Japanese Cucumbers is just an English-language generalization for cucumbers grown in Japan. Obviously, there’s more than one type of cucumber grown in Japan. Varieties classed by English speakers as Japanese cucumbers include Kyoto, Palace King, Soarer, Sooyow Nishiki, Suhyo, Tasty Green, and Tsuyataro. The cucumbers are long, narrow and have thin skin. They tend to…
Japanese
Jinenjo
Jinenjo is a variety of the Japanese yams called “Yamaimo.” They have rough skin; the flesh inside is white, and starchy to the point of being mucilaginous. Old-timers swear that the Jinenjo yams cultivated these days are not as good as the ones that used to be gathered from the wild. The ones gathered from…
Kamairi-Cha Tea
Unlike Sencha tea, leaves for Kamairi-Cha are not steamed first. They are toasted in pans in heat of up to 575 F / 300 C, shaken often. It tastes very much like Chinese green tea. It is available as leaves or pellets. Sechibaru and Ureshino in southern Japan are well-known for their Kamairi-cha. Cooking Tips…
Katsuobushi Dashi Recipe
Katsuobushi Dashi is a simple Japanese stock recipe, based on dried flakes of tuna.
Ko-Cha Tea
Ko-Cha is the Japanese word for “Black Teas” in general, such as is drunk by Westerners. If drunk with milk and sugar in it, it is called “miruku tei”; if drunk with lemon in it, it is called “remon tei.”
Koi-Cha Tea
Koi-Cha Tea is a type of tea beverage made from Matcha Tea. It is a strong, thick beverage. The Matcha used is made from the first seasonal harvest of leaves from tea bushes that are at least 30 years old. The drink called “usucha” is also made in the tea ceremony from Matcha, but to…
Kombu
Kombu is an edible seaweed popular in Japan, and particularly in the Okinawa region. It is a kelp, with thick, wide leaves several yards (metres) long. They are dark brown to greyish-black; the darker the colour the better. The kelp is harvested, sun-dried, and folded into sheets. When dried, a whitish powder appears on it….
Kombu Dashi Recipe
Kombu Dashi is a simple Japanese stock based on seaweed. It is often used with meat or fish dishes.
Konjac Root
Konjac Root is a starchy, perennial tuber (actually corm) that grows up to 10 inches (25 cm) wide. Above ground, it has beautiful red flowers. It is rarely actually sold as a whole root in stores or markets. It is usually sold processed into something such as Konnyaku Powder for jelly, or for use as…
Kudzu Starch
Kudzu Starch is an expensive starch used in Japan to thicken dishes with, or to coat foods before frying them. You can buy it in chunks, flaked or powdered, and in several grades. The most expensive is the pure, white powder, which is 83% starch. A lesser grade is a slightly-greyish colour, and will be…
Kuki-Cha Tea
Kuki-Cha Tea is sometimes translated as “stick or twig tea.” It is made from the small twigs and leaf stems that are discarded in the making of other tea such as high grade mat-cha. They are harvested after the last tea harvest, allowed to dry out a bit, then steamed, then roasted 4 separate times…
Mat-cha Tea
Mat-cha Tea is a bright green powdered Japanese tea used in the Japanese tea ceremonies. It does not taste like Westerner’s expect tea to taste like. It has a bitter taste. It is made from leaves that have been shaded for 20 days, like gyokuro. The leaves are harvested, and then steamed, not fermented, and…
Matsutake Mushrooms
Matsutake Mushrooms grow under pine trees in Asia, in Mexico and even in the Pacific Northwest of North America. In the Pacific Northwest, they grow quantities large enough even to export to Japan, where they are very popular. The mushrooms have short stalks and can be white or brown, with rusty coloured blotches. They are…
Me-Cha Tea
Me-Cha Tea is made from young tea leaf buds harvested in the spring. It is very astringent and has a bitter aftertaste. The tea is yellowish when made up. Cooking Tips For 3 people: 1 ½ teaspoons of tea to 6 oz / 175 ml water boiled, allowed to cool a bit. Allow to steep…
Mizuna Salad Leaves
Mizuna, though often called “Mizuna Lettuce”, is not actually a lettuce: it’s a member of the cabbage family. It grows about 10 inches wide (25 cm) and up to 18 inches tall (45 cm.) Its long stalks have crisp, frilly leaves with serrated, saw tooth edges. The plant is very cold hardy. From seed, Mizuna…
Momi Nori
Momi nori is crumbled nori (seaweed.) Before being crumbled, whether at the factory or at home, the nori is toasted first over a flame to develop the taste. The crumbled nori is used in Japanese cooking as a topping and as a garnish.
Nagaimo
Nagaimo is a variety of the Japanese yams called “Yamaimo.” This variety growns long and straight, somewhat thick at one end, making it look somewhat like a small baseball bat. It has rough, tan-coloured skin that is a bit hairy. The flesh inside is white. It is starchy, to the point of being mucilaginous; the…
Nametake Mushrooms
Nametake is the Japanese name for the wild version of Enoki Mushrooms. Nametake grow wild in Asia and North America on tree trunks and roots, live or dead. They can survive freezing and thawing and keep on growing. The caps will be 2 to 3 inches wide (5 to 7.5 cm), and instead of being…
Niban Dashi Recipe
Niban Dashi is often used to simmer vegetables in.
Niboshi Dashi Recipe
Often used as a base for miso soup. Niboshi are dried sardines.
Nikiri Sauce
Nikiri Sauce is a thin, sweet glaze that is brushed on fish just before serving in Japanese cooking. It negates the need for a small dish of soy sauce to be provided to the diner, as the chef has already seasoned the fish for you. It is used on delicate types of fish, where regular…
Nitsume Sauce
Nitsume is a Japanese sauce used with eel, octopus and shrimp. There used to be many variations of it. One older way of making it was simmering eels in a pot of water for several months until all that was left was a thick glaze. Now, the process for making it has become pretty much…
Nori
Nori © Denzil Green Nori is the generic Japanese word for seaweed used as a food item. There are actually several different kinds of seaweed that can be used, and the Japanese do indeed distinguish between them, as well as distinguishing based on any processing methods applied to the seaweed. Nori was first harvested from…
Okinawan Sweet Potatoes
Okinawan Sweet Potatoes are a variety of sweet potato grown in Japan (they are also grown in Hawaii.) The tops of the plants above ground can be eaten as greens. The actual potatoes have buff skin, darkening when cooked. Inside, the flesh is light purple, turning brilliant purple when cooked. The taste, despite the purple…