Photo by © cinnamonellie

Begin your day with these Five Simple and Delicious Japanese Breakfasts

Japan is known for its healthy and delicious food and a few of the dishes that probably come to mind are miso soup, sushi, yakiniku.

Miso soup is one of the main dishes in traditional Japanese breakfast and is quite easy to make, too.

Here I will be introducing you five of the easiest Japanese breakfasts you can quickly make in the morning or the night before and I will start with:

1. Rice Balls/ Onigiri(おにぎり)

Onigiri is probably the easiest and quickest breakfast to put together when you are out of time. You can make it with whatever leftovers you have in the house and I recommend pickled plum, salmon, tuna or bonito flakes with a bit of cheese; because making rice balls is so simple, I like experimenting with ingredients and trying new combinations.

If you feel that you have no time in the morning, you can also make them ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Rice Balls are easy to make, filling, and delicious, with a lot of ingredients you can choose from, so it is also hard to get tired of it because you can always make some new combinations.

2. Tamago Kake Gohan(卵かけご飯)

A Japanese bowl of rice with raw egg, a bit of soy sauce and nori on top, this is Tamago Kake Gohan. Pretty simple, right?

I also like putting green onions or natto on top and also use my leftover miso along with the rice for a more traditional breakfast.

It is easy to make and very delicious, too.

3. Tamagoyaki(卵焼き)

Tamagoyaki or the Japanese Egg rolls are quite simple and you can also make it salty or sweet, depending on your preference.

I like both and depending on my energy in the morning, I choose which one of the two I am going to make.

Most of the time is sweet because I feel it also goes well with coffee and the sweet taste gives me more energy to start my day.

I like using kombu dashi (kombu broth), soy sauce, just a bit of salt, and around 2-3 tablespoons of sugar for the sweet one.

As for the salty one, I sometimes put green onions or cheese inside and skip the sugar.

There are many recipes out there and you can get creative with it and adapt it to your taste.

4. Mini Japanese Breakfast

You can also have a mini Japanese breakfast with rice, miso soup (I like putting tofu and seaweed inside), salmon, some quick tsukemono(Japanese pickles), fruits and natto/mozuku if you are a fan of it.

I like making cucumber with sesame oil, kombu, sesame seeds, pickled plum, bonito flakes as an okazu (side dish) because it is easy to make and very refreshing during summers.

I cut the cucumber (after peeling it), then mix all the ingredients in a bowl or Ziploc.

I recommend leaving it a little in the fridge before consuming it. You can do that while preparing the other dishes.

5. Ochazuke(お茶漬け)

Ochazuke is one of my favorite dishes to eat during cold days. It is rice with green tea.

At first, I wasn’t sure what to think, but after trying it, I found it so delicious and it just warms me up inside.

You can also buy the ochazuke at any supermarket and all you need to do is add hot water on top of the rice after putting on the ochazuke filling.

Most have pickled plum, salmon, wasabi, and so on.


These are my top 5 recommendations for Japanese breakfasts.

My favorite is probably the mini Japanese breakfast as I am used to eating a good meal in the morning to give me a lot of energy during the day.

I skip dinner quite often, so the Japanese breakfasts give me so much energy and I feel a lot healthier since following this routine.


By - cinnamonellie.