A Dictionary of Japanese Food. Richard Hosking
for recognition and identification. The scientific names of animals and plants are also important for correct identification, and these too, checked in Japanese sources, are included. Many of these names are hard to find and perhaps because they are in Latin, seem to get misspelled very easily. Even important publications are full of mistakes in this respect.
Cross-references are indicated by a boldface entry. Thus, shiso in the body of an entry means that there is a separate entry devoted to shiso that can be consulted. Some entries include cross-references to the Appendices.
The English-Japanese section is primarily a selective index to the Japanese-English section, which is referred to by the use of boldface. However, also included are some commonly used food items not found in the Japanese-English section, for example, bread and loaf of bread. Words that are the same or very similar in both languages, words like banana, butter, cheese, chocolate, and tomato, are generally not included in the dictionary.
The Appendices provide information in a more discursive way on topics that the reader should find interesting. Appendix 9, Sansai, is an exception, since it is a list of mountain vegetables.
Scientific Names
Scientific classification has always involved differences of opinion, quite apart from agreed changes. So I have tried to follow the best Japanese sources, which, for example, prefer Prunus to Armeniaca as the name of a genus, and campestris to rapa as a species of Brassica.
My experience writing this book suggests that scientific names are the cause of more headaches than anything else in this world!
There is no way that a book of this size could encompass the whole breadth of something so rich, extensive, and imaginative as the Japanese cuisine. Those who criticize the Japanese for lack of imagination should try a top-class kaiseki meal. The imaginative artistry of the chefs is quite extraordinary. All this book attempts to do is to provide basic and, I hope, accurate information. The only real way to understand Japanese food is to eat it, preferably in Japan.
Japanese–English
Notes: Boldface indicates the heading of an entry and acts as a cross-reference to another entry in the Japanese-English section. Italics is used for foreign words, chiefly Latin names, Japanese words that are not main entries, and for second mention of main-entry terms. In the few cases where a Japanese name follows a Latin one, the Japanese name appears in roman, e.g., Conger myriaster (ma-anago) in the anago entry.
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abekawamochi あべかわもち 安倍川餅 grilled cut mochi topped either with sugar and kinako mixed, or with syrup and then kinako.
abura-age あぶらあげ 油揚げ thin deep-fried sliced tofu. An essential ingredient of inarizushi.
aburana あぶらな 油菜 rape Brassica campestris var. nippooleifera. Most important for the oil obtained from its seeds (natane) but the leaves are also used as a green vegetable.
aemono あえもの 和え物 a cooked salad, one of the basic categories of Japanese cuisine. Cooked vegetables such as spinach are dressed with a thick dressing such as sesame paste gently flavored with soy sauce and sugar (goma ae). Hōrensō no goma ae (spinach dressed with sesame), although simple, is one of the outstanding dishes of Japan. Tofu and miso are also used for dressings.
agari あがり 上がり freshly drawn tea, short for agaribana 上がり花. Above all, a sushi-shop term.
agedashi あげだし 揚げ出し deep-fried food such as tofu, nasu, and whitefish eaten with soy sauce seasoned with grated ginger and grated daikon.
agedashidōfu あげだしどうふ 揚げ出し豆腐 tofu from which much of the moisture has been pressed is coated with katakuriko or wheat flour, deep-fried, sprinkled with katsuobushi shavings, and served with grated ginger and daikon in a soy-based sauce such as warishita.
agedōfu あげどうふ 揚げ豆腐 thick deep-fried sliced tofu used in soups, nimono, and many other ways.
agekamaboko あげかまばこ 揚げ蒲鉾 a special kind of kamaboko that is deep-fried. It is called satsuma-age in the Tokyo region.
agemono あげもの 揚げ物 deep-fried food, the best known of which are tempura, kara-age, and furai.
ainame あいなめ 鮎魚女、 鮎並 fat greenling Hexagrammos otakii. A fish found in rocky-shore areas. When very fresh, this soft-fleshed fish can be served as sashimi. Otherwise, it is prepared as teriyaki, nitsuke, or chirinabe.
aji あじ 鰺 jack, horse mackerel Trachurus japonicus. A true jack, this delicious and very popular fish attains a length of up to 30 cm and is available all year but is at its best from spring to autumn. It is served as sashimi, shioyaki, sunomono, and nitsuke.
ajinomoto あじのもと 味の素 brand name for the chemical seasoning monosodium glutamate as marketed by the Ajinomoto company. See also Appendix 14 for monosodium glutamate.
ajishio あじしお 味塩 salt mixed with a chemical seasoning, usually monosodium glutamate. See also ajinomoto.
ajitsuke あじつけ 味付け seasoning, flavor added in some way.
ajitsuke nori あじつけのり 味付け海苔 seasoned laver. See also nori.
akachōchin あかちょうちん 赤堤灯 unpretentious drinking shop displaying a large red paper lantern outside as a kind of pub sign.
akadashi あかだし 赤出し miso shiru made with akamiso, in particular hatchō miso and other all-soybean misos.
akagai あかがい 赤貝 cockle, ark shell, blood clam Anadara broughtonii. This clam can reach a diameter of 12 cm and is at its best in spring. The freshest ones are eaten raw with a dipping sauce of soy sauce and wasabi, or sanbaizu. They are also served on sushi, put into soups, prepared as namasu, nitsuke, and yakimono, and can be baked in the shell.
akajiso あかじそ 赤紫蘇 red perilla. See also shiso.
akamiso あかみそ 赤味噌 See Appendix 6.
akebi あけび 木通、 通草 akebi Akebia quinata. An autumn fruit, fairly insipid though it can be sweet. The outer shell is purple and the shape of a huge pea pod. Rarely seen in shops.
amadai あまだい 甘鯛 tilefish (a kind of sea bream) Branchiostegus japonicus. The flesh of this food fish of western Japan is somewhat watery.
amaebi あまえび 甘海老 pink shrimp, northern shrimp Pandalus borealis. See also ebi.
amaguri あまぐり 甘栗 See kuri.
amai あまい 甘い sweet.
amami あまみ 甘味 sweetness. As one of the five basic tastes, the word is usually pronounced kanmi. See also kanmi.
amanatsu あまなつ 甘夏 common name for the orange-type citrus fruit kawano natsu daidai かわのなつだいだい 川野 夏情 Citrus natsudaidai. It is a variety of natsumikan that ripens earlier (in February and March) and is less sour than other varieties.
amazake あまざけ 甘酒、 醴 a hot drink made by mixing cooked rice with water and rice kōji and holding at from 50 to 60°C for between twelve and twenty-four hours. It is sweetened and often flavored with ginger, and is particularly drunk for colds and sore throats and on New Year visits to shrines and temples. A quicker but inferior version is made from sakekasu.
ame あめ 飴 candy, toffee, a kind of higashi. See also mizuame.
ami あみ 醤蝦、 海糠魚 opossum shrimp, mysis Neomysis spp. An extremely small shrimp, not longer than 2 cm at the most. It is usually made into shiokara, but is also dried and prepared as tsukudani.
amiyaki あみやき