List of Japanese ingredients
The following is a list of ingredients used in Japanese cuisine.
Plant sources[]
Cereal grain[]
- Rice
- Short or medium grain white rice. Regular (non-sticky) rice is called uruchi-mai.
- Mochi rice (glutinous rice)-sticky rice, sweet rice
- genmai (brown rice)
- rice bran (nuka) - not usually eaten itself, but used for pickling, and also added to boiling water to parboil tart vegetables
- arare - toasted brown rice grains in genmai cha and
- kome-kōji - Aspergillus cultures
- sake kasu
- sake
- awa (mochi awa)
- oshimugi (barley)
Flour[]
- katakuri starch - an alternative ingredient for potato starch
- kinako - soybean flour/meal
- kibi (millet) flour
- konnyaku starch powder
- kudzu starch
- Rice flour (komeko)
- [ja]
- mochiko [ja]
- [ja]
- [ja], semi-cooked rice dried and coarsely pulverized; used as alternate breading in domyoji age deep-fried dish, also used in Kansai-style sakuramochi confection. Medium fine ground types are called shinbikiko (新引粉,真挽粉) and used as breaded crust or for confection. Fine ground are jōnanko (上南粉)
- [ja], kanbaiko (寒梅粉) powdery starch made from sticky rice.
- Gyūhi flour
- soba flour
- warabi starch - substitutes are sold under this name, though authentic starch derives from fern roots. See warabimochi
- wheat flour
Noodles[]
Vegetables[]
Botanic fruits as vegetables[]
- cucumber (kyūri)
- eggplant (nasu, nasubi)
- shishitō mild peppers
- kabocha squash
- shiro-uri - type of squash/melon.
Cabbage family[]
- komatsuna - (B. rapa var. perviridis)
- mizuna - (B. rapa var. nipposinica)
- napa cabbage (hakusai ) - (B. rapa var. glabra)
- takana (Japanese vegetable) (タカナ) - (Brassica juncea var. integrifolia or var. of mustard)
- Nozawana - (cultivar of B. rapa var. hakabura)
- na-no-hana (rapeseed or coleseed flowering-stalks, used like broccoli rabe)
Other leafy vegetables[]
- spinach (hōrensō)
Onion family[]
These vegetables are called negi in Japanese.
- asatsuki - type of chives
- nira (Chinese chives or garlic chive)
- rakkyo
- wakegi - formerly thought a variety of scallion, but geneticists discover it to be a cross with the bulb onion (A. ×wakegi).
- Green onions or scallions
- Fukaya negi (深谷ネギ) - Often used to denote the types as thick as leeks used in Kanto area, but is not a proper name of a cultivar, and merely taken from the production area of Fukaya, Saitama. In the east, the white part of the onion near the base like to be used.
- [ja] "multipurpose scallion" - young plants.
- [ja] - Kyoto cultivar of green onion.
- [ja] - Cultivar named after Shimonita, Gunma.
- Other varieties with articles are [ja] (Hiroshima), [ja] (Fukui), [ja] (Gifu)
- [ja] - Allium macrostemon, collected from the wild much like field garlic.
- [ja] - Allium victorialis much like ramps.
Root vegetables[]
- chorogi (Chinese artichoke, Stachys affinis)
- daikon (Japanese Radish)
- gobo (Arctium lappa)
- lotus root (renkon, hasu )
- potato (jaga-imo)
- sweet potato (satsuma-imo)
- Taro (satoimo) and stalk (zuiki, imogara)
- takenoko (bamboo shoots)
- yamaimo - vague name that can denote either Dioscorea spp.(Japanese yam or Chinese yam) below. The root is often grated into a sort of starchy puree. The correct way is to grate the yam against the grains of the suribachi. Also the tubercle (mukago) used whole.
- [ja] or jinenjo (Dioscorea japonica) - considered the true Japanese yam. The name jinenjo refers to roots dug from the wild.
- nagaimo [ja] (D. opposita) - In a strict sense, refers to the long truncheon-like form.
- [ja] (D. opposita) - A fan-shaped (ginkgo leaf shaped) variety, more viscous than the long form.
- [ja] (D. polystachya var.) - A round variety even more viscous and highly prized.
- mukago - edible tubercles
- [ja] (lily bulbs)
Sprouts[]
Specialty vegetables[]
- Aralia cordata ("Japanese spikenard")
- fuki (a type of butterbur, both stalk and young flower-shoots)
- Kanpyō (dried gourd strips)
- konnyaku (shirataki)
- sansai (= term for wild-picked vegetables in general, including fernbrake, bamboo shoots, tree shoots)
Pickled vegetables[]
Tsukemono is the term for Japanese pickles.
Nuts[]
- ginkgo nuts
- Azuki - Red Bean
- kuri - chestnut
- onigurumi - Japanese walnut (Juglans ailantifolia)
- tochi-no-mi - type of buckeye or horse chestnut (Aesculus turbinata)
- shii-no-mi - acorns of Castanopsis spp.
Seeds[]
- sesame
- black sesame
- white sesame
- shiso seeds
- wild sesame egoma
- hemp seeds (onomi) - mixed in shichimi
- karashi (usually powdered mustard, or in paste tubes)
- sanshō (Zanthoxylum piperitum)
Mushrooms[]
- enokitake
- eringi
- matsutake
- maitake
- nameko
- hiratake
- shiitake
- shimeji
- Wood ear (kikurage)
- Rhizopogon roseolus (shōro)
Seaweed[]
- [ja] (Campylaephora hypnaeoides)
- [ja] (Petalonia binghamiae)
- hijiki
- konbu (kombu, kelp)
- mozuku
- nori
- [ja] - refers to seaweed harvested from sea-rock.
- ogonori
- [ja]
- [ja] (Aphanothece sacrum) - Kyushu specialty
- tengusa - kanten, tokoroten (agar)
- wakame
Fruits[]
Citrus[]
Other[]
- ume
- loquat
- makuwauri [ja] - a traditional type of melon
- nashi pear
- persimmon
- yamamomo (Myrica rubra)
Soy products[]
- edamame
- miso
- soy sauce (light, dark, tamari)
- nattō
- [ja]
- mame moyashi - soy sprouts
- kinako - soy meal
- irimame - dry-roasted soy beans and black soy beans (used in kakimochi, etc.)
Vegetable proteins[]
- Fu (wheat gluten)
- nama fu - fresh fu usually sold in sticks (long bars)
- dry fu - variously shaped and colored. kuruma-bu is one
- chikuwabu - somewhat more doughy (still has starches left)
- Tofu
Animal sources[]
Eggs[]
- chicken
- quail egg
- terrapin eggs, sea-turtle eggs
Meats[]
- beef
- Kobe beef
- Matsusaka beef
- Mishima beef
- Beef tongue, heart, liver, tripe, rumen (mino), omasum (senmai), abomasum (giara)
- chicken - called kashiwa in Western parts (Kansai). There are various heritage breeds called jidori (ja:地鶏)
- Nagoya Cochin
- shamo - fighting cock
- Hinai jidori = [ja] x Rhode Island red
- unlaid egg yolk (tamahimo)
- pork
- horse meat, sometimes called sakura-niku, is a delicacy. Raw sliced horsemeat is "basashi". The fatty portion from where the mane grows (tategami).
Finned fish[]
Marine fishes[]
- (red-fleshed fish or akami zakana)
- skipjack tuna (katsuo) - made into tataki, , and processed into katsuobushi
- [ja]
- tuna (maguro)
- Japanese amberjack (buri / hamachi)
- Spanish mackerel (sawara)
Blue-backed fish[]
These fish are collectively called ao zakana in Japanese.
- Japanese jack mackerel (aji)
- pacific saury (sanma)
- sardine (iwashi)
- Niboshi or iriko is dried sardine, important for fish stock and other uses.
- mackerel (saba)
- [ja] or kohada (Konosirus punctatus)
- herring (nishin)
- aji (Japanese horse mackerel and similar fish) - typical fish for hiraki, or fish that is gutted, butterflied, and half-dried in shade.
White-fleshed fish[]
These fish are collectively called shiromi zakana in Japanese.
- flatfish (karei / hirame) - ribbons of flesh around the fins called engawa are also used. Roe is often stewed.
- pike conger (hamo) - in Kyoto-style cuisine, also as high-end surimi.
- pufferfish (fugu) - flesh, skin, soft roe eaten as sashimi and hot pot (tecchiri); organs, etc. poisonous; roe also contain tetradotoxin but a regional specialty food cures it in nuka until safe to eat.
- tilefish (amadai) - in a Kyoto-style preparation, it is roasted to be eaten scales and all; used in high-end surimi.
- red sea bream (madai) - used widely. the head stewed as kabuto-ni.
Freshwater fish[]
- ayu - the shiokara made from this fish is called uruka [ja].
- Japanese eel (unagi)
- [ja] - refers regionally to different fish, but often the goby type, some are high-end fish.
- salmon (sake) - shiojake or salted salmon are often very salty fillets, so lighter salted amajio types may be sought. [ja] is salt-cured whole fish. [ja] uses snout cartilage.
- suzuki
- [ja] (Family Salangidae)
- nigoro buna (Carassius auratus grandoculis) - vital source of funazushi for Shiga-kennians
Marine mammals[]
- baleen whale (kujira)
- dolphin (iruka)
Mollusks[]
Squid and cuttlefish[]
These fish are collectively called ika in Japanese.
- (aori ika)
- (surume ika)
- (kensaki ika)
- (yari ika)
- (hotaru ika)
- (kō ika)
Octopus[]
Octopus is called tako in Japanese.
- Common Octopus (madako)
- Giant Pacific Octopus (mizudako)
- Amphioctopus fangsiao (iidako)
Bivalves[]
- scallop (hotate-gai)
- littleneck clam (asari)
- freshwater clam (shijimi)
- oyster (kaki)
- iwagaki (Crassostrea nippona), available during summer months.
- clam (hamaguri)
- (akagai)
- (aoyagi)
- Geoduck (mirugai)
- (torigai)
Single shelled gastropods and conches[]
- horned turban (sazae)
- abalone
Crustaceans[]
These foods are collectively called ebikani-rui or kokaku rui in Japanese.
Crab[]
Crab is called kani in Japanese.
- snow crab (zuwaigani)
- horsehair crab (kegani)
- king crab (tarabagani; hanasaki gani=Paralithodes brevipes)
- horse crab (gazami)
- Kona crab (asahi-gani)
Lobsters, shrimps, and prawns[]
These shellfish are collectively called ebi in Japanese.
- spiny lobster (ise-ebi)
- Kuruma prawn (kuruma ebi)
- humpback shrimp (botan ebi; Pandalus hypsinotus)
- mantis shrimp - (shako)
- barnacle
- [ja] (Palaemon paucidens) - freshwater
Echinoderms[]
- Sea cucumbers (namako) - body, intestines (konowata), ovaries (kuchiko, konoko)
- Sea urchin (uni), ovaries
Tunicates[]
- Sea pineapple (hoya)
Roe[]
- salmon roe (ikura)
- herring roe (kazunoko)
- mullet roe (karasumi) - similar to botargo
- pollock roe (tarako (food))
- capelin roe (masago)
- flying fish roe (tobiko)
- crustacean eggs
Liver[]
- ankimo, or monkfish liver.
- [ja] (Thread-sail filefish) and abalone livers are used as is, or as kimo-ae, i.e., blended with the fish flesh or other ingredients as a type of .
- squid and katsuo (skipjack) livers and guts, used to make shiokara.
Processed seafood[]
- anchovy (katakuchi-iwashi), dried to make Niboshi. The larvae are shirasu and made into Tatami iwashi
- chikuwa
- himono (non-salted dried fish) - some products are bone dry and stiff, incl. ei-hire (skate fins), surume (dried squid), but often refer to fish still supple and succulent.
- kamaboko, satsuma age, etc., comprise a class of food called nerimono, and are listed under surimi products.
- niboshi
- shiokara of various kinds, made from the guts and other portions.
Insects[]
Some insects have been considered regional delicacies, though often categorized as [ja] or bizarre food.
- [], larvae and pupae of kurosuzumebachi or yellowjacket spp.
- [], tsukudani made from locusts that infest rice fields. It used to be pretty common wherever rice was grown.
- [], tsukudani made from stonefly and caddisfly larvae in streams (specialty of Ina, Nagano area).
See also[]
Categories:
- Japanese cuisine-related lists
- Japanese cuisine
- Food ingredients