served something on a lovely bed of bean sprouts with a nice dressing, but what was on top seemed like raw chicken gizzards or something. Maybe pickled, but I'm not sure. I ate them down promptly and smiling because it was served and the people there are always so kind, but they definitely weren't my favorite....and I still have no idea what that could have been. Any guesses?

 

[ginam]

I'd never heard of basashi. Surely they don't make it anymore...?

It's all over around here....I was surprised too.

 

[Pachipro]

I'm surprised at how many people do not like natto. Is it because of the smell that one refuses to try it as was my own case?

I don't know why I selected natto as a Japanese food I disliked as it is one of my favorite Japanese foods today. Granted, at first I did not like it, not because I tasted it, but because the smell was so "bad" I refused to even try it.

After I discovered the tremendous health benefits of natto I tried it and have been eating it ever since. To tell the truth, it tastes nothing like it smells and it did become tasty after a while. At least once a week I will have ika natto (natto with slivers of raw squid, a little soy sauce and wasabi).

Some of the health benefits of natto are:

an excellent source of protein, vitamin B2, and vitamin k2, which is useful for preventing osteoporosis. It contains compounds including phytoestrogen, selenium and others that may help prevent cancer, and also contains a powerful beneficial enzyme called nattokinase.

Nattokinase has been found to help prevent and reduce the risk of blood clots, as well as provide heart-protective benefits. Some studies suggest that nattokinase can also reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

See The 6 Healthiest Staple Foods of Japanese Cuisine

Nattokinase has also been proven in more than a few studies to ward off heart attacks, reduce clotting in the blood, reduce blood pressure along with several other benefits. See Nattokinase: Powerful Enzyme Prevents Heart Attacks and Strokes.

Is it any wonder why the Japanese have one of the longest life spans of any people on the planet? Could it be their diet and food? Many studies have proven this to be so.

Nutrition Science News says in a column entitled, Natto: The Newest Soy:

The incidence of breast, colon and prostate cancer is significantly higher in the United States than in Japan. In fact, breast cancer kills three times as many American women as Japanese women. American women also have quite a different menopausal experience than women in Japan. Some 80 to 85 percent of U.S. women experience unpleasant hot flashes compared with less than 25 percent of their Japanese counterparts. Scientists attribute some of the Japanese population's protection against breast, colon and prostate cancer, as well as the symptoms of menopause, to diets rich in soy phytoestrogens.

.....But Americansﾂ―particularly womenﾂ―would do well to acquire a taste for natto, since its potential health benefits are as extraordinary as its flavor.

Eating natto would probably save many from the harmful side effects of man-made drugs to help with the problems of osteoporosis and menopausal problems in women and an enlarged prostate in men as well as some forms of cancer.

As soy products are so good for the human body I eat them in all forms several times a week including miso soup along with a pound of edamame (boiled soy beans in the pod).

I also enjoy tofu in all forms and raw miso paste with cucumber also known as morokyu in Japanese.

Therefore, before one knocks natto because of the smell, one should check out the health benefits and maybe incorporate it into one's diet as it may just save/extend your life. Trust me, you can develop a taste for it.

When I first tasted raw tuna I thought it was the most disgusting thing on the planet and just swallowed it (almost vomiting in the process) to please my Japanese hosts. How I learned to love it along with other forms of sushi, I do not remember, but it is as tasteful to me today as any steak and, given the choice, I would select raw fish and natto.

 

[sonunpaclesal]

What Japanese Foods DONT You Like

I think the Japanese native foods are great. I enjoy most of them but I dont really enjoy straight natto. That said, natto is ok, just not great. The seafood is amazing.

What I dont like is:
- the Chinese food how can a country so close to China get it so wrong?,
- all the california grill type of places and the burger places Who eats that crap if you dont have to?,
- the 800 yen pasta joints

My number one probem with eating in Japan is that if there is an English menu, the food is usually crap. It would be nice to eat nice food and be fully confident about what I was reading. The difficult the script, the better the food.

 

[ikkoikki]

No surprise that nattou is topping the voting. I also dislike uni and funazushi (once was once too often)

 

[metalmark666]

Tried nattou after being in Japan for only a few days and was still horrendously jet lagged!! (Benefits of a 38 hour trip to get there). Open the tub and didn't really know what to do with the stuff! Managed to get the cook guy to show us that it needed to be mixed in with the rice. Scooped some up on my chop sticks and ate it and spent the rest of the day wondering why the cook was trying to poison me.
Nattou without doubt, ranks along side with things like drinking your own urine, yeah, the health benefits may be there, but it is wrong... WRONG!!
In saying that, some people like it, some people drink their own pee...

 

[Sergey]

I also cant eat nattou, but I like uni.

 

[kusangai]

pickled ginger leaves this strange wooden aftertaste. I never eat it with sushi,my friends love it though.

 

[whitney0125]

I like all the Japanese foods that i tasted. I haven't tried the unagi. But i really like the sushi..

 

[Yanzi]

I know that the majority would vote for NATTO!! haha----I would vote for that too.I have tasted it, it tasted very good!

 

[sai666]

I would have to say Namaco and Natto.
I like almost Japanese food and
I think that Japanese food culture has a deep history and it is amazing!
but.... are they really eatable?

 

[tasida]

I haven't tried all the ones that you have listed in the poll, but I haven't eaten any Japanese food that I don't like yet. That would include things like Umeboshi, Natto, etc...

 

[cxtpang]

Definately Natto. It smells like .....!!

 

[nanda]

wasabi smells weird.
i dont know somet of the food up there. for me i guess i cant stand anything w/ raw egg in it.

 

[Nordica]

I hate being a 'picky' eater but I can't help it. I'm embarassed by how much food I dislike. I am a vegetarian who dislikes most vegetables. Tempura used to be a worry because I never knew what it was until the first bite!
I used to pray for carrot - and I think that's the first time I've ever used that phrase! lol.
One of the chefs used to make an amazing agedashi tofu. That was my favourite food ever. Only when Yoshi made it though! The other chef used to make it too, but it didn't taste right unless Yoshi made it! I was a Japanese waitress in London, sadly I've not been to Japan yet.
My food tastes are shamefully narrow. I don't like much of any food. Only very bland vegetables and nothing that comes from an animal. I don't know how I'm still alive! lol.

 

[Mothling]

I pretty much enjoy everything (even eel, which I was surprised to thoroughly enjoy), except for wasabi - I just can't stand the stuff! I must admit though, I haven't tasted nattou, but judging from everybody elses comments, I don't think I'll be in a rush to anytime soon.

 

[kawaii95]

vote for sushi
i don't like it

 

[Yukakko]

Though there isn't the name, I don't like "chawan mushi".
I am Japanese and I like most of the Japanese food, but I can't eat it.

Chawan mushi is...
literally "tea cup steam" or "steamed in a tea bowl") is an egg custard dish found in Japan that uses the seeds of ginkgo. Unlike many other custards, it is usually eaten as an appetizer. The custard consists of an egg mixture flavored with soy sauce, dashi, and mirin, with numerous ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, kamaboko, and boiled shrimp placed into a tea-cup-like container. The recipe for the dish is similar to that of Chinese steamed eggs, but the toppings may often differ.

Chawanmushi can be eaten either hot and cool. When udon is added as an ingredient, it is called odamaki mushi or odamaki udon.

Unusual for a traditional Japanese dish, it is commonly eaten with a spoon.
(from Wikipedia)

When I was a child, I often eat only kamaboko(steamed fish paste), picking it out.lol

I can't eat egg bean curd (though I can eat usual bean curd) either and they are similar.

 

[phatrat1982]

So far the only Japanese food I have tried is sushi, and I have to say it was not for me.

 

[Speedy Japanese]

Easy to see how Nattou manages to attract such a result I tried Basashi once in Kumamoto and it was pretty good, texture was a little different to what I was expecting but it was pretty good.