The big debate of various Japanese dishes accompanied by gohan

[ragedaddy]

Last week I was with a couple members from my Ski team circle, and they were debating whether you can eat certain Japanese dishes together with rice. For example, we were discussing whether it`s normal or weird to eat okonomiyaki together with rice. The other ones that came up were udon and rice, and also ramen and rice. Some members of the group thought it was weird to eat rice with all of those choices, but others felt that it was perfectly normal. I guess it depended on which region they came from. What does everybody think about this discussion? I think it would be a little hard to eat okonomiyaki and rice together, as well as Udon and rice. However, I don`t think it would be that weird to eat ramen and rice together, because after you are done eating the ramen, you can mix the ramen broth with the rice. I think that would be pretty tasty myself. What do you guys think?

[kirei_na_me]

Hehe...this is interesting, indeed. Well, personally, I think it would be too much to eat rice with udon and rice with okonomiyaki. That's just too much for my taste. My husband is from Aichi, and he doesn't eat rice together with udon or okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is quite enough(and too much for me)by itself. He also doesn't eat rice with soba, but he sometimes eats rice with ramen. I don't know. I'd like to hear what some native Japanese think about this. It's a really good question.

[bezz]

Although carbohydrate food (noodles, pancakes, etc) served with rice would be as nutritious as mashed potato over spaghetti or French fries with starch dipping, people in Kansai area are known to eat ramen/udon with rice.
Soba, udon, ramen, okonomiyaki, etc are never considered as okazu in other regions. In fact adding rice to ramen soup is usually associated with extreme poverty (common night snack among students though.)

Some noodle restaurants outside Kansai too have similar menu, like "han-chan ramen" (ramen and half-portion fried rice,) or soba places offering lunch combo, with a tiny bowl of mugi-meshi (barley&rice) side and regular soba bowl.

[ragedaddy]

Originally posted by kirei_na_me
Hehe...this is interesting, indeed. Well, personally, I think it would be too much to eat rice with udon and rice with okonomiyaki. That's just too much for my taste. My husband is from Aichi, and he doesn't eat rice together with udon or okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is quite enough(and too much for me)by itself. He also doesn't eat rice with soba, but he sometimes eats rice with ramen. I don't know. I'd like to hear what some native Japanese think about this. It's a really good question.

Thanks kirei_na_me, I thought this topic had some potential to spark an interesting debate. Yeah, I agree that okonomiyake is more than filling by itself, so I don`t think I could choke down some rice even if I wanted to. I am also hoping that I can get various opinions by native Japanese people, because I am the furthest one away from being an expert on this matter. Thank you for your input!!!

Originally posted by bezz
Although carbohydrate food (noodles, pancakes, etc) served with rice would be as nutritious as mashed potato over spaghetti or French fries with starch dipping, people in Kansai area are known to eat ramen/udon with rice.
Soba, udon, ramen, okonomiyaki, etc are never considered as okazu in other regions. In fact adding rice to ramen soup is usually associated with extreme poverty (common night snack among students though.)

Some noodle restaurants outside Kansai too have similar menu, like "han-chan ramen" (ramen and half-portion fried rice,) or soba places offering lunch combo, with a tiny bowl of mugi-meshi (barley&rice) side and regular soba bowl.

Hey Bezz, thanks for shedding some light on this subject. As appetizing as Au Gratin potatoes on top of my pancakes sounds, I think I`d have to pass on that. Yeah, I heard people in Kansai do eat both together, but I`m still skeptical to think that the rice would even taste good with those other dishes. I have heard that putting shoyu on rice is related to poverty, but I never knew mixing ramen broth with rice meant the same thing. Thanks for the enlightenment and also your opinion concerning this topic!!!

[neko_girl22]

I asked my Kansai hubby about this and he says he eat rice with all those foods mentioned. Although I've never noticed it since we've been married ......
When I eat out at Sobacha-ya I often eat Niyasai udon with salmon rice. Does that count? Is that strange???

[ragedaddy]

Originally posted by nzueda
I asked my Kansai hubby about this and he says he eat rice with all those foods mentioned. Although I've never noticed it since we've been married ......
When I eat out at Sobacha-ya I often eat Niyasai udon with salmon rice. Does that count? Is that strange???

Hey nzueda, yeah I have heard that many people in Kansai eat rice together with those other dishes. As far as eating niyasai udon with salmon rice goes, I don`t think that is weird at all. I guess there is a saying that goes "To each, their own", so I guess what ever makes you happy then that`s good. Thanks for your input!