From BBQ to Brunch: 14 Unexpected American Favorites Japan Loves Now
Every food comes with a rich history. People recognize the US for comfort food like New York-style pizza, southern-style fried chicken, New England Lobster Rolls, and a slew of fast-food staples. American food evokes memories of home-cooked meals baked with love and nights lounging by the grill. For others, American food means frequent visits to Taco Bell after soccer games and a morning coffee from Starbucks.
As humans, we dip into other culture’s cuisine for a mix of exposure and out of curiosity to try new things. A handful of foods popular worldwide stem from original US menus, while other foods found their way through word of mouth and transference between cultures. Japan has adapted these American foods into their country, many offering a fresh, Japanese twist.
1. Burgers
Many debate the origin of hamburgers. Are they from Germany? Are they from the US? Or did both countries create a different variation of the beef patty between the two buns? A typical US burger comes loaded with ketchup, mustard, mayo, onion, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, or various options.
In Japan, several iterations of American chains like Shake Shack and Mcdonald’s sell variations of burgers, yet the standout Japanese burger joint is Burger Mania. The establishment serves teriyaki burgers, cherry burgers, mango burgers, and a cheeseburger loaded with fifteen kinds of cheese for food enthusiasts. Aside from grilled Kobe beef, a well-known Japanese take on the burger is called Hamburg Steak, or a patty made of ground beef, eggs, seasonings, bread crumbs, and other select ingredients up to the chef’s preference. The chef fashions the meat into a patty shape and serves.
2. Crab Cakes
Indigenous Americans living in the Chesapeake region invented crab cakes. The fried, baked, or boiled delicacy now blends crab meat, bread crumbs, eggs, mayo, mustard, and seasonings into a small circular patty. The Japanese spin on crab cakes, or crab furai (fried food topped with breadcrumbs or tempura), resembles the US version, but some recipes add corn to the batter or make a sauce with Japanese mayonnaise.
3. Clambakes
The Wampanoag Indians created the clambake centuries ago. They scooped out a makeshift pit oven in the sand, filled the pits with water, heated rocks from a nearby fire source, added the rocks to the water, layered a covering of animal hide and leaves or seaweed over the boil, then cooked the seafood on the top of the creation. Few New England residents stick to the tradition of digging a pit in the sand for a clambake celebration, while the majority resort to their grills. Japan serves the same style as New England clambakes via the grill.
4. Seafood Boil
A clambake consists of baking the seafood over a seaweed sheet, whereas a seafood boil combines all of the seafood into a pot on the stove. Historians trace seafood boil roots back to Cajun culture in Louisiana. The boil commenced as a social gathering where hundreds met to share a hearty meal. The Dancing Crab is a renowned Japanese restaurant dedicated to serving Cajun seafood boils. The cooks prepare all of the seafood, potatoes, and corn before slathering on a brothy, garlic-butter sauce. The chef then transports the food into a large bag where the ingredients mix, and a server brings the bag to dump onto a tray in front of the customer.
5. Hot Dogs
Hot dogs, like hamburgers, generate confusion about their origin story. Again, Germany and the US both surfaced as the birthplace of Frankfurter. However, US hotdogs stir up memories of baseball games and childhood, at least for the average American. A bun envelops the lean piece of sausage, usually topped with ketchup, mustard, or relish. Japanese chains (or Japanified American chains) serve hotdogs on sub-roll rye buns, sometimes with tomato sauce, though the eye-catching Japanese hot dog combines those words. The Japadog comes with a traditional hot dog bun, a sausage link, and a generous helping of four added ingredients: teriyaki sauce, mayo, fish flakes, and seaweed. You can’t get that at your local Nathan’s.
6. French Fries
With roots tied to Belgium and the Netherlands, the earliest slices of potatoes emerged in the 1700s. After years of evolution and experimentation, Thomas Jefferson introduced the American people to the phenomenon of the French fry. Upon return from France (where he ate sliced, fried potatoes), he requested a side dish of potatoes cooked the French way. That use of language later developed into the beloved side we eat today, French fries. The Yankee version deepfries thin or thick pieces of potato to a perfect golden-brown crisp then pairs them with ketchup.
A Japanese spin on French fries, Osaka, or okonomiyaki fries loads the toppings on a bed of fresh fried potato slivers. The chef adds a pillow of cheese, a drizzle of okonomiyaki sauce (Japanese BBQ sauce), and Japanese mayo for the base. On top of that, place green onion, red ginger, fish flakes, seaweed, and a pinch of white cheese. Too nervous to try this mouthwatering menu item? Most American restaurants in Japan offer classic French fries.
7. Pizza
Italy invented the thin-crust, airy tomato sauce pizza decorated with mozzarella cheese and basil. USAmerican pizza relies on heavy flour and a fusion of tomatoes, sugar, spices, and/or honey for the sauce. USAmericans pick whichever cheese they please, or no cheese, to douse the dough with before grabbing a handful of any topping imaginable. We’re looking at pineapple, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, anchovies, olives, jalapenos, and even chocolate for a dessert pie.
Japan utilizes pizza chains like Domino’s and Pizza Hut in its market, but the offerings differ a lot from the American options. Choose from a varied toppings menu that includes squid ink, mochi, mayo, corn, seaweed, eggs, and all kinds of seafood.
8. Taco Bell
Known for cheap food, late hours, and an evolving menu, Taco Bell treats its customers with plentiful options. In the US and Japan, patrons peruse options like the crunch wrap supreme, cheesy burritos, quesadillas, and tacos. But of course, the Asian country elevates the menu with novel possibilities ranging from a crispy chicken chickster–a fried chicken crunch wrap–to seasoned tortilla chips, while the ones in the US lack any kind of spice. Japanese dessert items at Taco Ball raise the bar with a chocolate quesadilla, ice cream, and cinnamon sugar roll-ups to complement cheesy roll-ups from the dinner menu. We must also mention the sought-after melon-flavored Fanta, native to Japan.
9. Steak
American steak prioritizes various cuts of beef. For example, steakhouses in the US list ribeyes, a cut from the front rib; a New York strip just behind the cattle’s ribs; and a T-bone steak, a portion of meat near the cattle’s spine. In 2004, a beef shipment infected with Mad Cow Disease was delivered to the US from Canada. Because of this controversy, Japan banned US and Canadian beef shipments for a brief period of time. However, Japan forgave the grievance, and now the US is back as one of the highest beef suppliers for Japan.
Japan serves both American-style beef cuts and its own steak techniques. Japanese steak is made with thin slices of Wagyu or Kobe beef and has distinctive marbling techniques. Marble-esque lines, or pieces of fat, appear throughout the steak strip. The fat liquefies and helps cook and flavor the steak during the cooking process.
10. Starbucks
Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee megachain, opened its doors to the public in 1971. The franchise’s daringness to test out new items is a large part of its business model. Naturally, that idea translates to different countries based on popular flavors. The Japanese version of Starbucks provides guests with the same beloved, slightly burnt coffee flavors infused into lattes and cold brews, yet it diverges with its frappuccino flavors.
Flavors distinctive to Japan comprise a love of peach frap, strawberry banana flavor, mixed berry, and peach, a seasonal melon frap, and yuzu and citrus lavender sage for the fruit options. Sweet dessert flavors include almond milk fraps, crunchy almond chocolate, and a fruity, sweet, and bitter blend with the peach panna cotta and Earl Gray tea blended drink.
11. Fried Chicken
Credit for the invention of fried chicken goes to Scotland around the 1800s and West Africa. The Scottish people brought the dish to the US around the First World War, where it then grew into a southern staple, reminiscent of resilience. Scottish fried chicken involves dipping the meat into a fat-based batter made of seasoned breadcrumbs, while the West African fried chicken involves dousing the chicken in a palm oil seasoned batter. Karaage chicken, or Japanese fried chicken, enhances the taste of the fried chicken by using potato starch instead of flour. Other batter choices incorporate tapioca starch and potato or rice flour.
12. Lobster Rolls
Imagine a chunk of lobster meat whisked together with lemon juice, pepper, salt, and butter, then sandwiched between a hot dog bun, and you have the iconic lobster roll. This New England item brings numerous people to the East Coast for a taste of the finest lobster rolls in the US. Japan invented a few new lobster roll items. Adding Japanese Mayo or citrusy ponzu sauce creates a simple, tasty Japanese lobster roll.
13. Cheesecake
Despite popular belief naming New York the birthplace of cheesecake, Greeks flattened cheese into thin cutlets and then dressed them with flour and honey for healthy dessert thousands of years ago. Years later, in Europe, the flour desert transformed into a tart pastry made with eggs, lemon, and vanilla. When the 1730s rolled around, Europeans brought cheesecake to Philadelphia and the Colonies, where it morphed into the flavorful dessert it is today. US cheesecake includes a creamy mixture of sour cream, heavy cream, cream cheese, eggs, and sugar over a thick crust.
Japanese cheesecake takes that idea but lightens the cake part of the dish. Instead of whole eggs, Japanese cheesecake resorts to fluffing the egg whites separate from the egg yolks for an airier texture. This recipe doesn’t have a crust, either.
14. Kit Kat Bars
Care for a crunchy, chocolate-coated candy bar? Kit Kat originated in England in 1935 by Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp, although it journeyed to the US, where Hershey’s acquired the rights. Nestle owns Kit Kat in every other country, leading to ample flavors being sold in different places. Japan sells the original chocolate flavor, along with choices like matcha, strawberry, sake, sweet potato, soybean, pumpkin pudding, cherry blossom, melon, apple, almond, wasabi, soy sauce, and corn-flavored Kit Kats.
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