A Dictionary of Japanese Food. Richard Hosking

      anago あなご 穴子 conger eel Anago anago (goten-anago) and Conger myriaster (ma-anago). This sea eel can reach up to 90 cm in length, but is usually taken at 30 to 40 cm. At its best in July and August, it makes wonderful nigirizushi and is also prepared as kabayaki, tempura, nabemono, sunomono, chawan mushi, and mirinboshi.

      ankake あんかけ 餡掛け sauce made by mixing kuzu flour or ka­takuriko with water or vegetable stock and heating till it thickens.

      ankō あんこう 鮟鱇 angler fish 1. Lophiomus setigerus 2. Lophius litulon. A fearsomely ugly but excellent tasting fish that grows from 1 to 1.5 m and is at its best in winter. A favorite way of eating it is simmered in warishita as ankōnabe. It is also made into a soup with red miso. The liver is served in vinegar.

      anmitsu あんみつ 餡蜜 mitsumame with an. A sweet dish pop­ular at kanmidokoro.

      anzu あんず 杏子、 杏 apricot Prunus armeniaca (rather than Armeniaca vulgaris “ansu”). Excellent apricots are grown in the Japan Alps, but they are not readily available, especially in the warmer parts of Japan, and most of the crop is made into apricot jam. For the Japanese apricot, see also ume.

      aojiso あおじそ 青紫蘇 green perilla. See also shiso.

      aonori あおのり 青海苔 green laver Enteromorpha. See also nori.

      aoyagi あおやぎ 青柳 See bakagai.

      aradaki あらだき 粗炊き a simmering of large fish, usually such fish as tai or buri that is not fresh enough to be eaten as sashimi or grilled. The head and the body still with its bones are simmered in stock flavored with soy sauce, saké, sugar, and mirin. Vegetables such as gobō are sometimes added.

      arai あらい 洗い a style of sashimi in which slices of fish are washed in cool water, then plunged into iced water for a minute, and drained. It is a particularly useful treatment for fish such as koi that might have a muddy taste.

      arame あらめ 荒布 arame Eisenia bicyclis. A non-cultivated seaweed that is dried in the wind. It must be harvested young and is tasty when fried or cooked with rice or with other foods.

      arani あらに 粗煮 See aradaki.

      arare あられ 霰 little rice crackers resembling hailstones. They are eaten with drinks as tsumamimono.

      asakusanori あさくさのり 浅草海苔 purple laver Porphyra tenera. See also nori.

      asanomi あさのみ 麻の実 Indian-hemp seeds Cannabis sativa. These sterilized seeds of marijuana, all imported, are not at all narcotic. They do not taste of much either, but are traditional in the seven-spice mixture shichimi tōgarashi, for which they are parched and added whole to the mix.

      asari あさり 浅蜊、 蛤仔 short-necked clam Tapes philippinarum. These clams are eaten from winter to early spring but should never be eaten in late spring or summer. Nor should they be eaten raw. They are served in the shell in miso shiru, and the flesh is served as tsukudani, sunomono, kakiage, and in zōsui.

      asatsuki あさつき 浅葱 asatsuki chive Allium ledebourianum. Very similar to nira and wakegi, it is shallow-fried as a vegetable, used in nabemono, and as an herb flavoring with sashimi of fugu (fugusashi).

      atsuage あつあげ 厚揚げ thick sliced tofu fried briefly in very hot oil so that the inside remains unchanged. With abura-age the slices are thinner and fried right through. Atsuage can be eaten on its own with soy sauce flavored with ginger, and is also served as nimono, itamemono, aemono, and o-den. It is also called nama-age.

      awa あわ 粟 foxtail millet Setaria italica. Along with hie, foxtail millet used to be eaten by poorer Japanese as a cheap substitute for rice. It is grown in Kyushu and Shikoku and may be cooked on its own or mixed with rice. It must be eaten hot, since it goes hard when cold. It is made into millet cakes (awa-mochi), millet balls (awadango), and millet candy (awa-ame).

      awabi あわび 鮑 abalone Nordotis spp. A favorite but expensive shellfish. Live, it is eaten raw as sashimi, its crisp chewiness being highly appreciated. It is also steamed, boiled, and cooked as ishiyaki. At its best in May and June.

      awasemiso あわせみそ 合わせ味噌 a mixture of different kinds of miso. It is considered to make the most delicious miso soup.

      ayu あゆ 鮎 sweetfish Plecoglossus altivelis. A river fish growing up to 30 cm in length but usually 12 to 15 cm on the market. It is caught between June and August, traditionally with trained cormorants and flares at night. Drinking parties are held on board the fishing boats, with the ayu out of the cormorants’ throats straight into the eaters’ mouths via the grill. Today it is mainly caught by rod and line or trapped. Ayu has a particularly good flavor and is usually grilled as shioyaki and served with tade su as a dip. The late-season fish, ochiayu, heavy with roe, is considered the tastiest.

      azuki あずき 小豆 azuki (adzuki, aduki) bean (pronounced a zoo key) Vigna angularis. A little red bean of which the Japanese are especially fond. It is an ingredient of sekihan and from the earliest times has been cooked with rice. An, the sweet paste used as a filling for many Japanese cakes and confections, is mostly made from azuki and sugar, which are also ingredients for shiruko.

      —B—

      bai ばい 蛽、 海蠃 a species of whelk Babylonia japonica Family Buccinidae. This kind of whelk, also called baigai, is from 7 to 10 cm in length, in girth about 7 cm. The flesh is removed from the shell, boiled, and made into sunomono, aemono, and tsukudani.

      baikingu ryōri バイキングりょうり バイキング料理 buffet. In 1958 the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo opened a smorgasbord restaurant. This buffet style of food service has come to be known as baikingu, the Japanese pronunciation of viking, through association with the Swedish smorgasbord. Very popular for receptions at hotels, which often also serve breakfast in this way.

      bai niku ばいにく 梅肉 sieved flesh of umeboshi. Used as a topping and a dip, it has sharp, salty flavor that offsets bland foods such as tofu. It is sold in bottles.

      bakagai ばかがい 馬鹿貝 hen clam, surf clam, round clam Mactra chinensis. Similar in shape and size (4 cm wide, 6.5 cm thick, and 8.5 cm long) to the hamaguri clam, this shellfish is widely distributed throughout Japan. It is eaten as sashimi, sunomono, and kakiage. The red peduncle is also eaten as sashimi and sunomono. Baka means fool, and since many object to the use of such a term, bakagai is sometimes called aoyagi 青柳, after a village in Chiba Prefecture where it is taken in abundance.

      bancha ばんちゃ 番茶 common green tea. See also Appendix 12.

      barazushi ばらずし ばら鮨、 ばら寿司 See Appendix 11.

      bareisho ばれいしょ 馬鈴薯 See jagaimo.

      ba sashi ばさし 馬刺 horse-meat sashimi Equus caballus. A specialty of Kumamoto and Nagano prefectures, horse meat is sliced thinly and served raw with garlic and ginger-flavored soy sauce.

      bateira ばていら 馬蹄螺 turban shell Omphalius pfeifferi. A conical-shaped shellfish about 5 cm tall and 5.5 cm round. It is tasty when boiled and served as sunomono, aemono, or nimono.

      battera バッテラ from Portuguese bateira, meaning boat-shaped. A specialty of Osaka, this sushi is made in a special wooden box in which sushi rice is pressed with vinegared mackerel topped with a transparently thin slice of konbu. See also saba-zushi.

      benishōga べにしょうが 紅生姜 See shōga.