Sushi vocabulary

Abura
Walnut oil, colza seed oil and sesame oil are used for seasoning and not for cooking. The oil used for tempura is a vegetable oil aromatized with a few drops of sesame oil which provides a nutty taste to the fried ingredients.

Chakin
Sweets made with pureed sweet potato

Flour
Rice flour and soybean flour are most frequently used and add a slightly nutty taste to Japanese dishes.

Gari
Marinated ginger

Ginseng
Root used to flavour tea and wine.

Gohan
Japanese rice. The term is used both for the rice and the meal. There is an old Japanese saying that says “tsukiyo no kome no meshi”, “we never tire of eating even a simple bowl of rice by moonlight”.

o-kome (grains of rice)
o-sake (rice wine)
o-sembei (rice crackers)

The prefix ‘o’ reflects the particular status, almost sacred in fact, of rice and its grains since ancient times.

Round-grain Japonica becomes « sticky » once cooked. There are different varieties of glutinous rice, including Uruchimai and Mochigone used to make mochi.

Rice based products:
- Crackers (o-sembei)
- Rice wine (o-sake)
- Mirin, mild cooking wine

Goma-dare
Sesame and daikon sauce usually served with shabu-shabu.

Kamaboko
Fish paste sold in rolls or loaves. It should be sliced and added to noodles in soups and other simmered dishes. It can be served plain or in small portions as an accompaniment.

Kanten
Agar is a transparent mucilaginous substance that is used like gelatine. Agar is made from certain types of red seaweed.

Karinto
Fried sweet potatoes

Katsuo-bushi
Dried Bonito, from the mackerel family, is sold in pieces or in flakes. Bonito is used to flavour dashi, the staple broth of Japanese cuisine.

Koh No Mono
Marinated vegetables usually served before dessert to add fibre and facilitate digestion

Konbu
Kelp is one of the main ingredients in dashi. Kelp is sun-dried, cut, folded and packed. Never wash or even soak it as this would remove all its flavour which is right on the surface. Simply moisten with a damp cloth. It can be fried or sauteed like a vegetable.

Kyabetsu su zuke
Marinated cabbage usually served before dessert to add fibre and facilitate digestion

Maki
Prepared Japanese rice, wrapped in a sheet of seaweed (nori) then stuffed at the center with raw fish, caviar, omelette or vegetables. The raw fish must be extremely fresh, skinned, boneless and very thinly sliced. Bites of maki are served with a small bowl of sauce, a few slices of marinated ginger and a little wasabi paste.

Matsutake
Pine mushroom

Mirin
Slightly sweet, amber coloured, rice wine with a very low alcohol content. It is a mild cooking wine that is used to flavour dishes. It is added to sauces used to coat meats for grilling.

Miso
Traditional Japanese soup, it is a clear broth to which is added a small amount of ingredients which serve more as a decoration than a nutritional element. In Japan, soup is served as an appetizer.

Mochi
Mochi is a sticky rice that is beaten while still very hot to obtain a paste that is moulded into different shapes. Its consistency is heavy and substantial. Use it wrapped in a sheet of seaweed or grilled and served with a sauce.

Niban Dashi
Clear soup (broth) served in a teapot

Nori (seaweed sheets)
Sun-dried seaweed, pressed into thin, slightly-toasted, brown or dark green sheets.

Ocha
Green tea

Onigara-yaki
Cooked lobster

Otsukuri
Thinly sliced fish

Quail eggs
Used as a garnish in soups and appetizers

Sakana no gingamijaki
Greenland halibut or cod in parchment packets

Sake
Rice wine

Sansho and Shichimi (7 spices)
Condiments. The Japanese do not use pepper and salt is replaced by soy. Depending on your preference, they can be purchased in mild, medium or spicy variety.

Shabu Shabu
Much like what we refer to as fondue. All the ingredients are arranged on a large platter and then cooked at the table in warm broth. Each item is then dipped in very spicy sauce and then eaten. Once the meat and vegetables have been cooked and eaten, noodles are added to the broth and served in small bowls to each guest. No rice is served with this meal.

Shirumono
This is the general term for soup – including the famous miso, the clear broth suimono and soup meals.

Shokugo
Seasonal fruits

Shokuji
Steamed rice

Shoyu
Soy sauce; the staple Japanese seasoning. It is used to as a dip for sushi, tempura and grilled foods. It can be added to sauces, broths and soups. It is also used to baste or marinate meats before cooking or to season Japanese salads which are traditionally prepared with cooked marinated or pickled vegetables.

Soy-based sauces: 
- Teriyaki, used with grilled chicken or beef 
- Yakitori, used with chicken brochettes
- Tempura

Different types of soy sauces:
- Salt content: low-salt or regular
- Aroma– mild to strong
- Concentration – clear to dark (the darker the sauce, the thicker it is) 
- Sugar content – depending on the brand

Soba Noodles
Buckwheat flour noodles

Somen Noodles
Thread-like wheat flour noodles

Su
Clear, slightly-sweet rice vinegar used in vinaigrettes and to flavour certain dishes.

Sukiyaki
Beef, mushrooms, tofu and wheat noodles stir fried in a wok

Sushis
This appetizer was first created in Tokyo in the early 1900. Along with the most popular nigiri-sushi, there are several other varieties including inari (stuffed with fried tofu), tiger eye (stuffed with calamari) and cooked sushi.
Basically, it consists of a clump of vinegared rice, sometimes wrapped in dried seaweed (nori) and filled with a variety of ingredients. It can also be a cylinder-shaped clump of vinegared rice over which a trace of wasabi is applied and covered with a piece of raw fish.

When the garnish is soft or semi-soft (fish roe or sea urchin), it will be added onto a clump of rice surrounded by a strip of nori forming a type of retaining ‘wall’ or vessel; this is called gunkan-maki (sushi-vessel).

The different varieties:
Maki-zushi or rolled sushi
The simplest are made by coating a sheet of nori with vinegared rice topped with small strips of fish, avocado, cucumber or other ingredient, tightly rolled up using a bamboo mat. The roll is then cut into bite-size pieces.

Temaki, a hand-rolled version of maki-zushi. A sheet of nori is rolled into a cone shape and stuffed with vinegared rice topped with any choice of ingredients.

Sake: with salmon
Maguro: with tuna
Ikura: with salmon caviar
Tako: with octopus
Saba: with mackerel
Ebi: with shrimp
Hotategai: with scallops
Kani: with crab
Mirugai: with clams

Tamago
Egg rolls

Tamari
Thick, dark sauce with a stronger flavour than soy sauce

Tempura
A Japanese classic, this technique involves deep-frying lightly-battered vegetables, shellfish, fish, or chicken.

Teppan – yaki
Foods cooked on a hot plate

Teriyaki
Broiled foods that have marinated in a sweet soy sauce

Udon Noodles
Wheat flour noodles that are either flat or round (thicker than soba noodles)

Ume-Shu
Plum wine served with dessert.

Umeboshi
Marinated plums usually served before dessert to add fibre and facilitate digestion

Wakame (seaweed)
This seaweed is sold dry. It must be soaked in clear water for 20 minutes to re-hydrate for use in soups, cakes or as a decorative element.

Wasabi
Japanese mustard or horseradish
In Japanese, wasabi translates to “mountain hollyhock”.
In stores, wasabi is sold in two forms:
- Powder: to which must be added a few drops of water and/or soy sauce to form a paste 
-  Paste, sold in tubes
Use as a condiment to accompany sushi and sashimi.

Wok
Sauteed meat, fish or vegetables

Yakitori
Skewer-grilled foods

Yakitori Chicken
Traditional Japanese grilled chicken brochettes

Zenzai
Sweet soup made with red beans

• Making Sense of Sushi