TermDefinition
- aemono
- a salad of cooked vegetables
- aigamo
- cross between a domestic white duck and a wild mallard
- ainame
- greenling
- akami
- red flesh fish
- akaza ebi
- Japanese lobster
- akazake
- a brown-coloured sweet rice wine from Toyama
- akazu
- red vinegar made from sake lees
- ajiro
- a woven or plaited wicker mat
- amamiso
- sweet miso
- amazake
- traditional sweet sake drink
- anago
- conger eel
- ankake
- thick starchy sauce made from kudzu or katakuriko flour
- aradaki
- simmered fish head and bones
- arajiru
- miso soup with fish meat and bone
- A-sai
- a Chinese leafy green
- awabi
- abalone
- awa-fu
- foxtail millet steamed with wheat starch
- awamori
- kind of shochu made in Okinawa
- ayu
- sweetfish
- azuki
- red bean
- bancha
- tea harvested from the second flush of sencha
- barachirashi
- assorted cubed fish on sushi rice
- bento
- lunch box
- bincho
- high-grade charcoal
- botan-hamo
- peony-shaped hamo in a soup
- botan nabe
- boar's meat stew
- bozushi
- sushi pressed in a box rather than by hand
- buri
- Japanese amberjack, or yellowtail
- byobue
- picture on a Japanese folding screen
- cha-buri namako
- tea-bathed sea cucumber with vinegar
- chagayu
- rice gruel cooked with tea
- chakaiseki
- tea ceremony cuisine
- chameshi
- rice cooked with tea
- chanoyu
- tea ceremony
- cha-soba
- soba flavoured with green tea powder
- chawanmushi
- savoury egg custard
- chazuke
- rice with Japanese tea poured over it
- chiai
- fish flesh that is red with blood
- chimaki
- steamed rice cake wrapped in bamboo leaves
- chimaki-zushi
- sushi wrapped in bamboo leaves
- chirashi-zushi
- a bowl of sushi rice with toppings
- chirimenjako
- dried young sardines
- chiri nabe
- fugu hotpot
- chirimen sansho
- dried baby fish seasoned with soy and Japanese pepper
- chu-toro
- moderately fatty, sweet flesh of tuna
- daidai
- Asian variety of bitter orange
- daikon
- Japanese radish
- dashi
- soup stock
- dashimaki tamago=dashimaki
- soup stock-flavoured thick Japanese omelette roll
- dengaku miso
- sweet red miso sauce
- dobinmushi
- a clear soup with mushrooms served in an earthenware pot
- dou ban jiang
- Chinese seasoning made from broad bean chilli paste
- ebi-imo
- Kyoto yam
- ebi-shinjo
- shrimp dumplings
- edomae
- Tokyo-style
- enseki ryori
- banquet cuisine
- eringi
- king oyster mushrooms
- fu
- wheat-gluten bread
- fugu
- puffer fish
- fukinoto
- butterbur sprout
- fu ru
- Chinese fermented tofu
- fusuma
- papered sliding doors
- fusuma-e
- images drawn or painted on sliding door panels
- galbi
- Korean grilled dish made with marinated beef or pork ribs
- geiko
- another name for a geisha
- geisha
- traditional, female entertainers
- geta
- wooden clogs
- gohan
- steamed rice
- goma-dofu
- sesame tofu
- goritsukudani
- sweetened soy glaze
- gotenjo
- coffered ceiling
- gujeolpan
- Korean dish of nine different foods arranged on a wooden plate
- guji
- tilefish
- guji-no-sakayaki
- grilled tilefish seasoned with sake
- gyunabe
- beef hotpot
- gyuniku-bento
- beef lunch box
- gyutan-bento
- ox tongue lunch box
- haiku
- 17-syllable poem
- hamaguri shinjo
- clam-filled dumplings
- hamo
- pike conger
- hamo zukushi
- pike conger set meal
- hanami
- cherry blossom viewing
- hanasansho
- pepper flowers
- harakami
- the upper belly of raw tuna
- hassun
- appetiser plate
- hatsu gatsuo
- katsuo caught in spring
- hatcho miso
- reddish miso with reduced sweetness, manufactured in Aichi
- hegizukuri
- thinly sliced sashimi
- hiba=hinoki
- Japanese cypress
- higashi
- traditional confection, often served with tea
- hikigurumi-flour
- husked buckwheat flour
- hinoki
- Japanese cypress
- hirasuzuki
- sea bass
- hire
- eel's fin
- hiroen
- indoor veranda
- hiryuzu
- deep-fried tofu mixed with thinly sliced vegetables
- hitsumabushi
- eel broiled in soy-based sauce, served in small pieces over rice
- hiyamugi
- fine white noodles/thin, white noodles made from wheat flour
- hiyashi chuka
- chilled ramen noodle dish with various toppings and a soy sauce-flavoured dressing
- hiyashijiru-gohan
- chilled miso soup poured over warm rice
- hobayaki
- grilled miso and other ingredients on a magnolia leaf
- honesenbei
- deep-fried or dried fish bones
- horigotatsu-style
- low seating at a covered table placed over a sunken area in the floor
- hotate-shinjo
- scallop dumplings
- ichiban-dashi
- basic soup stock
- ichiyaboshi
- fish salted and dried overnight
- ikebana
- flower arrangement
- inaka soba
- thick soba made with whole buckwheat
- inaniwa udon
- thin, chewy noodles; a speciality of Akita Prefecture
- inari-zushi=inari
- vinegared rice stuffed in a bag made of fried bean curd
- inuyarai
- low fence of usually closely spaced, often inwardly curving, pales
- irizake
- boiled, condensed sake used to flavour fish
- isobe age
- frying technique in which seaweed is blended into the coating
- itamae kappo
- traditional cuisine where the chef prepares the fish in front of the customer
- itawasa
- slices of white fish paste served with horseradish and soy sauce
- iwanori
- rock seaweed
- izakaya
- Japanese-style pub
- jako
- dried fish-fry
- jako meshi
- rice with dried fish-fry
- jibuni
- traditional Kaga dish featuring duck, bran and vegetables boiled in a broth until thick
- jijim
- Korean vegetable pancake
- junmai-shu
- pure rice wine
- junsai
- watershield
- juwari soba
- 100% buckwheat noodles
- kabayaki
- eel broiled and basted with a sweet sauce
- kabosu
- a citrus fruit grown mainly in Fukui Prefecture
- kabuki
- Japanese classical theatre
- kabuki gate
- roofed gate
- kabura-senmaizuke
- pickled turnips
- kabutoni
- simmered fish head dishes
- kaeshi
- ripened soy sauce mixed with sweetened sake and sugar
- kaiawase
- shell-matching game popular with court aristocrats during the Heian period
- kaiseki=kaiseki ryori
- traditional multi-course meal
- kagenzu
- a mix of soy sauce and vinegar
- kake soba
- soba in broth with thinly sliced scallion
- kakiage
- all-in-one seafood and vegetable tempura blend
- kaki nabe
- simmered oysters and vegetables in a light broth
- kaki soba
- soba with oysters
- kamaage
- boiled noodles scooped straight out of the pot
- kamameshi
- rice, meat or vegetable dish served in a small pot
- kamo soba
- soba and duck in broth
- kamonanban
- soba and duck in broth with onions
- kamonasu
- a Kyoto variety of eggplant
- kamoyaki
- grilled duck
- kanpo
- Chinese herbal medicine
- kappa
- mythical creature that lives in water
- kanpyo
- dried gourd strips
- kanpyo-maki
- rolled sushi with dried gourd strips wrapped in seaweed
- kappo
- counter style restaurant serving traditional Japanese cuisine
- karaage
- soy sauce-marinated fried meat, usually chicken
- karasumi
- salted and dried grey mullet roe
- kasugodai
- young Pacific sea bream
- kasujiru
- a soup or stew cooked with sake lees
- katsuo
- bonito
- katsuo-bushi
- dried bonito flakes
- katsuo dashi
- soup stock made from bonito
- kensaki-ika
- swordtip squid
- kiji-chazuke
- chazuke with Japanese pheasant meat
- kijinanban
- soba with pheasant prepared with onions in broth
- kiku-zukuri
- thinly sliced sashimi arranged in the shape of a chrysanthemum
- kiku-zukushi
- a dish using edible chrysanthemum
- kimizu
- egg yolk vinaigrette sauce
- kimono
- traditional Japanese clothing
- kimosui
- eel liver soup
- kinmedai
- golden-eye snapper
- kinome
- young pepper leaves
- kishu-binchotan
- bincho charcoal produced in Wakayama
- kobashira
- the two round muscles on both sides of the 'tongue' in shellfish
- kobujime
- fish pressed between two sheets of kelp
- koebi
- small shrimp
- koi-no-arai
- carp sashimi served with a vinegar miso sauce
- kombu
- kelp
- komekoji zuke
- vegetables preserved in rice malt
- komochikombu
- kelp with herring roe
- konnyaku
- solidified jelly made from devil's tongue
- konowata
- salted sea cucumber gut
- kotatsu
- low table with heater
- koto-negi
- a variety of green onion
- koya-dofu
- freeze-dried tofu
- kudzu
- a type of vine
- kumiage-yuba
- bean curd skin
- kuroge wagyu
- a breed of cattle
- kuromitsu
- brown sugar syrup
- kushiage
- fried vegetables and meat on a skewer
- kushikatsu
- deep-fried kebab
- kuwayaki
- meat and vegetables pan-fried in mirin and soy sauce
- kuzukiri
- kudzu starch noodles
- kuzuyose
- dessert made from kudzu powder
- Kyogen
- a form of traditional Japanese theatre
- Kyo-ryori
- Kyoto cuisine
- machiya
- traditional wooden townhouses
- maiko
- apprentice geisha
- makiebi
- small tiger prawn
- Makurakotoba
- figures of speech used in Waka poetry
- manganji togarashi
- chilli peppers cultivated in the Kyoto area
- manju
- steamed yeast bun with filling
- Manyoshu
- the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry
- mapo
- spicy chilli and bean-based sauce often cooked with minced meat
- mapo tofu
- Sichuan-style bean curd
- maruage-dofu
- deep-fried tofu
- marunuki
- whole buckwheat with its outer shell
- masu
- trout
- matcha
- powdered green tea
- matsubagani
- snow crab
- matsutake
- mushroom
- matsutake dobinmushi
- mushroooms steam-boiled in an earthenware teapot
- mazegohan
- rice mixed with different ingredients
- megochi
- big-eyed flathead
- mirin
- a type of sweet sake used in cooking
- mitsuba
- wild parsley
- mizansho
- unripe pepper
- miso
- soybean paste
- mizore
- finely grated daikon in sweetened soy sauce
- mizudako
- North Pacific giant octopus
- mizunasu
- a juicy eggplant
- mizunasu umani
- fish or meat boiled with eggplant in a soy sauce with sugar
- mochi
- sticky rice cake
- momiji-oroshi
- grated daikon radish and red chilli peppers
- mori soba
- basic chilled soba served in a shallow basket
- moshio
- salt from burning seaweed
- mozuku
- a type of edible seaweed
- mugitoro
- boiled barley and rice covered in raw grated yam
- mukobone
- eel spine
- mukozuke
- starter dish forming part of the kaiseki
- myoga
- ginger
- nabe
- hotpot
- nagaita
- rectangular board for tea ceremony utensils
- nama-fu
- wheat gluten
- nama-yuba
- raw bean curd
- name-fu shigureni
- wheat gluten and ginger marinated in sweet soy sauce to be eaten with plain rice
- nameko
- variety of mushroom
- namul
- Korean seasoned vegetable dish
- nanbanni
- sweet and sour sauce
- natto
- fermented soybeans
- negima
- dishes based on spring onions and tuna
- nianago
- simmered conger eel
- nidako
- simmered octopus
- nigari
- bittern
- nigiri
- sushi
- nihachi soba
- noodles made from 80% buckwheat and 20% flour
- nihamaguri
- simmered clams
- nikiri
- condensed soy sauce
- nikogori
- jellied fish or meat broth
- nikujaga
- meat and potato stew
- nimono
- food cooked by boiling or stewing
- nitsuke
- vegetables or fish boiled in soy sauce
- nitsume
- soy syrup
- nodoguro
- rosy sea perch
- Noh
- traditional Japanese chanted drama
- nori
- seaweed
- nuta
- salad seasoned with vinegar and miso
- nyumen
- thin, white noodles with various ingredients in a hot soy sauce broth
- oba=shiso
- perilla leaf
- obanzai
- Kyoto cuisine side-dishes
- oboro dofu
- very soft tofu served with condiments
- oborozuke
- dish seasoned with fish flakes
- ochaya
- an exclusive kind of Kyoto teahouse where geisha join with guests
- ochazuke
- cooking style in which green tea is poured over a rice dish
- oden
- various ingredients stewed in a thin soy soup
- ohitashi
- boiled greens
- ojiya
- rice gruel seasoned with miso or soy sauce
- okaka
- finely chopped katsuo-bushi
- okara
- bean curd lees
- okimari=omakase
- set meal
- okowa
- steamed glutinous rice
- omakase
- set menu with daily changing dishes
- onigiri
- rice ball with filling
- onsen tamago
- slow-boiled egg, traditionally cooked in a hot spring
- ontama soborodon
- rice with hot spring eggs and minced meat
- oroshi
- grated daikon radish
- oshizushi
- sushi rice and other ingredients pressed in a box or mould
- o-toro
- the fattier, melt-in-the-mouth flesh of tuna
- otoshi
- small dish served without being ordered at the beginning of the meal
- ponzu
- sauce made primarily of soy sauce and citrus juice
- rafute
- stewed and glazed pork
- Rimpa-style
- painting style involving simple natural objects with a gold leaf background
- ryokan
- Japanese inn
- ryori
- cooking
- ryotei
- traditional Japanese restaurant
- ryuhi-kombu
- sweet and sour kelp
- ryukyu tatami
- flooring in which smaller, borderless, square tatami mats are used
- sabazushi
- chub mackerel sushi
- saiboshi
- smoked horse meat
- saimaki ebi
- young tiger prawns
- sakamushi
- seafood seasoned with salt and sake then steamed
- sakura ebi
- stardust shrimps
- samgyetang
- Korean soup primarily made from chicken and ginseng
- samue
- monk's working clothes
- sanma
- Pacific saury
- sansho
- pepper
- sarashina
- refined soba flour
- sashimi
- sliced raw fish
- satsuma age
- a fried fish cake
- sawara
- Spanish mackerel
- sazae
- horned turban shell
- sechie
- seasonal court banquet
- seiro
- basket used for steaming food
- sekihan
- sticky rice steamed with azuki beans
- setoro
- fatty back flesh of tuna
- setta
- leather-soled sandals with bamboo sheath insole
- shabu-shabu
- thinly sliced meat or vegetable boiled by dipping it in hot kombu broth or water, and then in sauce
- shako
- mantis shrimp
- shamisen
- three-stringed Japanese guitar
- shiatsu
- finger pressure massage or therapy
- shibazuke
- salted and chopped pickled eggplant
- shichimi ponzu
- ponzu made with a blend of seven spices
- shiitake
- mushroom
- shimesaba
- pickled mackerel
- shinjo
- fishcake
- shinshoga
- young ginger root
- shinsoba
- newly harvested buckwheat
- shiogamayaki=shioyaki
- salt-baked fish or meat
- shiraae
- vegetable salad with white sesame seeds, tofu and miso/salad with mashed tofu dressing
- shirako
- milt
- shiraume
- white apricot
- shirauo soba
- soba soup containing icefish
- shirayaki
- broiled unseasoned fillet
- shirfukui kombu
- thin white kelp marinated in vinegar
- shiromiso zoni
- rice cake soup seasoned with white miso
- shiro tora-fugu
- white tiger pufferfish
- shochu
- liquor similar to vodka
- shogoin kabura
- turnip cultivated in the Kyoto area
- shoji
- sliding paper doors
- Shojin
- Buddhist vegetarian (dishes)
- shokado
- meal in traditional black lacquer box with four sections
- Shonan Miyaji buta
- brand of pork
- shuko
- drinking snacks
- shungiku
- chrysanthemum garland
- shuto
- salted and fermented bonito gut
- soba
- buckwheat noodles
- soba zanmai
- dish made from 3 different kinds of soba
- sobagaki
- soba mash (buckwheat flour in hot water served with soy sauce)
- sobayu
- hot water in which soba has been boiled
- somen
- fine white noodles/thin, white noodles made from wheat flour
- sudachi
- citrus fruit
- sudachi chazuke
- chazuke with Japanese citrus fruit
- sudachi ponzu
- ponzu sauce made with Japanese citrus fruit
- suki nabe
- thin slices of beef cooked with various vegetables in a hotpot
- sukiya
- tea-ceremony room
- sukiyaki
- hot pot dish with slices of beef and various vegetables, usually cooked at the table.
- sumashijiru
- clear soup
- surimi
- minced meat or fish used to mimic the texture and colour of the meat of lobster, crab and other shellfish
- surinagashi
- pureed soup made from various vegetables
- tai
- species of reddish-brown Pacific sea bream
- tai-meshi
- slices of raw sea bream over steaming hot rice
- Tai-no matsukawa-zukuri
- snapper 'pine bark' sashimi
- tairagai
- pen shell
- takiawase
- selection of vegetables and fish, meat or tofu, simmered separately
- takikomi-gohan
- rice dish seasoned with soy sauce and boiled with various ingredients
- takuan
- daikon pickles
- tamagokake-gohan
- white rice and raw egg mix, often seasoned with soy sauce
- tamago-yaki
- rolled omelette
- tamarishoyu
- soy sauce produced in the Tokai region of Honshu containing little or no wheat
- tanuki soba
- soba with tempura batter flakes
- tatami
- straw floor coverings
- tatamishiki
- tatami-matted
- tebiki
- hand-ground soba
- teishoku
- set meal
- temari
- traditional embroidered balls used in handball games
- tempura
- fish and vegetables deep-fried in a light batter
- tenaga-ebi
- freshwater prawn
- tencha
- rice in a Japanese tea broth with tempura
- tendon
- tempura served over a bowl of rice
- tentsuyu
- tempura dipping sauce
- teppanyaki
- cuisine prepared on a hot steel plate in the centre of the table
- teppi
- iron door
- teriyaki
- meat or fish marinated in a sweet soy sauce and broiled
- tessa
- puffer fish sashimi
- tetchiri
- boiled puffer fish
- tofu-dengaku
- tofu with sweet miso sauce
- toichi
- soba noodles made of 10 parts buckwheat to 1 part wheat flour
- tonburi
- a type of edible seed, sometimes called 'mountain caviar'
- tonkatsu
- pork cutlet
- tora fugu
- tiger pufferfish
- torigai
- cockle
- toro
- fatty flesh of tuna
- tsukemono
- picked vegetables
- tsukeyaki
- broiling with soy
- tsukimidai
- a terrace for gazing at the moon
- tsukuri
- decoratively arranged sashimi
- tsumire
- dumplings
- udo
- a plant related to ginseng
- udon
- a type of thick wheat-flour noodle
- ukago
- basket
- umaki
- Japanese style omelette with eel
- ume
- apricot
- unagi
- eel
- unaju
- broiled eel served over rice in a lacquered box
- uni
- sea urchin
- urui
- edible plantain lily
- ushiojiru
- thin soup of fish or shellfish boiled in seawater
- usucha
- thin tea
- uzaku
- eel and vegetables with vinegar sauce
- uzura manju
- steamed yeast bun with quail filling
- wabi-sabi
- a Japanese concept of finding beauty in the transient
- wagyu
- breed of Japanese cattle
- wakame
- seaweed
- wakatakeni
- boiled bamboo shoots
- wanmono
- clear soup
- warabimochi
- bracken-starch dumpling
- warishita
- stock mixed with soy sauce, mirin and sugar
- wasabi
- Japanese horseradish
- wasabi-yaki
- chicken skewer with wasabi on top
- watari-gani
- blue crab
- yaki-fugu
- grilled puffer fish
- yakiniku
- Fried meat, originating from Korean barbecue
- yakitori
- chicken pieces grilled on a skewer
- yakuzen
- (Chinese) medicinal food
- yama-wasabi
- mountain horseradish
- yobanashi
- evening tea party
- yoshoku
- Western-influenced cooking
- yuanyaki
- a grilled item marinated in soy sauce, sake and citrus
- yuba
- bean curd skin
- yukata
- summer kimono
- yukimi shoji
- sliding paper doors which can be lifted up at the bottom to see the view
- yurine manju senbei zutsumi
- fried dumpling made from lily bulbs wrapped in rice crackers
- yusoku ryori
- cuisine prepared according to the rules and traditions of the ancient court
- yuzu
- citrus fruit
- yuzuri leaves
- False Daphne plant leaves
- zuke-maguro
- soy marinated tuna
- zarudofu=zaru tofu
- tofu on a bamboo basket with dipping sauce on the side
- zataku
- low table
- zenmai
- Japanese royal fern
- zosui
- risotto-like rice soup made from pre-cooked rice and water
