blood clam Anadara broughtonii. This clam can reach a diameter of 12 cm and is at its best in spring. The freshest ones are eaten raw with a dipping sauce of soy sauce and wasabi, or sanbaizu. They are also served on sushi, put into soups, prepared as namasu, nitsuke, and yakimono, and can be baked in the shell.
akajiso あかじそ 赤紫蘇 red perilla. See also shiso.
akamiso あかみそ 赤味噌 See Appendix 6.
akebi あけび 木通、 通草 akebi Akebia quinata. An autumn fruit, fairly insipid though it can be sweet. The outer shell is purple and the shape of a huge pea pod. Rarely seen in shops.
amadai あまだい 甘鯛 tilefish (a kind of sea bream) Branchiostegus japonicus. The flesh of this food fish of western Japan is somewhat watery.
amaebi あまえび 甘海老 pink shrimp, northern shrimp Pandalus borealis. See also ebi.
amaguri あまぐり 甘栗 See kuri.
amai あまい 甘い sweet.
amami あまみ 甘味 sweetness. As one of the five basic tastes, the word is usually pronounced kanmi. See also kanmi.
amanatsu あまなつ 甘夏 common name for the orange-type citrus fruit kawano natsu daidai かわのなつだいだい 川野 夏情 Citrus natsudaidai. It is a variety of natsumikan that ripens earlier (in February and March) and is less sour than other varieties.
amazake あまざけ 甘酒、 醴 a hot drink made by mixing cooked rice with water and rice kōji and holding at from 50 to 60°C for between twelve and twenty-four hours. It is sweetened and often flavored with ginger, and is particularly drunk for colds and sore throats and on New Year visits to shrines and temples. A quicker but inferior version is made from sakekasu.
ame あめ 飴 candy, toffee, a kind of higashi. See also mizuame.
ami あみ 醤蝦、 海糠魚 opossum shrimp, mysis Neomysis spp. An extremely small shrimp, not longer than 2 cm at the most. It is usually made into shiokara, but is also dried and prepared as tsukudani.
amiyaki あみやき 網焼き grilling done on a griddle (yakiami). See also yakimono.
an あん 餡 paste made from starchy pulses and sugar and mostly used as a filling for wagashi. The commonest type is red and made from azuki and can be either sieved as koshian, or unsieved as tsubuan. Shiroan, which is off-white, is made from white kidney beans. It can also be made from potatoes, sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and lily roots.
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.
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