kimiko's Japanese home cooking

culture & food

Bento--A Japanese lunch box made with rice and a combination of vegetables and fish or meat. Bento can be a fancy cuisine at a restaurant or a large elaborate picnic party box, but mostly it is created as an everyday lunch box.
Itadakimasu--The Japanese greeting before the meal. It literally means "I will receive this meal," but the real meaning of this word is to expresses gratitude to the person who prepared the meal, the person who produced the ingredients, and the privilege to be able to have food.
Gochisosama--The Japanese greeting after the meal. It literally means "It was a feast," but the real meaning is to express gratitude to the person who prepared the meal, the person who grew the ingredients, and the privilege to be able to have food.
Gohan--Cooked rice or, more generally, a meal: for “Have you eaten?”— “Have you gohan?”
Kome--Uncooked rice.
Mizutaki--One of the most popular Nabe, which has chicken and a variety of vegetables. Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu are other popular Nabe dishes.
Nabe--—"Cooking pot" in Japanese; however, it also means any dishes cooked at the table and eaten directory from the pot by dipping in some kind of sauce.
Nigiri--a sushi with fish on sushi rice.

Onigiri or Omusubi--Japanese rice balls. (For fun, see How to make Panda Onigiri on You Tube.) You Tube.

Ozooni--Japanese traditional New Year's soup with Mochi.

Sashimi--A Japanese delicacy consisting of very fresh raw meat or fish sliced into thin pieces. Usually eaten by dipping into soy sauce with Wasabi.
Shabu Shabu--One of the Japanese Nabe (“cooking pot”) dishes, made with a variety of vegetables and thinly sliced high quality beef. It is treated as a cuisine.

Shogatsu--Japanese New Year, the most important holiday in Japan.
Soba--Buckwheat or buckwheat noodles, or noodles .
Soba Tsuyu--A dipping sauce for cold Soba noodles or Somen noodles.
Somen--Thin white wheat noodles. Mostly eaten cold as a refreshing summer dish.
Sukiyaki-- One of the Japanese Nabe (“cooking pot”) dishes, made with a variety of vegetables with thinly sliced beef cooked and seasoned in the pot. Beaten raw egg is used as a dipping sauce.
Sushi--A Japanese cuisine consisting of rice with vinegar combined with seafood or vegetables. The forms of sushi vary but sushi has to have rice with vinegar.
Sushi Meshi--Rice with wine vinegar, salt, and sugar.
Temaki--Hand rolled sushi made at the table.

Zaru Tempra Soba--Cold Soba noodles with Tempra. Usually with shrimp Tempra.

ingredients

Dashi--broth made with Katsuobushi, or Kobu or both.

Enoki mushrooms--long and thin white mushrooms that have a mild flavor.

Gari--pickled ginger for sushi.

Gomadare--sesame paste based dipping sauce.

Katsuobushi--Japanese name for dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna or bonito fish.

Konbu or Kobu--seaweed often used to make broth, sold dry.

Maguro--tuna.

Mirin--an important condiment used in Japanese cooking made by fermenting rice which has high sugar content.

Miso--fermented soybean paste, used for miso soup.

Mochi--Japanese rice cake made of a short-grain Japonica glutinous rice.

Nori--seaweed, dried and paper like shape. Often used for sushi and rice balls.

Okaka--shredded Katsuobushi.

Ponzu--dipping sauce with some kind of citrus fruit base.

Sake--Japanese rice wine.

Sake of Shake--salmon.

Shichimi--Literally “seven flavors”, a mild Japanese Spice with a mix of seven types of spices.

Shirataki--noodle made from Konnyaku potato (scientific name is  Amorphallus konjac.)

Shiso--Japanese herb, often used with Sashimi and sushi.

Shun-giku--edible chrysanthemum greens which have a distinct herbal flavor.

Umeboshi--Pickled plum. Often used with rice balls.

Wakame--seaweed, often used with miso soup.

Wasabi--Japanese horseradish, usually used for sushi and Sashimi. It is a condiment with a strong flavor closer to hot mustard.