Learn the essential Japanese cuisine related words

People across the globe regularly enjoy the Japanese foods and its rich culture and history. Japanese foods are not only extremely visually appealing, they taste sensational too! Due to the popularity of this particular Oriental food style, many people like to fully immerse themselves in the other elements that surround it, not just the eating part!

Art is up there among one of the most important factors incorporated into the Japanese cuisine culture, and this is not taken lightly. You just have to look at how alluring the sight of a well-made sushi dish is to understand what we mean.

If you are one of the ever-increasing numbers of people who want to indulge further into the art of Japanese delicacies, we can help with our hand-picked list of words to learn, which you can see below:

Age

"Age" is the abbreviated word taken from "agemono", the word used to describe deep-fried dishes in Japanese. If you come across a Japanese dish that has the word "-age" in it, that essentially means you're looking at an agemono-style dish.

Most commonly, you will see the word "-age" used in "karaage", which is chicken, octopus, or fish with a crunchy taste, texture and wrapped in flour.

Shiru/Jiru

Miso shiru – does that name sound vaguely familiar? Miso soup is super popular Japanese soup on a worldwide scale, but were you aware that the name derives from the official name “miso shiru”? If it’s soup that you are after making, then ensure you’re clued up on the word "shiru" first. Also, another word to look up is "jiru". A classic example of a "jiru" dish is butajiru, which translates in English to pork soup.

Katsu

Another prevalent word that those who have just been taking an interest in Japanese food, and those who’ve loved it for a long time, will know is the word "katsu". Most-likely, Chicken katsu and katsu don will be two options you will have heard of outside of Japan.

The word "katsu" translates to mean "fried."

Yaki

Yakitori, takoyaki, yakisoba, and yakimeshi are just four of the many yaki-related Japanese dishes that incorporate the word "yaki". "Yaki" itself translates as "boiled, grilled, or pan-fried."

Teppanyaki is regarded as one of the most famous Japanese cooking methods and typically involves shrimp and steak, among other ingredients. An iron plate, which is the definition of the word teppan itself, should always be included in this style of dish.

Don

If "don" derives from the word "donburi", which means "bowl". An array of visually and taste enticing rice bowl dishes instantly. All you need to do is remember the word don and after a few times of reading menus, it’ll be second nature. Think of tendon (tempura), gyudon (beef tongue), and unadon (eel), for example.

Mushi

Chawanmushi is one of the examples of a Japanese dish with the word "mushi" in it, which is the literal meaning of "to steam." Chawanmushi itself is an egg custard, customarily enjoyed as a main dish rather than side dish, which is not a basic characteristic of other types of custard, of course.

Maki

The word "maki" is the literal translation of the action "to roll", usually in seaweed or also known as “nori”. That's why you can always find the word "maki" in a sushi menu… with ease! Meanwhile, "temaki" means "hand-rolled", typically referring to a cone-shaped sushi dish wrapped in nori.

Image: shrk from Suita, Osaka under Creative Commons.