List of Japanese ingredients
The following is a list of ingredients used in Japanese cuisine.
Plant sources
- 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 chazuke nori
- kome-kōji - Aspergillus cultures
- sake kasu
- sake
- awa (mochi awa)
- oshimugi (barley)
- katakuri starch - an alternative ingredient for potato starch
- kinako - soybean flour/meal
- kibi (millet) flour
- konnyaku starch powder
- kudzu starch
- Rice flour (komeko)
- joshinko [ja]
- mochiko [ja]
- shiratamako [ja]
- dōmyōji ko [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)
- mijinko [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
- tempura flour
- kyōriki ko, chūriki ko, hakuriki ko (descending grades of protein content; all purpose, udon flour, cake flour)
- uki ko - name for the starch of rice or wheat. Apparently used for wagashi to some extent. In Chinese cuisine, it is used to make the translucent skin of the shrimp har gow.
- (fruit vegetables)
- cucumber (kyūri)
- eggplant (nasu, nasubi)
- shishitō mild peppers
- Manganji pepper [ja]
- Fushimi pepper (伏見とうがらし) - The leaves of the Fushimi made into tsukudani are hatōgarashi.
- kabocha squash
- shiro-uri - type of squash/melon.
- (Cabbage family or Brassica leafy vegetables)
- 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)
- 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.
- bannō negi [ja] "multipurpose scallion" - young plants.
- Kujō negi [ja] - Kyoto cultivar of green onion.
- Shimonita negi [ja] - Cultivar named after Shimonita, Gunma.
- Other varieties with articles are Kan'on negi [ja] (Hiroshima), Yatabe negi [ja] (Fukui), Tokuda negi [ja] (Gifu)
- nobiru [ja] - Allium macrostemon, collected from the wild much like field garlic.
- gyōja ninniku [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)
- himetakenoko, sasa-takenoko, nemagari-take - Slender bamboo shoots of Chishima zasa bamboo [ja] (Sasa kurilensis), so-called "baby bamboo shoots".
- menma - vital condiment to ramen, made from the Taiwanese giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus) and not from the typical bamboo shoot.
- 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.
- yamanoimo [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.
- yamatoimo [ja] (D. opposita) - A fan-shaped (ginkgo leaf shaped) variety, more viscous than the long form.
- tsukuneimo [ja] (D. polystachya var.) - A round variety even more viscous and highly prized.
- mukago - edible tubercles
- yurine [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
- 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)
- ego-nori [ja] (Campylaephora hypnaeoides)
- habanori [ja] (Petalonia binghamiae)
- hijiki
- konbu (kombu, kelp)
- tororo-kombu [ja] or oboro-kombu - thin shavings.
- usuita-kombu - thin sheet created as byproduct
- mekabu [ja] - the thick, pleated portion near the attached base
- mozuku
- nori
- ogonori
- okyūto [ja]
- Suizenji-nori [ja] (Aphanothece sacrum) - Kyushu specialty
- tengusa - kanten, tokoroten (agar)
- wakame
- (citrus fruits)
- (Other)
- ume
- loquat
- makuwauri [ja] - a traditional type of melon
- nashi pear
- persimmon
- yamamomo (Myrica rubra)
Soy products
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
- 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 =hinaidori [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).
Aquatic creatures
Every type of seafood imaginable features in Japanese cuisine. Only some of the most common are in the list below. Includes freshwater varieties.
Finned fish
- (Marine fishes)
- (red-fleshed fish or akami zakana)
- skipjack tuna (katsuo) - made into tataki, namaribushi, and processed into katsuobushi
- tuna (maguro)
- Japanese amberjack (buri / hamachi)
- Spanish mackerel (sawara)
- (Of which are blue-backed fish ao zakana)
- Japanese jack mackerel (aji)
- pacific saury (sanma)
- sardine (iwashi)
- Niboshi or iriko is dried sardine, important for fish stock and other uses.
- mackerel (saba)
- kohada [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 or shiromi zakana)
- 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 (incl. brackish and ocean-returning))
- ayu - the shiokara made from this fish is called uruka [ja].
- Japanese eel (unagi)
- gori (Japanese fish) [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. aramaki-jake [ja] is salt-cured whole fish. hizu-namasu [ja] uses snout cartilage.
- suzuki
- Japanese icefish [ja] (Family Salangidae)
- nigoro buna (Carassius auratus grandoculis) - vital source of funazushi for Shiga-kennians
- baleen whale (kujira)
- dolphin (iruka)
- (squid, cuttlefish (ika))
- (aori ika)
- (surume ika)
- (kensaki ika)
- (yari ika)
- (hotaru ika)
- (kō ika)
- (octopus (tako))
- 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 or conches)
- horned turban (sazae)
- abalone
Crustaceans (ebikani-rui, kokaku rui)
- (crab (kani))
- snow crab (zuwaigani)
- horsehair crab (kegani)
- king crab (tarabagani; hanasaki gani=Paralithodes brevipes)
- horse crab (gazami)
- Kona crab (asahi-gani)
- (lobsters, shrimps, prawns (ebi))
- spiny lobster (ise-ebi)
- Kuruma prawn (kuruma ebi)
- humpback shrimp (botan ebi; Pandalus hypsinotus)
- mantis shrimp - (shako)
- barnacle
- kawaebi [ja] (Palaemon paucidens) - freshwater
- Sea cucumbers (namako) - body, intestines (konowata), ovaries (kuchiko, konoko)
- Sea urchin (uni), ovaries
- Sea pineapple (hoya)
- (livers)
- ankimo, or monkfish liver.
- kawahagi [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 aemono.
- 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 getemono [ja] or bizarre food.
- hachinoko [はちのこ], larvae and pupae of kurosuzumebachi or yellowjacket spp.
- inago no tsukudani, tsukudani made from locusts that infest rice fields. It used to be pretty common wherever rice was grown.
- zazamushi tsukudani [ざざむしの佃煮], tsukudani made from stonefly and caddisfly larvae in streams (specialty of Ina, Nagano area).
Bizarre foods
The mamushi viper are used to make an alcoholic medicinal beverage.
An imori no kuroyaki or "blackened broiled Japanese Fire Belly Newt has popularly been ascribed aphrodisiac properties, though this animal has been found to contain tetrodotoxin, the deadly fugu poison. On a related note, certain beetles of the Spanish fly family are used in Traditional Chinese medicine but are toxic, and in ninja fiction, the beetle's poison has been portrayed as being used in assassinations.
Use of not just raw, but living animals might be considered a novel use of ingredients: shirouwo (Ice goby) and hotaruika (Sparkling enope squid) are swallowed while still alive and wiggling (this is called odori-gui [ja]). This is also a unique culture of Japan.
See also
- List of Japanese cooking utensils
- List of Japanese dishes
- List of Japanese condiments
- List of sushi and sashimi ingredients
- Sansai
