Japanese Cuisine Glossary

There may be a wide variety of Japanese food and culinary creations but you can start by learning a few basic terms so that ordering in Japanese restaurants will be a breeze.

Ichiju-Sansai – the most standard Japanese meal which consists of white Japanese rice, soup and okazu, or a main course which usually consists of meats, seafood or vegetables.



Donburi – literally means bowl, it is a complete meal of steaming hot white rice in a big bowl topped with various dishes, such as beef, pork or seafoods. The toppings would be cooked in different ways such as the following:

Oyakodon – loosely translated as “Mother and Child” bowl. This is
basically a tandem of chicken and egg topping.  A special variation of this
would be fresh salmon and roe.
Gyudon – Beef donburi. The beef is braised or stewed in a mixture of soy
sauce and onions and topped with raw egg.
Katsudon – Pork cutlet donburi.  Deep fried pork cutlets are topped with
egg and young onion leaves.
Tendon – Tempura donburi.  Lightly battered pieces of seafood and
vegetables are deep fried and dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and miso.
Tekkadon – Tuna donburi.  Chunks of raw tuna are served with rice and
strips of nori seaweed.
Unadon – Eel donburi.  Slices of eel are grilled and basted in a thick soy
sauce mixture.

Bento –or Obento,  the equivalent of a lunch box in Japan, this is a meal served in a wooden box. The box would have separate compartments to hold the rice, the okazu, and other dishes.

Sushi – a popular Japanese food, it is basically made of white rice prepared in sushi vinegar then topped or combined with fresh or raw ingredients such as seafood, fruits and vegetables.  There are different kinds of sushi preparations:

Nigiri – Rice is formed into a ball or a chunk and topped with fresh
seafood.
Norimaki – Rice, fresh seafood and vegetables all rolled up in sheets of
dried seaweed called nori with the use of a bamboo mat.  These are then
cut up into small, bite-sized pieces.
Temaki – Basically the same as norimaki, but instead of being rolled in a
cylindrical shape, the rice and all the other ingredients are rolled into a cone shape. 
Chirashi – the rice is not pressed into any shape or form here, but just laid
out in a bowl and all the seafood, vegetables and other ingredients are spread out on top of it.
Inari – sushi rice is made as a filling for small deep fried tofu bags or aburaage

Sashimi – another popular Japanese fare, it consists of thinly sliced  raw seafood.  Freshness is the key in serving sashimi because it is not served with anything else except a dipping sauce made of soy sauce and wasabi or horseradish paste, and some slivers of fresh vegetables. The common types of sashimi are as follows:

Maguro – Tuna
Ika – Squid
Ebi – Shrimp or Prawn
Saba – Mackaerel
Tako – Octopus
Sake – Salmon
Toro – Fatty Tuna
Uni – Sea Urchin



Yakimono – a way of preparing dishes by pan-frying or grilling. Some popular examples are:

Kushiyaki – the Japanese version of kebabs, these are grilled skewers of
seafood or meats and vegetables.
Yakitori – pieces of chicken, and other chicken parts barbecued on a stick.
Takoyaki – a common street food in Japan, this is octopus mixed in a
batter dumpling and friend in spherical griddles.
Yakizakana – fish grilled in open flame and served with grated daikon or
white raddish.
Unagi – eel grilled and basted with a heavy soy sauce marinade.
Okonomiyaki – pancakes made of savory ingredients such as meats and
vegetables.
Gyoza – originally from China, these are dumplings filled with ground pork
and vegetables and served with a dipping sauce of soy sauce and vinegar.

Shabu-Shabu  -  Various ingredients such as meats, seafood and vegetables are all cooked in one hot pot of soup or stock base right on the diner’s table.  The one-dish meal is served with various dipping sauces and a bowl of rice.

Sukiyaki – Beef sliced in thin slivers is cooked with leafy vegetables in a mixture of  mirin, dashi, sugar and sake.  This is then cooked right on the table and served with raw egg that serves as the dipping sauce.

Udon – Thick wheat noodles, served in a soup stock with soy sauce and dashi or with curry broth.

Soba – Thin buckwheat noodles, also served in a soup base and topped with other ingredients such as meats and vegetables. They can be served either hot or cold

Yakisoba – Fried Japanese noodles.  Soba noodles are stir-fried together with various kinds of meats, seafood and vegetables and soy sauce.

Ramen – Another import from China, this Japanese noodle dish is based on a thin, spaghetti-like noodle served in a hot soup base and with different kinds of toppings such as barbecued pork, or chashumen, vegetable toppings or tanmen.

Kare Raisu – or curry rice, an import from the United Kingdom in the 19th century but is now a popular fare in Japan.  This is usually eaten with pickled vegetables.