13 Top-Rated Japanese Noodle and Rice Bowls

By Carl Hanson
Updated October 19, 2020
Credit: Buckwheat Queen

With Japanese cooking, everything appeals to the senses. Flavors, textures, colors, the overall composition and presentation of food on the plate -- nothing is overlooked. Featuring rice and udon, soba, and ramen noodles, these simple bowls offer the best of Japanese cooking.  For more, check out our collection of Japanese Recipes.

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Authentic Japanese Scallop Soup with Ramen Noodles

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"Adapted from an authentic Japanese recipe, an easy and delicious soup. Look for dashi stock in a Japanese grocery store or order it online!" says Seth Kolloen. Or try making your own homemade Dashi.

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Soba Noodle Veggie Bowl

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Soba noodles are thin buckwheat noodles. Here, they're stir-fried with veggies and a savory sauce.  "Also known as 'yasai yakisoba,' this is a healthy and quick dish," says Diana71. "The recipe can be easily doubled, but this is really best for one person."

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Japanese Shoyu Ramen (Pressure Cooker)

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"The best thing about this recipe is that we use a pressure cooker that not only helps extract all the flavor very quickly but also creates a beautifully clear broth and intense umami flavor. We use chicken and 4 types of dried seafood to create an incredibly savory broth that is seasoned with a soy sauce tare that gives the broth a bit of sweetness and wonderful complexity."

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Japanese-Style Crispy Fried Pork Bowl (Tonkatsu Donburi)

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This popular Japanese rice bowl, also known as Katsudon, features crispy deep-fried pork chops. AdAstra45 gives it 5 stars: "This was a dish I dearly loved to eat when I was stationed in Japan. My small town of Misawa in Aomori-ken had either a breaded pork cutlet or a breaded chicken breast, sliced thin so that there was no need to try to cut the meat smaller in order to fit it in the mouth. I will sometimes make this dish without meat, just the egg and veggies. "

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Oyakodon (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)

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"Really easy, filling, and delicious," says User. "This delicious traditional Japanese meal consists of chicken sauteed and then cooked in a Japanese broth, and then finished with egg and served over rice."

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Traditional Beef Sukiyaki

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Here's a traditional one-pot Japanese beef sukiyaki recipe that you'll cook at the table. It features shirataki yam noodles, thin slices of beef, tofu, cabbage, mushrooms, and green onions.  "I love this recipe for Beef Sukiyaki!" raves Katrina Otero. "It's kind of hard to find the thinly sliced beef near where I live, so I use the meat that's pre-sliced that they use for Philly Cheesesteak at Walmart. You can throw in some pre-made potstickers if you can't find the noodles."

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Japanese Curry

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Serve this Japanese version of curry over udon noodles or white rice. "Japanese curry is different from Indian or Thai curries," says MMSVA. "It is more of a brown stew, and it can be mild or spicy, depending on your tastes."

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Restaurant-Style Shoyu Miso Ramen

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"Inspired by the shoyu ramen at my favorite ramen restaurant, this is my ideal ramen," says Maya Papaya Zimmerman. "If you want to make it pescatarian, I suggest foregoing the pork belly for bonito flakes -- just a big pinch in each bowl."

 

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Tonkatsu Shoyu Ramen (Pork Cutlet Soy Sauce Ramen)

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Here's an authentic Japanese noodle bowl with seasoned pork cutlet slices, naruto, and a hard-boiled egg topping ramen cooked with shoyu and miso. "If you have ever wanted to make great authentic Japanese noodle house ramen, this recipe is for you," says bvncbvnc. "A great everyday meal.  I rarely measure the amount of each ingredient due to the high number of small measurements used to save time."

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Gyudon Japanese Beef Bowl

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"This is basically a common Japanese fast food where beef and caramelized onions are served on top of short-grain rice," says LittoBubbo. "Perfect when hot, cold, or room temperature. Good for school lunches on hot days."

 

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Zaru Soba

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Cooked soba noodles are tossed with soy sauce, mirin, and sesame seeds. "This is a Japanese cold noodle soup perfect for those hot summer days," says BRENNA3. "It is filling and refreshing."

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Japanese Nabeyaki Udon Soup

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"This is a wonderful Japanese soup, very popular throughout Japan - with chicken, eggs, and vegetables," says jaime. "A meal in and of itself!"

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Kitsune Udon

Credit: Allrecipes
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"The noodles are springy and work perfectly with this dish," says Jasmine. "The broth for this dish is very umami and slightly fishy with subtle notes of seaweed. The aburaage is soft and easy to eat, and contributes a lot of the dish's overall flavor. This can be served with fish cakes as well."

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By Carl Hanson