Tokyo food fads come and go faster than you can say “Oishi!” (delicious!), but some traditional dishes are always in style. Here are eight with a touch of innovation—silky stir-fried noodles, crisp pork cutlets, spicy beef and broccoli—inspired by the city's hyperhip department-store food halls.

For the following recipes, opt for Japanese soy sauce (shoyu), which is widely available at supermarkets. Shoyu is sweeter and less salty than Chinese soy sauce. The other Japanese ingredients called for—miso paste, pickled ginger, bonito (dried fish) flakes, shiso leaves, mirin, panko bread crumbs, chuka soba noodles and nori (seaweed) flakes—are sold at many large supermarkets, as well as specialty shops and Asian markets.

Published May 2003