FOOD & DRINK Japanese Food Glossary
Japanese Food Glossary
There are 18 entries in this glossary.All
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Daikon (White winter radish, white East |
This long, large white radish gets its Japanese name from the characters for ‘big” and “root.” It has a mild flavor and is said to aid in digestion. You’ll find it thinly sliced with plates of sashimi or in thicker cuts for stews and hotpots. |
| Dashi |
Dashi provides the base to many Japanese dishes and it brings out the umami (savouriness) so essential to Japanese cuisine through the ingredients such as
katsuobushi,
hoshi-shiitake and konbu. Those ingredients are often mixed to create deeper and authentic flavor. By combining different kinds of umami, the umami taste is significantly magnified. |
| Gobo (Burdock, gobo root) |
Chock full of nutrition, the burdock root is a staple of Japanese cooking and is also used in macrobiotic cooking. It’s used in many Japanese winter dishes such as stews and soups. |
| Hoshi Shiitake (Dried shiitake mushrooms |
When the popular shiitake mushroom is dried out, the liquid left over is rich in umami and perfect for a good dashi broth. The mushrooms have an earthy taste. |
| Japanese Rice (Japonica) |
Japanese rice, or japonica, is a short-grain variety of rice which is characterized by its unique stickiness and texture. All traditional Japanese dishes naturally go well with Japanese rice. If you don’t have a rice cooker at home, try cooking with a saucepan and gas stove. It is easy and simple. See How to cook Japanese Rice. |
| Katsuobushi (Dried bonito flakes) |
Dried, fermented and shaved bonito flakes are often sprinkled on Japanese dishes and used to make dashi. The bonito, also referred to as skipjack tuna, is served in sashimi or tataki form, but when it goes through the process of becoming katsuobushi, it becomes rich in umami. |
| Kombu (Brown algae or seaweed) |
There are many types of kombu, or brown algae, but the ones most used in dashi come from the waters around Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. The kombu is typically left to mature for a couple of years before it develops the taste that complements the dashi. |
| Konnyaku (Devil's tongue) |
This gelatinous, rubbery cake has almost no calories but is very high in fiber, making it a popular diet food in Japan. It comes from the starch of the devil’s tongue or snake palm plant. It is served in cake forms or as thin noodles. |
| Mirin |
Mirin is a Japanese sweet cooking wine usually consisting of 40%–50% sugar. It is a type of rice wine similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content. There are three general types. The first is hon mirin (lit. true mirin), which contains alcohol. The second is shio mirin, which contains alcohol as well as 1.5% salt. The third is shin mirin (lit. new mirin), or mirin-fu chomiryo (lit. mirin-like seasoning), which contains less than 1% alcohol yet retains the same flavor. |
| Miso |
Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus kōjikin, the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup. Miso is still very widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savory, and there is an extremely wide variety of miso available. |
| Nori |
Nori is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red alga Porphyra including most notably yezoensis and tenera, sometimes called laver. The term nori is also commonly used to refer to the food products created from these "sea vegetables", similar to the Korean gim. Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles papermaking. |
| Ponzu |
Ponzu is a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is very tart in flavor, with a thin, watery consistency and a light yellow color. Ponzu shōyu or ponzu jōyu is ponzu sauce with soy sauce (shōyu) added, and the mixed product is widely referred to as simply ponzu. It is made by boiling mirin, rice vinegar, katsuobushi flakes, and seaweed (konbu) over medium heat. The liquid is cooled and then strained to remove the katsuobushi flakes and the juice of one or more of the following: yuzu, sudachi, daidai, and kabosu (Japanese citrus fruits), and sometimes also lemon, is added. |
| Renkon (Lotus root) |
Peel off the reddish-brown skin and slice through the white flesh of a lotus root and a floral pattern will appear. The holes are said to be auspicious. Renkon has a nice crunch to it. |
| Satoimo (Taro, taro potato, Japanese pot |
The taro root, native to tropical Asia, is slightly hairy on the exterior. Peel the skin to reveal a slick, slightly slimy interior. The tuber is served boiled, steamed and simmered and has been part of Japanese cuisine for centuries. |
| Shichimi |
Shichimi togarashi ("seven flavor chili pepper") or simply shichimi, is a common Japanese spice mixture containing seven ingredients. It is also known as nanami togarashi outside Japan (nana being an alternative word for "seven"). The main ingredient is coarsely ground red chili pepper, to which is typically added:
|
