Travel Japan.jp

- A -

Aemono

It is one method of cooking.
It is to mix the ingredients and the flavoring together.

Amazake (Ama-sake)

It is a sweet drink made by fermented rice.
It says "sake" meaning alcohol, but it does not contain alcohol in the drink.

- B -

Bancha

It is coarse green tea.
It is light weighted and contains less caffeine but has astringent taste.

- C -

Chazuke

It is rice with Japanese tea or stock soup poured in the same bowl.
It normally comes with intensely-flavored side dish such as pickled plum, pickle, and salmon.
It is generally consumed after drink.

Chawanmushi

It is steamed egg hotchpotch.

Chikuwa

It is fish sausage.
It is a fish paste product made by winding ground fish meat around bamboo sticks and roasted or steamed.
Chikuwa literally means bamboo ring because cut end surface looks like bamboo.

- D -

Don-mono

A cuisine in which the main ingredients are layed on top of the rice in a bowl.
There are Tendon, Katsudon and so on.

Dashi

Soup stock

Daifuku

A soft rice cake filled with sweet bean jam.

Dango

A boiled or steamed ball of rice flour.

Dorayaki

A pancake with sweet bean jam.

- E -

Edamame

Green soybean.
It normally cooks them in boiling water with salt.
It is best with beer in summer.

- F -

- G -

Genmai

Brown rice is unmilld or partly milled rice, a kind of whole, natural grain.
Genmaicha is a kind of tea that Japanese green tea combined with roasted brown rice and a little of salt.
Genmaicha is very popular in Japan .It has a slimming effect !!

Gyu-don

It is sweet-salty boiled beef and onion on top of rice in the bowl.
It also often includes shirataki noodles, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg.
Gyū means "cow" or "beef", and don is short for donburi, the Japanese word for "bowl".
Now, there are many kinds of Gyu-don in Japan

Gyokuro

A less astringent tea

- H -

Hanpen

A cake of ground fish combined with starch and steamed.

Hayashiraisu

Rice with hashed meat.

Hiyashi-chuka

Chinese noodle with summer vegetables and ham pouring sour sauce.

Houjicha

Toasted (roasted) tea. It can be drunk before going to sleep.

- I -

Iyokan

A kin of citrus.
Ehime Prefecture is major producer of Iyokan.
The name of Iyokan comes from former name of Ehime Prefecture.

- J -

- K -

Kaiten Zushi

Conveyor belt sushi.

Katsuo-bushi

Dried bonito flakes.

Katsu-don

A large bowl of rice topped mainly with a breaded fried pork cutlet.

Kaiseki-ryouri

An elegant Japanese meal served in delicate courses.

Kenchin-jiru

Japanese vegetable chowder. A soy-based soup made with fried vegetables.

Kakiage

A mixed vegetable (seafood) tempura.

Karaage

Deep fried chicken.

Kabayaki

Eel (loach) split, grilled and basted with a sweet sauce.

Kinpiragobou

Chopped burdock root cooked in soy sauce and sugar (sometimes with chopped carrot).

Kamaboko

White fish meat made into a seasoned paste, steamed and typically formed into a semi cylindrical shape over a strip of wood.

Kome

Rice

Kobe gyu (Kobe beef)

The name "Kobe beef" refers to cuts of beef from the black Tajima-gyu breed, raised to specific standards in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.
Kobe beef became famous worldwide when Kobe port was open in 1868.
Kobe beef is one of three major Wagyu cattle, and this marbled meat is considered to be very tender and succulent.

Kuzuyu

Kudzu starch gruel.

- L -

- M -

Matcha

Matcha is used in the Japanese tea ceremony.
Leaves are grown without exposure to direct sunlight.
They are steamed and dried without being rubbed then stone-ground into a powder.
Naturally, matcha is full of catechin and provides health benefits.
There has been an increase in the use of matcha in confectionary and
cooking overseas, so even more people are enjoying its depth of flavor.

Manju

A kind of Japanese confectionery.
Steamed flour bun filled with sweet bean paste.

Miso

Fermented paste made from soybeans and usually rice or barley.

Miso-shiru

Soup made from soy bean paste.

Mizu-ame

Millet jelly.

Mirin

Sweetened sake usually used as flavoring.

Mizutaki

A kind of nabe (pot) dish.
It is local cuisine in Fukushima Prefecture.
It is served with chicken and vegetable in chicken stock.

Motsunabe

A kind of nabe (pot) dish.
It is local cuisine in Fukushima Prefecture.
In the soy source or soy bean soup.
it is served with beef guts, cabbage, Chinese chive and other vegetables.

Mugicha

Barley tea. Infusion of parched barley.
It is normally drunk during summer.

- N -

Nihonshu(Sake, Rice wine)

A kind of Japanese traditional alcoholics by fermenting rice.
It is divided into Ginjo-shu (sake made from highly milled rice and with or without alcohol),
Junmai-shu (pure sake), Junmaiginjo-shu, Hon-Jozo-shu, Gen-shu and Nama-zake (sake that has not been pasteurized).
It is drunk both hot and cold.

Niboshi

Boiled-dry small fish.
It is used for soup stock like dried bonito and dried kelp.

Nigirizushi

Hand shaped sushi.

Nabeyakiudon

Japanese wheat noodle boild in the earthen pot.
The popular ingredients are egg, shrimp tempura, Kamaboko (fish sousage), Chinese mushroom and green vegitables.

Nikujaga

Simmered beef and potatoes.

Nagasaki-chanpon

Local cuisine in Nagasaki Prefecture.
Noodle dish based on Chinese cuisine.

Nihoncha

Green tea

- O -

Okowa

Steamed sticky rice.
Sekihan, a kind of Okowa, is made by steaming glutinous rice (an especially sticky variety) together with red beans which turn the rice red.

Onigiri

Rice ball covered with seaweed.
It contains ume-boshi (pickled plum), salmon, cod roe or others depending on each household.

Oyako-don

A bowl of rice topped with chicken and eggs and sometimes onions along with special salty-sweet sauce.

Oden

Oden (Japanese Pot-au-feu) is a kind of pot dishes.
There is Japanese radish, kelp, egg, fish paste and others as ingredients.

Okonomiyaki

Japanese-style pancake containing vegetables and other ingredients.

- P -

- Q -

- R -

Ramen

A Japanese noodle dish that originated in China.
It consists of a meaty broth, noodles, and shredded vegetables and meats.

- S -

Sansho

Japanese pepper. It comes with broiled eel.

Shoga

Ginger

Shoyu

Japanese basil

Shojin-ryouri

Vegetarian dish for Buddhist monks.

Sekihan

A kind of Okowa.
Sekihan is made by steaming glutinous rice together with red beans which turn the rice red.
It is often consumed in joyous events.

Sashimi

Sliced raw fish.

Soba

Buckwheat noodle.
A kind of Japanese noodles.
Sobayu (Boiling water) is drunk after the meal.

Soumen

A kind of Japanese noodles.
It is made of flour. It is often served chilled during summer.

Shabu-shabu

It is a kind of hot pot.
Immersing thin sliced beef boiling with vegetables, tofu, and kudzu noodle in hot soup stock few times and eating with sesame sauce or ponzu sauce (sauce containing soy sauce and vinegar or citrus juice).

Satsumaage

Fried fish paste.
It is dried fish paste mixed with tofu and sugar.

Shochu

Shochu is another alcoholic drink with a long tradition that is popular in Japan.
Shochu is made of spirits distilled from fermented rice, swet-potatoes, wheat or the like and retains some of the original flavor.
Being distilled, it contains more alcohol than sake (25 to 35%).

Sencha

Bitter and refreshing green tea drunk regularly.
It is recommended as a drink before playing sports and also for quenching thirst.

Senbei (Japanese rice cracker)

It is thin flat roasted rice cracker.
It is popular snack.

- T -

Tougarashi

A kind of spices.
Tougarashi is a plant that belongs to the same family as egg plant.
It has a hotness.

Takikomi-gohan

A kind of Rice dish.
It is often called Kayaku-gohan and Gomoku-gohan.
Rice cooked with ingredients including stock and soy sauce.
By cooking all together in one pot, rice can absorb resting ingredients.

Tekka-don

A kind of rice bowl cuisine with tuna.
It is popular Japanese cuisine with common touch.

Tsukemono (Japanese pickle)

It is preserved food such as vegetables pickled in salt, vinegar, rice bran paste, soy sauce, sake lees etc.

Tenpura (Japanese deep-fried food)

Deep fry fish, vegetables, wild vegetables etc dipped with flour and egg.
It is very popular Japanese cuisine among foreigners.

Teriyaki

It is popular Japanese cooking method.
By dipping sweet soy sauce based sauce (Teriyaki Sauce) and broiling ingredients, their surface becomes shiny with sauce sugar.
Shiny (Teri) is the origin of the name.

Tamagotofu

It is the dish made from soup stock and eggs.
It doesn't include tofu although it is called tamagotofu (egg tofu).

Takoyaki

Osaka is the birthplace of Takoyaki.
Octopus dumpling made of diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, green laver (aonori), mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (fish shavings).

Tacorice

It is a popular example of Okinawan cuisine.
It consists of taco-flavored ground beef served on rice and lettuce, and also served together with tomato, cucumber, cheese and topped off with salsa.

Tounyu

Soy milk.

Taiyaki

Japanese fish-shaped cake.
The most common filling is sweetened red bean paste.

- U -

Unagi

Freshwater eels.
It is high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, cholesterol and saturated fat.

Unagi pai

A kind of sweet biscuit made with powdered unagi.

Una-ju

A dish with sliced eel served on a bed of rice.

Udon

A type of thick wheat-flour noodle.

- V -

- W -

Wasabi

Horseradish. Its root is used as a spice.

Wagashi

A traditional Japanese confectionery.

- X -

- Y -

Yakizakana

Flame-grilled fish.

Yakisoba

Fried noodle.
A dish often sold at festivals in Japan.
It is prepared by stir-frying ramen-style noodles with pork, vegetables (usually cabbage, onions or carrots) and flavored with yakisoba sauce, salt and pepper.

Yakiniku

Grilled meat.
In a restaurant, prepared raw ingredients are cooked by the diners on a grill and dipped in a sauce.

Youshoku

It refers to a style of Western-influenced cooking.
For example, Hayashiraisu and Korokke (croquette).

Yuzu Kosho

A spicy Japanese sauce made from green or yellow yuzu zest, green or red chili peppers, and salt.
It is also used to garnish a savory.

Youkan

A thick jellied dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar.

- Z -

Zarusoba

Cold soba noodles with dipping sauce.