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.
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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.
benitade べにたで 紅蓼 water pepper Polygonum hydropiper forma purpurascens. Also called murasakitade, the extensively cultivated little purple leaves have a peppery flavor. They are often placed next to the wasabi for mixing with soy sauce as a dip for sashimi. Parched tade is used as a garnish for soups.
benizake べにざけ 紅鮭 sockeye salmon, red salmon Oncorhynchus nerka. A northern Pacific fish of 50 to 60 cm in length, it mostly comes to Japan frozen. The bulk is salted and sold for grilling. It is also used in Western-style cooking.
bentō べんとう 弁当 boxed meal consisting of rice, pickles, and any number of accompanying foodstuffs. Most bentō are prepared at home to be taken to school or the workplace for lunch. There is also a large industry preparing and selling bentō at all times of day or night, often with the rice put in hot at the time of sale. There are also restaurants, especially in Kyoto, that specialize in bentō, which may extend beyond the box and not actually be portable. Perhaps the best-known kind of bentō is the ekiben えきべん 駅弁, sold at all major railway stations throughout Japan, usually with some distinct local touch. Makunouchi bentō まくのうちべんとう 幕の内弁当 is a good standard bentō, while shōkadō bentō しょうかどうべんとう 松花堂弁当 is high class and elegant.
bera ベら 倍良、 遍羅 Family Labridae includes a large number of very colorful fish, especially sasanohabera (Pseudolabrus japonicus), and several kinds of wrasse called kyūsen. As well as being the basic ingredient of kamaboko, it is prepared as nitsuke, kara-age, and nanbanzuke. Also called gizami.
bettarazuke ベったらづけ ベったら漬け daikon pickled in kōji. It has a sweet flavor and alcoholic aroma. Highly recommended.
biifun ビーフン 米粉 Chinese rice noodles. Popular in Japan, but not strictly part of Japanese cuisine.
biwa びわ 枇杷 loquat, Japanese medlar Eriobotrya japonica. A very bland, early-summer fruit, eaten fresh. It may also be canned, and used in jams, jellies, and liqueurs.
bōfū ぼうふう 防風 1. common abbreviation of hama bōfū. 2. root of Ledebouriella seseloides, one of the ingredients of toso.
bora ぼら 鯔、 鰡 striped mullet, (British) grey mullet Mugil cephalus cephalus. Growing up to 80 cm in length, this fish is suitable for sashimi only when extremely fresh, since it feeds on mud and green algae and deteriorates very quickly. It is best eaten as gyoden ぎょでん 魚田 (fish dengaku), teriyaki, or misozuke. The female roe of bora is made into karasumi. See also chinmi.
botan ebi ぼたんえび 牡丹海老 botan shrimp Pandalus nipponensis. See also ebi.
botan nabe ぼたんなベ 牡丹鍋 nabemono with wild boar (inoshishi) as the main ingredient. Botan is Japanese for peony.
budō ぶどう 葡萄 grape Vitis spp. Eaten fresh in late summer and autumn, the best grapes are a considerable luxury. There is a vigorous wine industry in Japan, and though the number of discriminating consumers is increasing, they tend to prefer imported wines.
buntan ぶんたん 文旦 pomelo, shaddock Citrus grandis. The largest of the citrus fruits, it is grown in Kyushu and Shikoku. It is eaten raw and is similar to the grapefruit, though not as juicy. The candied peel is a popular delicacy. Buntan is also called zabon.
buri ぶり 鰤 yellowtail, Japanese amberjack Seriola quinqueradiata. A large fish about 1.3 m in length and weighing about 15 kg, it is highly regarded and is particularly good as sashimi and also very good grilled and as teriyaki. It is at its best in autumn and winter and is extensively cultivated artificially, as is its younger form (hamachi). In western Japan, buri is the favored fish at New Year. It is first eaten as sashimi, then in zōni, later grilled, especially as teriyaki, and finally fixed as aradaki.
buta niku ぶたにく 豚肉 pork Sus scrofa var. domesticus. Pork is principally eaten as tonkatsu, but also appears in yakiniku and nimono.
butsugiri ぶつぎり ぶつ切り roughly chopped fish or meat on the bone, though fish may be filleted. It is mostly used in soups and nabemono.
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