GLOSSARY (alphabetical order)
The romanized Japanese words frequently appearing are listed below:
Aburaage: Oblong thin pieces of tofu fried in deep fat.
Aemono: Fresh fish or shellfish mixed with vegetables and
served raw or boiled, mixed with sesame, miso, or tofu, and
vinegar, shoyu, salt or sugar.
Agemono: Fried fish, shellfish or vegetables. Dipped in batter and deep fried (tempura).
Fried with a little oil and no flour. Prawns are the most common fish used.
Chawan-mushi: Hot custard of egg and fish or meat steamed in a small bowl.
Dashi: Stock made by boiling kombu and katsuobushi in water, and pouring off the clear liquid above. This is used as soup stock, or the foundation for other foods.
Hitashimono: Usually leafy vegetables boiled and flavored with dashi and shoyu.
Kamaboko: The flesh of white fish mashed, mixed with salt, mirin, sugar, and cornstarch, packed tightly on a small board in the shape of a half cylinder, and then steamed.
Kanlen: Tengusa seaweed (Gelidium Amansi Lamouroux) or agar-agar boiled, and jelled in a mould. Somewhat like gelatine, it is used in the same way. It is the chief ingredient used in many Japanese confections.
Katsuobushi: Dried bonito. After the bones of a bonito are removed, it is cut into 4 pieces, boiled and then dried in drying ovens; the green mildew which forms in the drying process improves the taste. The finished product is shaven and used for making stock, flavoring soups, etc.
Manju: Little steamed buns with sweet bean-paste in the center.
Meshimono: (a) Fish, meat or vegetables boiled with rice,
(b) Fish, meat or vegetables poured over boiled rice.
This is eaten in a domburi (large deep bowl).
Mirin: A sweet wine used to flavor boiled food; it is made from steamed glutinous rice in which a malt-mould is cultured, and then mixed with strong sake. (Sherry may be used instead).
Miso: A mixture of malt, salt and mashed soy beans with its liquor, fermented in large tubs. Used for miso-soup and for flavoring.
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