Japanese Food Terms

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Azuki Beans small, red dark beans
Aonori seaweed sheets
Atsuage pressed, deep fried tofu
Benishoga pickled ginger
Bonito related to mackerel, dried and shaved into thin flakes used for flavoring
Cha Japanese word for tea
Daikon large, white radish
Dashi all purpose stock for soups and simmered dishes usually made with kombu and flavored with dried shiitake or bonito flakes
Donburi a bowl of boiled rice with various toppings, such as beef, chicken, egg
Gari pickled ginger
Gohan rice
Gourmet Powder MSG
Gu arrowroot
Hashi Chopsticks
Kata Dofu firm, coarse tofu
Katsu breaded, deep fried meat
Katsuo, Katsuobushi same as bonito
Konbu, Kombu kelp, seaweed; dried, sold in sheets or strips
Mirin sweet rice wine
Miso soybean paste
Misoshiro miso soup with pieces of beancurd
Mochi sticky, short grain rice
MSG monosodium glutamate, used as a flavor enhancer
Negi green onion
Noodles ramen, udon, soba, somen
Nori seaweed sheets
Panko coarse bread crumbs
Sansho Japanese pepper
Sashimi raw, slivered fish, usually served with a dip made of shoyu and wasabi; different styles of filleting are highly ritualized, different fish are cut in different ways
Sate rice wine
Seven Spice Powder black sesame seed, dried mandarin peel, roasted red pepper, fresh red pepper, sansho, poppy seed and hemp seed
Shichimi Togarashi Seven Spice Powder
Shirataki gelatinous noodles
Shiromiso pale yellow miso
Shiso pungent herb used for pickling
Shoyu soy sauce, soya sauce
Sukiyaki pieces of thinly sliced beef and vegetables boiled on a portable stove at the table then dipped in egg which cooks from the heat of the boiled pieces
Tamari wheat fermented soy sauce made with cultured soy beans, water and sea salt
Tempura method of cooking in which vegetables, fish or seafood are coated with batter and deep fried in vegetable oil
Tonkatsu loin of pork, covered in panko and deep fried, served with a tonkatsu sauce and shredded cabbage
Wakame long, thin brown sea vegetable; sweet taste, delicate texture, good in miso soup
Wasabi light green Japanese root that has been dried, powdered and made into a paste; reminiscent of horseradish.
Yasai vegetables
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