Names of Food

Description

朝ご飯（あさ・ご・はん）／

朝食（ちょう・しょく）

Japanese traditionally eat rice, miso soup, and pickles with, commonly, nori (sheet of dried sea weed), egg (sometimes raw),  fish, nattoo (fermented soy beans), or some vegetables. Nowadays, toast and cereals are replacing the above food.  “Morning Service” at a coffee shop means “thick toast and coffee.”

味噌汁（み・そ・しる）

Soybean paste soup, usually “tofu” and seaweed in it.

納豆（なっ・とう）

Fermented soy beans.

漬物（つけ・もの）

Pickled vegetables in salt or “Nuka (rice bran, salt, rice malt and red pepper, etc.).”

梅干し（うめ・ぼ・し）

Salted plums colored red by  “Aka jiso (red perilla herb leaves).”

昼ご飯（ひる・ご・はん）／

昼食（ちゅう・しょく）

Lunch is faithfully eaten between 12:00 and 1:00.  Busy business people may finish a lunch at noodle shops at the train stations.  There are a lot of fast food, American and Japanese around town.  Coffee shops are another good spot for lunch and breakfast.

晩御飯（ばん・ご・はん）／

夕食（ゆう・しょく）

Supper. Japanese try to eat a lot of different kinds of food served in small portions.  Kaiseki Ryoori is a traditional Japanese course dinner with beautiful presentations according to seasons.

お弁当（お・べん・とう）

Box contains various kinds of food for lunch.  It usually has steamed rice, pickles, some vegetable with fish or neat as entrée.

おにぎり

Rice balls sometimes wrapped with “Nori (dried seaweed).”

焼き魚（や・き・ざかな）

Grilled fish. It sometimes comes with the head on.

天婦羅（てん・ぷ・ら）

Deep-fried battered seafood and vegetables.

寿司（す・し）

Vinegary seasoned rice with something (vegetables, raw or grilled fish, pickles, etc.). 

刺し身（さ・し・み）

Raw fish dishes.

すき焼き（すき・や・き）

Sliced beef and vegetables sautéed in sweet soy sauce.

うどん

Thick white noodle in “dashi (broth)” soup. Dashi soup is made from dried bonito flakes, seaweed and soy sauce.

そば

Buck wheat noodles (cold) with a dipping source or in hot soup.

焼き鳥（や・き・とり）

Grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce.

とんかつ

Deep-fried battered sliced pork.   Pork cutlet.

定食（てい・しょく）

A set menu/combo. Usually some main dish with rice, miso soup and pickles.

お好み焼き

（お・この・み・や・き）

A type of pancake whose name literally means “cooked or grilled as you like.”  You choose the ingredients from the menu and cook the pancakes themselves on a hot plate in the center of table. 

Ingredients are usually shredded cabbage, egg, flour, thinly sliced meat, seafood or vegetables, etc.

おでん

Oden consists of variety of ingredients (vegetable and seafood) simmered for many hours in soy sauce based kelp stock.

しゃぶしゃぶ

Thinly sliced beef (about 1mm thick) and vegetables dipped in boiling stock and dip in special sauces.

親子丼（おや・こ・どん）

Oyako-don means “parent and child.”  “Don” comes from “donburi” which is a kind of a deep china bowl.  The “parent” is chicken and the “child” is egg.  This dish is prepared as simmering chicken in sweet soy sauce based dashi sauce, adding a beaten egg and cooking until the egg sets.  And pour it onto rice in a china cowl (donburi). 

カツ丼（かつ・どん）

Boil “tonkatsu” in sweet soy sauce based dashi sauce, adding a beaten egg and cooking until the egg sets.  And pour it onto rice in a china cowl (donburi).

牛丼（ぎゅう・どん）

“Gyuu” means beef, “don” comes from “donburi” which is a kind of a deep china bowl.  Boil thinly sliced beef and onion in soy sauce base soup and pour them onto rice in Donburi.

うな重（うな・じゅう）

“Una” comes from “unagi (eel)”, “juu” comes from “juubako” which is a tier of lacquered boxes.  Put broiled eel with kind of teriyaki sauce on top of rice. 

カレーライス

（かれーらいす）

Boil meat (beef, pork or chicken) and vegetables in curry sauce.  Pour it onto rice.

オムライス（おむらいす）

Fried rice with some meat and onion, flavored with ketchup, wrapped by omelet.

卵焼き（たまご・やき）

Egg omelet in rectangular shape.

お茶漬け

（お・ちゃ・づ・け）

Rice and pickles in Japanese green tea.

わさび

Horseradish.

しょうゆ

Soy sauce.

和菓子（わ・が・し）

Japanese traditional sweets made with sugar and rice flour, etc.  . They are very colorful and formed into various shapes and items.  They are often used in tea ceremony.

お饅頭　（

お・まん・じゅう）

Bun stuffed with sweetened bean paste

yookan

羊羹（よう・かん）

Japanese bean jelly

あずき

Sweetened red beans.

抹茶（まっ・ちゃ）

Green tea (flavor)