hōrensō ほうれんそう 法蓮草、 菠薐草 spinach Spinacia oleracea. A favorite vegetable in Japan, it is a frequent ingredient of soups, but is at its best in the cooked salad hōrensō no goma ae. It also makes excellent o-hitashi.
hōroku ほうろく 焙烙 round earthenware platter. Used for parching seeds and grains as well as tea and salt, it usually has a domed lid so that it can be used for steam-baking (hōroku-yaki). In this style of cooking, the ingredients are usually set on a bed of pine needles and are cooked and served in the hōroku.
horumon ryōri ホルモンりょうり ホルモン料理 offal, variety meats. This kind of cooking originated among Korean residents of Japan. The name “hormone” derives from the fact that many of these organs are glands. Pork, beef, and chicken organs are used. They are either grilled as yakiniku or yakitori, or are used in the one-pot dish called motsunabe. As well as heart, liver, and gizzard, tripe is extensively used.
hotategai ほたてがい 帆立貝 scallop Patinopecten yessoensis. A large bivalve, up to 20 cm across, it is prolific in the waters of northern Honshu and Hokkaido and is extensively farmed. It is especially prized for its tender adductor muscle (kaibashira), which makes delicious sashimi. In cooking, the female (red) roe and male (cream) roe, and often the mantle, are usually left attached to the muscle. Scallops are served in soups, nimono, yakimono, and agemono.
hotokenoza ほとけのざ 仏の座 henbit Lamium amplexicaule. See also nanakusagayu.
hoya ほや 海鞘、 老海鼠 sea squirt Class Ascidiacea, especially doroboya (Corella japonica) and eboya (Styela clava). Somewhat limited in appeal, these creatures are present in all the waters surrounding Japan, but are particularly prolific in the coastal areas of Sanriku and north of Akita. Their best season is July and August. They are eaten raw after being skinned and their intestines are served in sunomono. Fermented sea-squirt intestines are a kind of shiokara similar to konowata.
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ichigo いちご 苺 strawberry Fragaria x ananassa. A very popular fruit frequently served with condensed milk rather than cream at the end of a meal. Strawberry jam is also very popular. The winter availability of empty rice fields and the unsuitability of Japan’s humid rainy season and hot summer have led to the practice of growing strawberries in vinyl houses on the empty fields in winter and spring. Donner, harunoka, toyonoka, fukuba, nyohō, and hōkōwase are widely grown varieties.
ichijiku イチジク 無花果、 映日果 fig Ficus carica. Introduced into Japan in the early seventeenth century, the fig has a restricted place among the autumn dessert fruits.
ichijū sansai いちじゅうさんさい 一汁三菜 one soup, three vegetables. This combination is the basis on which Japanese menus are constructed. Apart from rice, there should be soup and at least three dishes containing vegetables, customarily from the categories of namasu, nimono, and yakimono.
ichimi tōgarashi いちみとうがらし 一味唐辛子 ground chili pepper. See also shichimi tōgarashi.
ichimonji いちもんじ 一文字 scraper-spatula. The handle of this utensil is vertical to the blade, which makes it particularly useful in cooking o-konomiyaki.
ichiyazuke いちやづけ 一夜漬け See tsukemono.
igai いがい 貽貝 mussel Mytilus coruscus. As often as not, mussels are called mūrugai ムール貝, from the French moule, meaning mussel. At their best when steam-baked as hōroku-yaki, they are also good boiled, baked, and as sunomono. Their season is from January to March. A similar but rather larger mussel is the karasugai, which, though edible, has a muddy smell. In some parts of Japan igai is called karasugai.
iidako いいだこ 飯蛸 See tako.
ika いか 烏賊 squid: various dibranchiate cephalopods. Squid are a popular everyday food throughout Japan. They can be anything from bite-size to 50 cm long and are a cheap source of good protein, very low in fat. Above all served as sushi and sashimi, squid is also served as tempura and grilled, especially as teriyaki. Dried squid (surume) is a favorite snack with drinks.
ikanago いかなご 玉筋魚 Pacific sandlance Ammodytes personatus. Best when it is five to six months old and about 10 cm long. It is boiled in salt water and cooled, then served in vinegar-flavored soy sauce or sumiso. It is also made into tempura, tsukudani, and dried.
ikanago shōyu いかなごしょうゆ 玉筋魚醤油 See uoshōyu.
ikizukuri いきづくり 生き作り、 活き造り See sashimi.
ikura イクラ salmon eggs. Though hardly to be compared with caviar, these shiny red eggs are considered a luxury and are very good as a topping for sushi. The word ikura is derived from the Russian word ikra, meaning fish eggs. For salmon roe in the piece, see also sujiko.
imo いも 芋、 藷、 薯 potato. Japan has a wide range of potatoes, including yams, sweet potato, and taro. See also jagaimo, yamanoimo, satsumaimo, and satoimo.
inada いなこ 鰍 yellowtail, Japanese amberjack Seriola quinqueradiata. Called hamachi in western Japan and increasingly so in other parts of the country, this is the young of buri, about 40 cm long. It is preferable to buri for sushi and sashimi and is very good grilled as shioyaki. Best in summer.
inarizushi いなりずし 稲荷鮨、 いなり寿司 See Appendix 11.
ingenmame いんげんまめ 隠元豆 kidney bean Phaseolus vulgaris. The mature beans are mostly dried and then prepared as nimono, an, or amanattō, a kind of wagashi. For the young bean, see also sayaingen.
inobuta いのぶた 猪豚 boar-pig cross. The flesh of this creature has the best of both worlds: the tenderness of pork and the lean gaminess of wild boar. It makes an excellent nabemono.
inoshishi いのしし 猪 wild boar Sus scrofa. Boars are still reasonably prevalent in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The best wild boar comes from the young animals in winter. Wild boar is also referred to as yama kujira (mountain whale) and botan (peony) and is not always wild. See also botan nabe.
ippin ryōri いっぴんりょうり 一品料理 a la carte. On a menu, this most frequently indicates dishes ordered separately to be eaten with drinks.
irigoma いりごま 煎り胡麻、 炒り胡麻 parched sesame. Sesame seeds are normally parched before use, a task that requires skill and attention to avoid overcooking.
iriko いりこ 煎り子、 炒り子 small dried fish used for making dashi.
irori いろり 囲炉裏、 炉 central hearth. The hearth was formerly a feature of Japanese houses in mountainous areas, and many still exist, especially in country restaurants, for nostalgic effect. Part of the dining-kitchen area of a house, the hearth was adjacent to the doma,
