Japanese Special Ingredients

• bamboo shoots—Tender, fleshy yellow sprouts from bamboo canes. They can be bought fresh in Japan, and canned ones are usually available elsewhere.
• chives—A member of the onion family whose thin, green stalks are chopped and used to garnish many dishes.
• dashinomoto—An instant powdered soup base made from dried seaweed
  and flakes of dried bonito fish called katsuobushi. (Homemade soup stock is called dashi.)
• ginger root—A knobby, light brown root used to flavor food. To use fresh ginger root, slice off the amount called for, peel off the skin with the side of a spoon, and grate the flesh. Freeze the rest of the root for future use. Fresh ginger has a very zippy taste, so use it sparingly. (Don’t substitute dried ground ginger in a recipe calling for fresh ginger, as the taste is very different).
• katsuobushi—Dried shavings of the bonito fish; used as a garnish for many dishes and to flavor soup stock.
• miso—A paste made from soybeans and used in soups, sauces, and as a garnish.
• noodles—An important staple that is available in many forms and served in many ways.Three popular kinds are soba (buckwheat noodles), somen (thin wheat noodles), and udon (thick wheat noodles).
• rice—An important cereal grain that comes in three varieties. Short-grain rice, the kind used in the recipes in this book, has short, thick grains that tend to stick together when cooked. Sweet or glutinous rice is used to make special dishes. Long-grain rice is fluffy and absorbs more water than other types. It is not used in Japanese cooking.
• rice vinegar—Vinegar made from rice.
• scallion—A variety of green onion.
• sesame seeds—Seeds from an herb grown in tropical countries. Sesame seeds are white or black in color and are often toasted and used either whole or crushed.
• shiitake—Black mushrooms, either dried or fresh, used in Japanese cooking. Dried mushrooms must be rinsed in lukewarm water before cooking to make them tender.
• shirataki—Yam noodles, available canned at most large supermarkets and at specialty food shops.
• soy sauce—A sauce made from soybeans and other ingredients that is used to flavor Asian cooking. Japanese soy sauce (shoyu) is recommended for the recipes in this blog.
• tofu—A processed curd made from soybeans.