Also known as dry-frying, karaage is a Japanese cooking technique in which various foods are first lightly coated in arrowroot starch, then deep-fried. The use of arrowroot starch preserves the natural water content of fried foods and produces a crispy outer surface, but alternatively, other coating ingredients such as wheat flour, tapioca, or potato starch can also be used.

Karaage can be used for frying various meats and fish, but it is most often associated with chicken, and involves a special variant called tatsutaage, where pieces of chicken are first marinated in a mixture of sake, soy sauce, and sugar which are then lightly covered with arrowroot starch and deep-fried. 

The breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet tonkatsu is a Japanese dish with a very recent history. It first appeared at the end of the 19th century as a type of yoshoku — the Western-influenced Japanese dishes — but with time, tonkatsu has become increasingly Japanized, widely available to the masses and thus more popular.

Tonkatsu is a dish in itself or, if married with other ingredients, it can turn into many of its almost endless variations; made like a sandwich, paired with ramen or rice, poured over with a thick miso sauce as done in Nagoya, or served with curry to make katsu karē. 

These large prawns are typically dipped in egg wash, coated in panko breadcrumbs, then deep-fried. They are one of the most popular yōshoku dishes; western-inspired Japanese meals which originated during the Meiji Restoration between the 1860s and the early 1900s.

Ebi furai falls into the kawari-age category of breaded, deep-fried foods, and it is also regarded as a meibutsu, which is a Japanese term for famous foods associated with particular regions, as these fried prawns are one of Nagoya's signature dishes. 

Katsudon is a type of donburi, meaning it's a rice dish served in a bowl topped with simmered ingredients. In this case, the topping is another Japanese favorite — tonkatsu — a deep-fried and crumbed pork cutlet, but here it is simmered together with vegetables in a seasoned sauce bound with eggs.

The earliest reference to the dish dates back to 1921 and since then numerous varieties have been developed by adding or replacing the ingredients from the original recipe. The best-known versions include katsudon made with Worcestershire sauce, miso, and soy sauce, but there are also ones that replace pork with beef or chicken.

Katsu karē is a Japanese curry variation made with a combination of tonkatsu (breaded and fried pork or chicken cutlet) and curry sauce. The dish is sometimes served with just the curry sauce, and sometimes with the full curry – including meat and vegetables.

On the other hand, it is almost always served with rice or over rice. In the region of Kansai, beef cutlet is typically used instead of chicken or pork.

Age gyoza is a Japanese gyoza variety that's deep-fried. The dish consists of a wrapper that's filled with different kinds of ingredients such as kimchi, shrimp, mushrooms, and pork, among others. Once assembled, the gyoza are deep-fried in hot oil until crunchy, then served piping hot, so it's recommended to excercise caution while eating it.

Age gyoza is traditionally dipped in soy sauce that's customarily served on the side.

Atsuage is a traditional dish consisting of deep-fried tofu. The slices of tofu are wrapped in kitchen paper and weighed down with a small weight so the water drains well. They are then deep-fried until golden brown, puffy, and slightly crunchy on the exterior.

On the inside, the tofu should remain silky soft. This dish is often prepared as an inexpensive source of protein and it’s eaten as it is with soy sauce, grated ginger, or various vegetables.

Although tempura is battered and deep-fried, the Japanese approach to food, characterized by clean flavors, simplicity, and minimalistic approach to ingredients remains intact. The most favorable ingredients for the dish include shrimp, scallops, squid, and small crabs, or vegetables such as shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, Japanese eggplant, and snow peas.

The batter is the most crucial part of tempura, consisting of flour, eggs, and water, keeping the ingredients moist and flavorful. Even though the dish is very simple, it has quite murky origins. The most popular theory says that the Jesuit missionaries who came to Japan from Portugal in the 16th century were the most probable inspiration for the dish, consuming vegetable and seafood fritters on ember days (days on which no meat was allowed to be consumed). 

A delicious combination of tempura and donburi - hence the name tendon - this classic Japanese one-bowl meal consists of battered and deep-fried seafood or vegetables laid over freshly steamed rice. The most popular ingredients for tendon include ebi or shrimps, which can be found in virtually all tempura dishes, and Japanese eggplant called nasu, but also other vegetables such as daikon radish and kabocha squash.

Tendon is usually drizzled with the umami-imparting tentsuyu, a savory tempura sauce made with dashi soup stock and a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar called kaeshi. Alternatively, to make your tendon bowl look even more appetizing, the tempura pieces can be separately dipped in any dashi or soy-based sauce before being neatly arranged on top of a steamy bed of rice.