List of Japanese ingredients

The following is a list of ingredients used in Japanese cuisine.

Cereal grain

 * Rice
 * Short or medium grain white rice. Regular (non-sticky) rice is called.
 * Mochi rice (glutinous rice)-sticky rice, sweet rice
 * (brown rice)
 * Rice bran – not usually eaten itself, but used for pickling, and also added to boiling water to parboil tart vegetables
 * – toasted brown rice grains in and
 * – Aspergillus cultures
 * (barley)
 * (barley)
 * (barley)
 * (barley)

Flour

 * starch – an alternative ingredient for potato starch
 * – soybean flour/meal
 * – (millet) flour
 * – starch powder
 * starch
 * Rice flour
 * – semi-cooked rice dried and coarsely pulverized; used as alternate breading in deep-fried dish, also used in Kansai-style  confection. Medium fine ground types are called shinbikiko (新引粉,真挽粉) and used as breaded crust or for confection. Fine ground are jōnanko (上南粉)
 * , kanbaiko (寒梅粉) – powdery starch made from sticky rice.
 * flour
 * Soba flour
 * starch – substitutes are sold under this name, though authentic starch derives from fern roots. See
 * Wheat flour
 * Tempura flour
 * ,, – descending grades of protein content; all purpose, udon flour, cake flour
 * – name for the starch of rice or wheat. Apparently used for to some extent. In Chinese cuisine, it is used to make the translucent skin of the shrimp.
 * Tempura flour
 * ,, – descending grades of protein content; all purpose, udon flour, cake flour
 * – name for the starch of rice or wheat. Apparently used for to some extent. In Chinese cuisine, it is used to make the translucent skin of the shrimp.

Noodles

 * Soba
 * Ramen
 * Udon
 * noodles
 * noodles

Botanic fruits as vegetables

 * Cucumber
 * Eggplant
 * – mild peppers
 * pepper (伏見とうがらし) – The leaves of the made into  are.
 * – pumpkins, squash
 * – type of squash/melon.
 * – type of squash/melon.

Cabbage family

 * – (B. rapa var. perviridis)
 * - (B. rapa var. nipposinica)
 * Napa cabbage – (B. rapa var. glabra)
 * Takana (タカナ) – (Brassica juncea var. integrifolia or var. of mustard)
 * – (cultivar of B. rapa var. )
 * (rapeseed or coleseed flowering-stalks, used like broccoli rabe)

Other leafy vegetables

 * Spinach

Onion family
Vegetables in the onion family are called in Japanese.
 * – type of chives
 * – Chinese chives or garlic chive
 * – formerly thought a variety of scallion, but geneticists discover it to be a cross with the bulb onion (A. × wakegi).
 * Green onions or scallions
 * Fukaya negi (深谷ネギ) – Often used to denote the types as thick as leeks used in Kantō region, but is not a proper name of a cultivar, and merely taken from the production area of Fukaya, Saitama. In the east, the white part of the onion near the base like to be used.
 * ("multipurpose scallion") – young plants.
 * – Kyoto cultivar of green onion.
 * – Cultivar named after Shimonita, Gunma.
 * Other varieties with articles are (Hiroshima),  (Fukui),  (Gifu)
 * – Allium macrostemon, collected from the wild much like field garlic.
 * – Allium victorialis, much like ramps.
 * – Allium victorialis, much like ramps.

Root vegetables

 * – Chinese artichoke, Stachys affinis
 * – Japanese radish
 * – Arctium lappa
 * Lotus root
 * Potato
 * Sweet potato
 * Taro and stalk
 * – Kyoto variety
 * – stems available fresh or dried; their tartness must be boiled off before use.
 * – bamboo shoots
 * ,, – Slender bamboo shoots of  (Sasa kurilensis), so-called "baby bamboo shoots".
 * – vital condiment to ramen, made from the Taiwanese giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus) and not from the typical bamboo shoot.
 * – vague name that can denote either Dioscorea spp. (Japanese yam or Chinese yam) below. The root is often grated into a sort of starchy puree. The correct way is to grate the yam against the grains of the . Also the tubercle used whole.
 * or (Dioscorea japonica) – considered the true Japanese yam. The name  refers to roots dug from the wild.
 * (D. opposita) – In a strict sense, refers to the long truncheon-like form.
 * (D. opposita) – A fan-shaped (ginkgo leaf shaped) variety, more viscous than the long form.
 * (D. polystachya var.) – A round variety even more viscous and highly prized.
 * – edible tubercles
 * – lily bulbs

Sprouts

 * – radish sprouts
 * – mung sprouts
 * Soybean sprouts

Specialty vegetables

 * Aralia cordata – "Japanese spikenard"
 * –a type of butterbur, both stalk and young flower shoots
 * – dried gourd strips
 * – a term for wild-picked vegetables in general, including fernbrake, bamboo shoots, tree shoots
 * – a term for wild-picked vegetables in general, including fernbrake, bamboo shoots, tree shoots

Pickled vegetables

 * – term for Japanese pickles.

Nuts

 * Ginkgo nuts
 * Azuki bean
 * – chestnuts
 * – Japanese walnut (Juglans ailantifolia)
 * – a type of buckeye or horse chestnut (Aesculus turbinata)
 * – acorns of Castanopsis spp.

Seeds

 * Sesame seeds
 * Black sesame seeds
 * White sesame seeds
 * seeds
 * Wild sesame seeds
 * Hemp seeds – mixed in with
 * – usually powdered mustard, or in paste tubes
 * – Zanthoxylum piperitum

Mushrooms

 * Shiitake
 * Wood ear
 * Rhizopogon roseolus
 * Shiitake
 * Wood ear
 * Rhizopogon roseolus
 * Shiitake
 * Wood ear
 * Rhizopogon roseolus
 * Rhizopogon roseolus

Seaweed

 * – Campylaephora hypnaeoides
 * – Petalonia binghamiae
 * – kombu, kelp
 * or – thin shavings of kelp
 * – a thin sheet of kelp created as a byproduct
 * – the thick, pleated portion near the attached base of the seaweed
 * Nori
 * – refers to seaweed harvested from sea-rock.
 * – Aphanothece sacrum, a Kyushu specialty
 * – also known as and ; agar
 * – Aphanothece sacrum, a Kyushu specialty
 * – also known as and ; agar
 * – Aphanothece sacrum, a Kyushu specialty
 * – also known as and ; agar

Citrus

 * – a new hybrid
 * Yuzu
 * – a new hybrid
 * Yuzu
 * Yuzu
 * Yuzu
 * Yuzu

Other

 * Akebia (sausage fruit)
 * Loquat
 * – a traditional type of melon
 * Nashi pear
 * Persimmon
 * – Myrica rubra
 * – Myrica rubra

Soy products

 * Soy sauce (light, dark, )
 * – soy sprouts
 * – soy meal
 * – dry-roasted soy beans and black soy beans (used in, etc.)
 * – soy sprouts
 * – soy meal
 * – dry-roasted soy beans and black soy beans (used in, etc.)
 * – dry-roasted soy beans and black soy beans (used in, etc.)

Vegetable proteins

 * – wheat gluten
 * – fresh usually sold in sticks (long bars)
 * Dry – variously shaped and colored.  is one variety
 * – somewhat more doughy (still has starches left)
 * Tofu
 * Soft: (silken), ,
 * Firm: (cotton)
 * Freeze-dried:
 * Fried:, , ,
 * Residue:
 * Soy milk

Eggs

 * Chicken
 * Quail egg
 * Terrapin eggs, sea-turtle eggs

Meats

 * Beef
 * Kobe beef
 * Matsusaka beef
 * Mishima beef
 * Beef tongue, heart, liver, tripe, rumen, omasum , abomasum
 * Chicken – called in Western parts (Kansai). There are various heritage breeds called
 * Nagoya cochin
 * Shamo – fighting cock
 * – × Rhode Island red
 * Unlaid egg yolk
 * Pork
 * (Berkshire (pig))
 * or, extinct but reconstructed heritage hog of Okinawa
 * – a domestic pig × wild boar crossbreed
 * Boar meat – the (hotpot) dish is called  ("peony")
 * Whey – marketed by
 * Horse meat, sometimes called – a delicacy. Raw sliced horsemeat is called ; the fatty neck portion from where the mane grows is known as.

Marine fishes

 * (red-fleshed fish or akami zakana)
 * skipjack tuna (katsuo) - made into tataki, namaribushi, and processed into katsuobushi
 * tuna (maguro)
 * Japanese amberjack (buri / hamachi)
 * Spanish mackerel (sawara)
 * Spanish mackerel (sawara)

Blue-backed fish
These fish are collectively called ao zakana in Japanese.
 * Japanese jack mackerel (aji)
 * pacific saury (sanma)
 * sardine (iwashi)
 * Niboshi or iriko is dried sardine, important for fish stock and other uses.
 * mackerel (saba)
 * or kohada (Konosirus punctatus)
 * herring (nishin)
 * aji (Japanese horse mackerel and similar fish) - typical fish for hiraki, or fish that is gutted, butterflied, and half-dried in shade.

White-fleshed fish
These fish are collectively called shiromi zakana in Japanese.
 * flatfish (karei / hirame) - ribbons of flesh around the fins called engawa are also used. Roe is often stewed.
 * pike conger (hamo) - in Kyoto-style cuisine, also as high-end surimi.
 * pufferfish (fugu) - flesh, skin, soft roe eaten as sashimi and hot pot (tecchiri); organs, etc. poisonous; roe also contain tetrodotoxin but a regional specialty food cures it in nuka until safe to eat.
 * tilefish (amadai) - in a Kyoto-style preparation, it is roasted to be eaten scales and all; used in high-end surimi.
 * red sea bream (madai) - used widely. the head stewed as kabuto-ni.

Freshwater fish

 * ayu - the shiokara made from this fish is called.
 * Japanese eel (unagi)
 * - refers regionally to different fish, but often the goby type, some are high-end fish.
 * salmon (sake) - shiojake or salted salmon are often very salty fillets, so lighter salted amajio types may be sought. is salt-cured whole fish.  uses snout cartilage.
 * suzuki
 * (Family Salangidae)
 * nigoro buna (Carassius auratus grandoculis) - vital source of funazushi for Shiga-kennians

Marine mammals

 * baleen whale (kujira)
 * dolphin (iruka)

Squid and cuttlefish
These fish are collectively called ika in Japanese.
 * (aori ika)
 * (surume ika)
 * (kensaki ika)
 * (yari ika)
 * (hotaru ika)
 * (kō ika)

Octopus
Octopus is called tako in Japanese.
 * Common octopus (madako)
 * Giant Pacific octopus (mizudako)
 * Amphioctopus fangsiao (iidako)

Bivalves

 * scallop (hotate-gai)
 * littleneck clam (asari)
 * freshwater clam (shijimi)
 * oyster (kaki)
 * iwagaki (Crassostrea nippona), available during summer months.
 * clam (hamaguri)
 * (akagai)
 * (aoyagi)
 * Geoduck (mirugai)
 * (torigai)

Single shelled gastropods and conches

 * horned turban (sazae)
 * abalone

Crustaceans
These foods are collectively called ebikani-rui or kokaku rui in Japanese.

Crab
Crab is called kani in Japanese.
 * snow crab (zuwaigani)
 * horsehair crab (kegani)
 * king crab (tarabagani; hanasaki gani=Paralithodes brevipes)
 * horse crab (gazami)
 * Kona crab (asahi-gani)

Lobsters, shrimps, and prawns
These shellfish are collectively called ebi in Japanese.
 * spiny lobster (ise-ebi)
 * Kuruma prawn (kuruma ebi)
 * humpback shrimp (botan ebi; Pandalus hypsinotus)
 * mantis shrimp - (shako)
 * barnacle
 * (Palaemon paucidens) - freshwater

Echinoderms

 * Sea cucumbers (namako) - body, intestines (konowata), ovaries (kuchiko, konoko)
 * Sea urchin (uni), ovaries

Tunicates

 * Sea pineapple (hoya)

Roe

 * salmon roe (ikura)
 * herring roe (kazunoko)
 * mullet roe (karasumi) - similar to botargo
 * pollock roe (tarako (food))
 * capelin roe (masago)
 * flying fish roe (tobiko)
 * crustacean eggs

Liver

 * ankimo, or monkfish liver.
 * (Thread-sail filefish) and abalone livers are used as is, or as kimo-ae, i.e., blended with the fish flesh or other ingredients as a type of aemono.
 * squid and katsuo (skipjack) livers and guts, used to make shiokara.

Processed seafood

 * anchovy (katakuchi-iwashi), dried to make Niboshi. The larvae are shirasu and made into Tatami iwashi
 * chikuwa
 * himono (non-salted dried fish) - some products are bone dry and stiff, incl. ei-hire (skate fins), surume (dried squid), but often refer to fish still supple and succulent.
 * kamaboko, satsuma age, etc., comprise a class of food called nerimono, and are listed under surimi products.
 * niboshi
 * shiokara of various kinds, made from the guts and other portions.

Insects
Some insects have been considered regional delicacies, though often categorized as or bizarre food.


 * , larvae and pupae of kurosuzumebachi or yellowjacket spp.
 * , tsukudani made from locusts that infest rice fields. It used to be pretty common wherever rice was grown.
 * , tsukudani made from stonefly and caddisfly larvae in streams (specialty of Ina, Nagano area).