Japanese Food & Cooking Terms

A

Amaebi: sweet shrimp
Anago: sea eel
Awabi: abalone
Azuki: dried bean; azuki flour is often used for confections

B

Bento: meal served in a box with different compartments

D

Daikon (Mooli): long, white radish, usually grated or cut into strips
Dashi: soup or cooking stock made from seaweed and/or fish flakes; commonly used in miso soup
Donburi: bowl of boiled rice with different toppings like chicken, egg or beef

E

Ebi: shrimp
Edamame: fresh soy beans boiled in their pods and sprinkled with salt
Enoki (Enokitake): delicate mushrooms with long stems and small caps

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G

Gohan: rice

H

Hamachi: yellowtail, often used for sushi or grilled
Hashi: chopsticks
Hibachi: small, open charcoal grill
Hirame: flounder

I

Ikura: salmon roe

K

Kaiseki: multicourse menu of luxury Japanese dishes reflecting the seasons with the use of seasonal foods and artistic dinnerware and presentation
Kani: crab
Kappa: cucumber
Kobe beef: cattle raised in exclusive conditions (frequent massages and a diet featuring large quantities of beer), which results in an extraordinarily tender, very expensive beef
Konbu: dried kelp; used in soup stock, for sushi and as a condiment

M

Maguro: tuna
Maki: rolled
Mako: shark
Mirugai: giant clam
Miso (soup): soybean paste from which a savory broth is made, usually served with cubes of tofu or strips of seaweed

O

Ono: wahoo fish; a relative of the mackerel often compared in taste to albacore

R

Ramen: Chinese soup noodles

S

Saba: mackerel
Sake: salmon
Saké: traditional rice wine served hot or cold

Sashimi: thinly sliced raw fish on rice, usually served with soy sauce and wasabi
Shabu shabu: similar to sukiyaki; beef and vegetables cooked tableside in a broth
Shiitake: prized cultivated mushroom, dark brown with a large cap
Shoya: soy sauce
Shiso: herb and spice, also known as Perilla; its whole green leaf is often used as a receptacle for wasabi
Soba: buckwheat noodles
Sukiyaki: braised beef and vegetable dish with broth added after cooking
Sunomono: vinegared dishes
Sushi: rounds of vinegared rice wrapped in dried seaweed with a center of raw fish or vegetables, served with wasabi and soy

T

Tai: snapper
Tako: octopus
Takoyaki: a round dumpling filled with octopus
Tamago: egg
Tamari: dark sauce similar in composition and taste to soy; often used for dipping
Tempura: deep-fried, batter-dipped fish or vegetables

Teriyaki: a marinade of soy and sweet saké used on meats, fish and poultry
Tofu: bean curd, processed into a liquid and then molded into large cubes
Toro: fatty belly cut of tuna

U

Udon: wheat noodles
Unagi: freshwater eel
Uni: sea urchin roe

W

Wasabi: a hot, spicy condiment made from the roots of Japanese horseradish, chartreuse in color

Y

Yakitori: a dish of pieces of chicken and vegetables, marinated in a spicy sauce, skewered and grilled