Kushikatsu

After living in Japan for 3 years, there aren’t many foods that I haven’t tried. Last week, however, I went out for the first time to a kushikatsu restaurant.

The place my friends and I visited was a chain shop known for their unique kushikatsu options. Kushikatsu is basically pieces of meat or vegetables put on a skewer, coated in breadcrumbs and fried, then dipped in a light sauce and eaten.

If you decide to try this fried delicacy of debatable health impact, there are several rules to keep in mind.

① A kushikatsu skewer gets dipped (or dunked) in the sauce before going on your plate.

② No double dipping. Ever. They use the same container of sauce for all customers, for the entire day. If you want more sauce, the done thing is to use a piece of cabbage (provided free of charge) and scoop more onto your plate.

③ Order a drink. At many places (like ours) they have a one-drink system.

Once you’ve got these in place, it’s time to order! At the restaurant we visited, there were many vegetarian-friendly options: lotus root, shishitou (a kind of mild chili pepper), red pickled ginger, eggplant, asparagus, quail egg, cheese, as well as meat options like pork and beef. Order your skewers, then dip and eat. They even had fried Oreo cookies at this restaurant; a delicious dessert.

Price-wise, if you’re very hungry, kushikatsu can be pretty expensive. The different varieties are assigned different prices, and can add up quite quickly. Ordering enough sticks to fill an empty stomach plus a drink could be around 2000 yen. However, it’s worth it for the fried goodness. So save up a little bit and take yourself out for a nice dinner of kushikatsu!

My friends! Aren't they beautiful?! And yes, that is a bottle of chocolate sauce for the fried bananas.

Have you ever tried kushikatsu? What's the most deliciously unhealthy food you've had in Japan, that many people may not know about?