In Korea, Acorn Noodles are made from ⅓ acorn flour, ⅔ wheat flour. Their taste is mild, light and somewhat sweet. Japanese Acorn noodles are made with 1/10th acorn flour, 9/10ths wheat flour.
Japanese Food
Adzuki Beans
Adzuki Beans © Denzil Green The Adzuki Bean plant grows 30 to 60 cm (1 to 2 feet) tall, and blossoms with yellow flowers. It is not frost hardy. It is about 4 months from planting to harvest of the beans for drying. When its bean pods are very young, they can be harvested for…
Aemono
Aemono is a Japanese cooking term that can refer either to an uncooked sauce used as a salad dressing, or to the salad itself made with it. As a dressing, it’s a thick dressing (often based on puréed tofu) to coat the food items in a salad. When used to refer to the entire salad…
Agar-Agar
Agar-agar acts as a gelatin, but is also used as an emulsifier, thickener and stabilizer in many commercial products such as ice cream and soups. It can also be used to clarify wine and beer. It is preferred by vegetarians to gelatin which is made from animals. It is made from red and purple seaweed….
Agari
In sushi shops, “Agari” is a word used for the same hot green tea that everywhere else is called “Sencha.” Originally, the shops served Agari after the meal, but now it is served whenever the customer wishes during the meal. Language Notes Agari is that word that doesn’t actually mean tea, and that has many…
Amasake
Amasake is a sweetener made from rice, and has a malty taste. It is thick, and looks a bit like yoghurt, though the texture and thickness can vary. Amsake can be made from brown or white rice, or a mixture of both, or from sweet rice flour. A fungus called “Aspergillus oryzae” is sprinkled on…
Asatsuki
Asatsuki is a variety of chives grown in Japan. The stalks produce small red bulbs underground. Above ground, they look the same as Western chives; even the flowers are the same, balls of soft purplish spikes. The Japanese will refer to this in English as a “type of green onion”, whereas we would be more…
Ban-Cha Tea
“Ban-Cha” means common or ordinary tea in Japanese. It is an everyday tea, less expensive than many other Japanese teas. It is made from coarser, less tender grades of leaves harvested later (e.g. summer and autumn, as opposed to spring.) Its full flavour allows it to go well with food. It has a tinge more…
Black Futsu Squash
Black Futsu Squash are flattened, with pronounced, heavy ribbing. The rind is black when harvested, turning a chestnut brown in storage. The weight ranges from 3 to 8 pounds (1 ⅓ to 3 ½ kg.) Inside, it has golden-coloured flesh with a nutty taste. High yields, 4 to 10 squash per vine. 100 to 120…
Black Soybeans
Black Soybeans are soybeans that have a black seed coat on the outside of the bean. Inside, they are the same colour as regular yellow soybeans. They are smaller, though, than yellow soybeans. A variety called “Tamba” grown in Japan is somewhat larger. Though they look somewhat like Black Turtle Beans, they are rounder, and…
Bonito Tuna
Bonito tuna is also known as skipjack tuna. The name “skipjack” comes from the way the fish seem to leap out of the water. Bonito is a smaller tuna fish family member, with oily flesh. It lives in the Pacific and in the Atlantic, but not in the Mediterranean Sea. It eats squid, and smaller…
Bonito Tuna Flakes
Bonito tuna flakes (“Katsubushi” in Japanese) are pinkish-tan flakes of dried skipjack tuna. The flakes are thin, weigh next to nothing and have a very fishy smell. To make the flakes, the tuna is first boiled, then smoked, then dried in the sun in blocks, then shaved into the flakes, packaged and shipped. Purists say…
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is a seed that is treated in culinary terms as a grain. The seeds look like teeny small black triangles. They are very small — 16 would fit in a spot the size of a thumbnail. The black on the outside of the seed is the hull. They have a nutty, earthy flavour. The…
Buckwheat Noodles
Buckwheat Noodles © Denzil Green Buckwheat noodles are grey to dark brown noodles made from buckwheat flour. They have a slightly chewy texture when cooked, and a more earthy flavour than wheat noodles. The best known type of buckwheat noodles are Japanese Soba Noodles, which are actually made from a mixture of buckwheat and wheat…
Bukkake Udon Noodles
Bukkake Udon Noodles is a Japanese cold noodle dish, usually eaten in the summer. In this dish, a broth is poured over the noodles, rather than the noodles cooked or simmered in a broth. To make Bukkake Udon Noodles, cooked and cooled udon noodles are put in a bowl, and a generous amount of garnishes…
Chasen
Chasen are small bamboo whisks used for mixing Japanese powdered tea. They are not meant to last forever: worn-out ones are taken to temples once a burnt and ceremonially burnt there.
Cherry Blossom Day
The 29th of April is Cherry Blossom Day in Japan. To the Japanese, viewing cherry trees in blossom is a much-loved spring activity.
Chikuwa
Chikuwa is a Japanese rolled fish cake that is sold commercially. There are many varieties — some use a mixture of fish and other ingredients — and several different ways of cooking them.
Chopsticks
Chopsticks are Asian eating utensils, designed for eating food that has already been cut by a cook into bite-size pieces. Chinese ones are square sticks, with blunt tips. Japanese ones are slightly shorter, rounded, and with pointy tips.
Daikon Radishes
Daikon Radishes © Denzil Green These are a Japanese variety of radish quite different from the red globe radish we are familiar with. It is long like a carrot and quite big (growing from 5 to 18 inches / 13 to 45 cm long), is hotter than red globe radishes, and its skin is tan…
Dainagon Beans
Dainagon Beans are a premium variety of adzuki beans. They are larger than other adzuki beans: Dainagon will weigh more than 16 g per 100 beans, and are longer than 4.8 mm. They are on the darker shade of red. Dainagon Beans are used in making Wagashi, particularly “monaka.” Sub-varieties of Dainagon Beans are named…
Dashi
Dashi is a Japanese stock for soup and sauces and broths.It is usually made with kombu seaweed and bonito flakes (dried tuna flakes.) It can also be made from small, dried sardines (niboshi) instead of the tuna. The dried fish flakes or pieces are only simmered for a short time so that the Dashi doesn’t…
Dekopons
Dekopons are large, seedless oranges with thick, easy to peel, orangey-yellowish skin. Most have a pronounced neck / bump on the top, though on some, the bump is quite minimal. The skin is a bit warty or bumpy, because the fruit is aged before it is sold. Despite the thick skin, the fruit is actually…
Densuke Watermelons
Densuke is a Japanese variety of watermelon. The melons are large, and tall, almost squarish. They have thick, hard skin, that is so dark green it’s often described as black. Inside, the flesh is red and very sweet.