gyokuro, next is sencha, and the ordinary tea for daily use is bancha, which, when freshly toasted, becomes hōjicha. See also appendices 12 and 13.
chabudai ちゃぶだい 卓揪台 low table used without chairs for serving food and drinks in a Japanese-style room. Such tables have been used only since the beginning of the Meiji era (1868) and at first were often round. The legs are often collapsible for convenience of storage. The word chabudai is rather old-fashioned, being largely replaced by zataku.
chāhan チャーハン 炒飯 Chinese-style name for yakimeshi.
cha kaiseki ちゃかいせき 茶懐石 the highly refined style of food associated with the tea ceremony. Since it is not desirable to drink strong matcha on an empty stomach, the practice arose of serving a meal beforehand. The menu should emphasize the season, and is based on rice with ichijū sansai. The meal starts with a tray of rice, soup, and mukōzuke, followed by wanmori (the cha kaiseki term for nimono) and yakimono. Hashiarai (a clear suimono soup to “wash the chopsticks”) is then served with hassun, usually two chinmi, one from the mountains (e.g., iwatake) and one from the sea (e.g., karasumi). Finally, kō no mono is served with yutō (hot washings of the rice pot served in a yutō, a lacquerware container shaped like a teapot without a handle).
chankonabe ちゃんこなべ ちゃんこ鍋 nabemono that is supposed to fatten up sumo wrestlers. Basically a kind of mizutaki, it consists of soup made with roughly chopped chicken on the bone, in which seasonal vegetables, chicken, fish, and tofu are cooked and then dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar flavored with finely sliced negi. Traditionally the flesh of quadrupeds was not used, since being down on all fours means defeat in sumo. However, in recent years this custom has not been strictly observed.
chanpon チャンポン 1. a famous local dish of Nagasaki. A selection of pork, squid, prawns, oysters, and fish is fried in ample lard along with thinly sliced onion, carrot, cabbage, and other vegetables, and is then served in a large bowl containing lightly cooked Chinese noodles and soup made from roughly chopped pork and chicken on the bone. 2. the practice of mixing Japanese and Western drinks during the same drinking session.
chasen ちゃせん 茶筅、 茶筌 delicate bamboo whisk used for making matcha. These whisks are a special product of the town of Takayama in Nara Prefecture. There are also electric ones for people with weak wrists.
chāshū チャーシュー 叉焼 sliced roast pork served with rāmen.
chawan ちゃわん 茶碗 bowl, usually made of china or pottery for serving food, especially rice, and matcha.
chawan mushi ちゃわんむし 茶碗蒸し steamed savory custard made of egg and dashi. It usually contains chicken, prawns, ginkgo nuts, kamaboko, yurine, and mitsuba, and is steamed in special china cups with lids. Well-liked by all.
chikuwa ちくわ 竹輪 paste of fish (surimi), starch, and egg white, with salt, sugar, and other seasonings, formed into sausage shapes on skewers, and steamed or grilled. Among many uses, it makes an agreeable tsumamimono.
chimaki ちまき 粽 mochi made of glutinous or non-glutinous rice or rice flour wrapped in bamboo leaf and steamed or boiled. It is particularly eaten on Boys’ Day, May 5, because of its phallic symbolism. May 5 is now usually called Children’s Day.
chingensai チンゲンサイ 青梗菜 pak choy rape, bok choy Brassica campestris var. chinensis. Useful all-purpose green vegetable of Chinese origin, it is boiled or sautéed.
chinmi ちんみ 珍味 rare and unusual food, or food regarded as a great delicacy or luxury, such as uni, konowata, and karasumi, the “three great chinmi” (tenka no sandai chinmi 天下の三大珍味) of the Edo period (1603–1868).
chinpi ちんぴ 陳皮 dried peel of citrus fruit such as mikan, daidai, or yuzu. It is an ingredient of shichimi tōgarashi.
chinu ちぬ 茅渟 black bream Acanthopagrus schlegeli. See also kurodai.
chirashizushi ちらしずし 散らし鮨、 散らし寿司 See Appendix 11.
chirimenjako ちりめんじゃこ 縮緬雑魚 small young sardines and especially anchovies, less than 3 cm long, called shirasu in eastern Japan. After they are boiled and then dried, they are called chirimen in western Japan and shirasuboshi in eastern Japan. They can be made into aemono with grated daikon, and provide a good dietary source of calcium.
chirinabe ちりなベ ちり鍋 nabemono in which fish, tofu, and vegetables are simmered in water and then eaten after being dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. A popular winter dish.
chirirenge ちりれんげ 散り蓮華 china spoon. See also renge.
chisha ちしゃ 萵苣 lettuce Lactuca sativa. Refers mainly to a small, flat-leaved, non-heading lettuce. Otherwise, the word retasu レタス is used.
choko ちょこ small pottery vessel for drinking saké. Choko is a variant of choku 猪口, meaning wild boar’s mouth, which a choko is said to resemble when viewed from the side.
chōmiryō ちょうみりょう 調味料 condiment, seasoning. The main ones are salt, pepper, mustard, wasabi, sugar, vinegar, stock, chemical seasoning (i.e., monosodium glutamate), soy sauce, miso, and Worcester sauce.
chōrishi ちょうりし 調理師 licensed chef.
chōshoku ちょうしょく 朝食 breakfast. A traditional Japanese breakfast consists of rice, miso shiru, and tsukemono, with toasted nori, egg (usually raw, to be broken onto the rice or into the soup), fish, and tsukudani.
chūkasoba ちゅうかそば 中華蕎麦 another name for rāmen, it also refers specifically to Chinese noodles.
chūshoku ちゅうしょく 昼食 midday meal, lunch. Less formal words for lunch are hiru gohan and hiru meshi, hiru meaning midday.
chūtoro ちゅうとろ 中とろ See toro.
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daidai だいだい 橙、 回青橙、 臭橙 bitter orange, Seville orange Citrus aurantium. An important part of the New Year decoration. The juice of this orange is mixed with soy sauce to make the superior dip ponzu for nabemono.
daidokoro だいどころ 台所 kitchen. See also Appendix 3.
daikon だいこん 大根 giant white radish Raphanus sativus. Usually about 35 cm long, it is an important item in the Japanese diet, and is prepared in many ways. Thick slices are served boiled in stock with other vegetables as nimono. Dried in long thin strips, it is called kiriboshi daikon and, when reconstituted, has many uses, such as in fukujinzuke. Grated, it can be eaten with a flavoring of soy sauce and is added to the dip for tempura because it helps the digestion, especially of oily foods. It can be quite pungent and also unpleasantly smelly if left around after preparation. An old name for daikon as one of the haru no nanakusa (seven herbs of spring) is suzushiro.
daizu
