A Dictionary of Japanese Food. Richard Hosking
or yuzu. It is an ingredient of shichimi tōgarashi.
chinu ちぬ 茅渟 black bream Acanthopagrus schlegeli. See also kurodai.
chirashizushi ちらしずし 散らし鮨、 散らし寿司 See Appendix 11.
chirimenjako ちりめんじゃこ 縮緬雑魚 small young sardines and especially anchovies, less than 3 cm long, called shirasu in eastern Japan. After they are boiled and then dried, they are called chirimen in western Japan and shirasuboshi in eastern Japan. They can be made into aemono with grated daikon, and provide a good dietary source of calcium.
chirinabe ちりなベ ちり鍋 nabemono in which fish, tofu, and vegetables are simmered in water and then eaten after being dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. A popular winter dish.
chirirenge ちりれんげ 散り蓮華 china spoon. See also renge.
chisha ちしゃ 萵苣 lettuce Lactuca sativa. Refers mainly to a small, flat-leaved, non-heading lettuce. Otherwise, the word retasu レタス is used.
choko ちょこ small pottery vessel for drinking saké. Choko is a variant of choku 猪口, meaning wild boar’s mouth, which a choko is said to resemble when viewed from the side.
chōmiryō ちょうみりょう 調味料 condiment, seasoning. The main ones are salt, pepper, mustard, wasabi, sugar, vinegar, stock, chemical seasoning (i.e., monosodium glutamate), soy sauce, miso, and Worcester sauce.
chōrishi ちょうりし 調理師 licensed chef.
chōshoku ちょうしょく 朝食 breakfast. A traditional Japanese breakfast consists of rice, miso shiru, and tsukemono, with toasted nori, egg (usually raw, to be broken onto the rice or into the soup), fish, and tsukudani.
chūkasoba ちゅうかそば 中華蕎麦 another name for rāmen, it also refers specifically to Chinese noodles.
chūshoku ちゅうしょく 昼食 midday meal, lunch. Less formal words for lunch are hiru gohan and hiru meshi, hiru meaning midday.
chūtoro ちゅうとろ 中とろ See toro.
—D—
daidai だいだい 橙、 回青橙、 臭橙 bitter orange, Seville orange Citrus aurantium. An important part of the New Year decoration. The juice of this orange is mixed with soy sauce to make the superior dip ponzu for nabemono.
daidokoro だいどころ 台所 kitchen. See also Appendix 3.
daikon だいこん 大根 giant white radish Raphanus sativus. Usually about 35 cm long, it is an important item in the Japanese diet, and is prepared in many ways. Thick slices are served boiled in stock with other vegetables as nimono. Dried in long thin strips, it is called kiriboshi daikon and, when reconstituted, has many uses, such as in fukujinzuke. Grated, it can be eaten with a flavoring of soy sauce and is added to the dip for tempura because it helps the digestion, especially of oily foods. It can be quite pungent and also unpleasantly smelly if left around after preparation. An old name for daikon as one of the haru no nanakusa (seven herbs of spring) is suzushiro.
daizu だいず 大豆 soybean Glycine max. Extensively used in Japanese food, it is highly nutritious, being a very good source of protein. Soybeans are eaten straight from the boiled pods (edamame) as tsumamimono, and removed from the pods are added to many dishes and soups. They are also used in the manufacture of tofu, miso, and soy sauce, and the parched beans are used to make kinako flour, a very tasty topping for mochi. Good-quality cooking oil is also extracted from soybeans.
dango だんご 団子 ball (of food). The flours of rice, wheat, buckwheat, and millet are all used to make balls that are steamed or boiled and then served with some topping or dipped in soy sauce and grilled. Pork, beef, chicken, and fish (especially sardine) balls may be deep-fried instead of steamed or boiled and are often an ingredient of o-den.
dashi だし 出し、 出汁 stock. The best Japanese stock is made with freshly shaved katsuobushi and konbu. The first brew (ichiban dashi) is used for suimono, then the same ingredients can be reused to make “second-run” stock (niban dashi), which is perfectly satisfactory for miso soup, noodle broth, and many other uses. The little dried anchovies called niboshi are also used for making stock, but first their heads should be removed and discarded.
dashijiru 出し汁 See dashi.
datemaki だてまき 伊達巻き rolled omelet. Eggs, shredded whitefish, dashi, mirin, and sugar are used to make an omelet, which is rolled by means of the special bamboo mat called a makisu and then cut into thick slices. It is especially used at New Year as part of o-sechi ryōri.
datsu だつ 駄津 needlefish Strongylura anastomella. Similar in appearance to sayori, this sea fish reaches 1 m in length and is mostly used for making kamaboko.
demae でまえ 出前 home delivery of food ordered by telephone. A popular practice in Japan.
denbu でんぶ 田麩 flesh of whitefish and shrimp that has been boiled, shredded, parched, seasoned, and colored red. It is used as an ingredient of norimaki and as a topping for chirashizushi. It is also called oboro.
dengaku でんがく 田楽 preparation in which food such as eggplant, taro, konnyaku, and tofu are dressed with a sweetened miso topping and grilled on skewers. Fish dengaku is called gyoden.
denpun でんぷん 澱粉 starch (C6H10O5). It is used in the making of kamaboko and in some preparations of mizuame, nori, and saké.
dobin どびん 土瓶 teapot. Made of pottery or china, it has a semicircular bamboo handle over the top.
dobinmushi どびんむし 土瓶蒸し delicate clear soup made in an individual miniature dobin. It is a famous autumn speciality of Kyoto and usually contains matsutake, chicken, mitsuba, and ginnan. The juice of sudachi is squeezed into the dashi, which is drunk from little cups. The other ingredients are fished out with chopsticks and eaten. One of the great delicacies of Japan.
doburoku どぶろく 濁醪、 濁酒 See Appendix 7.
dojō どじょう 泥鰌 loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus. A freshwater fish that used to proliferate in rice paddies before the extensive use of agricultural chemicals. Since the whole fish is eaten, it is a good source of calcium. It is usually eaten as an accompaniment to shōchū or saké. Not highly rated.
donabe どなべ 土鍋 earthenware pot, shaped like a large bowl, much used for nabemono. Usually its lid has a hole in it and it is glazed inside but not out. For cooking, it is placed directly on top of a konro or shichirin.
donburi どんぶり 丼 1. pottery or china bowl, two or three times the size of a rice bowl, often with a lid. 2. the food served in such a bowl, consisting of rice with various ingredients placed on top. Among the favorites are oyako donburi, in which chicken and egg are used, tendon with tempura, gyūdon with beef, katsudon with tonkatsu, and unadon with eel. These dishes provide a simple, popular meal in a bowl.
dotenabe どてなべ 土手鍋 nabemono in which the stock is richly flavored with miso. The usual ingredients are oysters and yakidōfu, with shirataki and a variety of fresh vegetables.
—E—
ebi えび 海老、 蝦 prawn,