はったい[こ] 糗粉、 麨粉 See ōmugi.
haze はぜ 沙魚、 鯊 goby, gudgeon Acanthogobius flavimanus (ma-haze). The goby is widespread and exists in many species, but the well-known one of Tokyo Bay is the ma-haze, which grows to 20 cm or so. Its soft flesh is highly regarded and particularly good as tempura. For sashimi it is sliced into thin strips. It is also preserved as kanroni.
hechima へちま 糸瓜、 天糸瓜 sponge gourd, loofah, luffa Luffa cylindrica. This plant grows in the south or Kyushu, and the young gourds are eaten in many ways, such as sunomono and aemono. It can also be briefly blanched and served with sumiso.
hie ひえ 稗 Japanese barnyard millet Echinochloa utilis. Formerly a staple of the Japanese diet, it is little eaten today. However, it is sometimes mixed with white rice, and can be made into kayu and dango.
higashi ひがし 干菓子 dry confectionary. One category of wagashi, higashi is any kind of dry candy such as toffee, and also includes senbei. In any case, the water content must be less than 20%. Most commonly, however, the word refers specifically to the little dry confections used in the tea ceremony. They are made from rice flour and sugar, which is colored and pressed into small, decorative molds. The best confections are made with wasanbon. Kyoto is particularly famous for its higashi.
hijiki ひじき 鹿尾菜、 羊栖米 hijiki Hizikia fusiforme. A particularly nutritious seaweed that becomes a rich black when boiled before drying. Hijiki mame is an excellent and very popular dish, very rich in minerals and protein, in which soybeans and hijiki, both soaked, are sautéed in oil and seasoned with soy sauce and sugar.
hikiniku ひきにく 挽き肉 ground meat, minced meat, mince. Japanese butchers normally sell a variety of minced meats such as beef, pork, and chicken. Minced meat is used in tsukune, soboro, gyōza, and the cabbage rolls that are often found in o-den.
himono ひもの 干物 dried fish. Sun, wind, and dry night air are all used to dry a variety of lightly salted fish. Before drying they can be grilled or seasoned with mirin. The best way to eat them is hot from the grill.
hina matsuri ひなまつり 雛祭 festival for girls held on March 3. Also called the doll festival because of the display of dolls set up in houses where there is a girl. Traditional foods include diamond-shaped rice cakes called hishimochi colored white, pink, and green, as well as shirozake, a white-colored drink made from glutinous rice, rice mold, and mirin.
hirame ひらめ 平目、 鮃、 比目魚 bastard halibut, false halibut Paralichthys olivaceus. At its best from September to February, this is a highly regarded fish that can be prepared in every way. Since it sometimes harbors nematode parasites, it is safer cooked rather than eaten as sashimi or sushi.
hiratake ひらたけ 平茸 oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. This mushroom, gray-capped and white-fleshed, 5 to 15 cm across the cap, is delicious when gathered from the wild from spring till autumn. The less delicious cultivated version is usually marketed under the name of shimeji.
hiroshima na ひろしまな 広島菜 a variety of Brassica campestris var. chinensis. This green-leaved vegetable is cultivated almost exclusively for making Hiroshima’s famous salt pickle.
hishinomi ひしのみ 菱の実 water chestnut, water caltrop Trapa bispinosa var. iinumai. Young ones are eaten raw; harder, more mature ones are boiled, grilled, and then eaten. They are rather like chestnuts to eat but are not used in cooking.
hishio ひしお 醤 Historically hishio has a very important place in Japan’s food culture. There were originally three types: 草醤 kusa bishio, equivalent to today’s tsukemono; 肉醤 shishi bishio, equivalent to shiokara; and 榖醤 koku bishio, fermented grain products such as miso and soy sauce. It is from the latter that modern hishio, popular in western Japan, has developed. Vegetables such as eggplant, ginger, and shirouri, with hulled, split soybeans, are fermented in a kind of barley miso. It is a high-class product of limited availability. See also morokyū.
hiyamugi ひやむぎ 冷麦 dried noodle made of wheat, in thickness coming between sōmen and udon. After boiling, the noodles are chilled and served with a fairly chili-hot dipping broth. A summer dish.
hiyashi ひやし... 冷し... cold. Generally prefixed to the names of foods normally expected to be hot, e.g., hiyashi sōmen.
hiyayakko ひややっこ 冷奴 cold tofu. A simple dish in which a block of cold tofu is eaten with finely sliced welsh onion, grated ginger, kezuribushi, and soy sauce.
hōbō ほうぼう 魴鮄、 竹麦魚 bluefin gurnard, bluefin sea-robin Chelidonichthys spinosus. A highly regarded, white-fleshed fish about 40 cm long, at its best in winter. It is used in soups and nabemono and is also good as shioyaki and agemono.
hōchō ほうちょう 包丁 Japanese cook’s knife. Apart from the fact that they cut, these knives are in a different world from anything known in Western culture. Like swords, they are forged and are sharpened on one side of the blade only, allowing extremely clean, accurate slicing. They must be sharpened on several different whetstones, a knife steel being totally unsuitable. The three main types are sashimi bōchō; deba bōchō, for dealing with fish, apart from sashimi; and usuba bōchō, for fine work with vegetables. A good cutler might sell over fifty different kinds of knives made from traditionally forged steel.
hōjicha ほうじちゃ 培じ茶 parched bancha. See also cha and Appendix 12.
hojiso ほじそ 穂紫蘇 stem (spike) of young budding shiso. The little buds are scraped off to be used as a condiment. Pickled hojiso is served with shiruko.
hokkai ebi ほっかいえび 北海海老 Hokkai shrimp Pandalus kessleri. About 13 cm long, this shrimp is prolific off the northern shores of Hokkaido. It can be prepared as tsukudani, though much of the catch is peeled and canned.
hokke ほっけ
hokki gai ほっきがい 北寄貝 surf clam, hen clam Spisula sachalinensis. This clam, which is also called ubagai, is about 9.5 cm long, 4.5 cm wide, and 7.5 cm high and is most prolific in the Sanriku and Hokkaido areas. The flesh has an off-white color but turns pink when boiled. At its best from spring to summer, it is served as sashimi, sushi, yakimono, sunomono, and in suimono.
hone nuki ほねぬき 骨抜き tweezers for removing fish bones.
honshimeji ほんしめじ 本湿地 honshimeji Lyophyllum shimeji. An autumn mushroom of excellent flavor, it is difficult to cultivate and what is widely sold as (cultivated) honshimeji is actually buna shimeji (Hypsizigus marmoreus). Shimeji is used in soups, tempura, and nitsuke. According to one saying, matsutake is for aroma, shimeji for flavor.
honzen ryōri ほんぜんりょうり 本膳料理 The zen of the name refers to the short-legged trays on which this formal style of food is served. It is one of the three basic styles of traditional cooking, the other two being kaiseki ryōri 1 and 2, both of which are at present more frequently served than honzen ryōri. The menu has a highly formalized structure
