Essential Ingredients

The ingredients for Japanese cooking can be confusing, difficult to find, or mysterious if you live outside of Japan. But they are always interesting—even if you make a mistake!

Fruits and Nuts

Chestnuts: Kuri ljoi

.

.

.

Persimmons: Kaki///

Sesame Seeds: Goma////
Umeboshi

Grains and Beans

Cake Flour////

Panko: Japanese bread crumbs

.

.

.

.N

Meat

Pork Flank////

Miso

..

.

.

Mushrooms

Kikurage, Black Cloud Ear Mushrooms

Noodles

Chuka Soba Noodles: ramen noodles/

Gyoza: Japanese Poststickers

Harusame: Japanese Potato Starch Noodles Spring Rain

Mung Bean Noodles: ryokuto harusame (Chinese Style)/

/

/

//

Soba: Dried

Soba: Homemade!

Somen Noodles

Udon Noodles (flat)

Udon Noodles (round)

Instant Udon Noodles////

Seasonings and Flavors

Japanese Mustard Powder: Karashi is the general word for mustard. Wa-garashi is the expression for Japanese mustard. Yo-garashi is its Western counterpart. It is sold in powdered form (konakarashi), and when you mix equal parts powder and water it becomes a paste (nerigarashi). Japanese mustard is hotter and has a slightly bitter taste. The paste looses pungency when it’s exposed to air, so be sure to keep it covered until ready to use. It is used as a condiment for oden, gyoza, simmered vegetable and meat dishes, and miso soup. It’s also used in dressings.

Tonkatsu Sauce, best to make your own!

Sea Vegegtables

Agar-Agar: Kanten////

Kombu (Dried Kelp)////

Snacks, Sweets, Drinks

Sweet Red Beans: for mitsumame

Crabs!/

/

/

/

Tofu

Abura Age: fried thin bean curd. Find this in the refrigerator or freezer. Because these are oily, you have to rinse them and dip them in boiling water to get rid of the grease. These can be cut on one edge to make one large pocket or cut in the middle to make 2 small pockets which you can fill something tasty. You can also cut them into strips to add texture to soups.

Koyadofu: freeze-dried tofu.

Vegetables

Baby Bamboo Shoots: Takenoko//////

Dried Bamboo///

Chinese Cabbage: Hakusai .

.

.

.

(Edible) Chrysanthemum Leaves: Shungkiku , edible chrysanthemum leaves

.

.

.

Gai Choy/

/

/

/////

Kabocha

Lotus Rood: Renkon (Lotus Root)

.

.

.

.

Sweet Potato: Satsuma Imo needs upload of smaller picture 3286///.

..

.

.

Taro: Sato Imo tastes sort of like potato

Yama Imo (Mountain Yam)////