| Gari is fresh ginger pickled in rice vinegar. It comes in a variety of flavours; the common pink gari has been pickled with plums. It is said to aid digestion, and goes well with sushi, as well as providing a nice contrast to fatty foods. |
| Mirin is sweet (non-alcoholic) sake (rice wine) used for cooking, for example in sauces and marinades. Make your own mirin by mixing 2 parts sake and 1 part sugar. Let simmer for 5 minutes. |
| Miso is a paste made from fermented soy beans (not to be confused with tofu, which is made from curdled beans). There are different varieties of miso; the darker the colour, the saltier the taste. Miso is used for soup, in stews and sauces. |
| Nori comes as thin sheets of boiled, pressed, dried and toasted algae. Along with the many other kinds of algae used in Japanese cooking, it is often referred to as a "sea-weed", but it is actually a red alga. Nori can be used for nori-maki ("sea-weed" rolls), as garnish and shredded on top of your bowl of rice. |
| Sushi is the generic name for a variety of dishes based on "sushi-rice", that is rice mixed with rice vinegar (su). This of course includes the dish we most commonly associate with "sushi", namely nigiri-sushi – (raw) fish and shellfish on a "cushion" of rice. But sushi also comes as nori-maki/maki-sushi (sea-weed rolls) and chirashi-sushi ("country style" sushi). The latter is often served as a purely vegetarian dish. |
| Shiitake is a Japanese mushroom, which nowadays is grown in many parts of Europe, for example in abandoned mines in northern Sweden. Shiitake is used in gyoza (dumplings), stews and casseroles (suki-yaki) etc. |
| Wakame is a dried alga that rapidly unfolds into thin, green "leaves" when soaked in water. Wakame goes well with soup (for example miso-soup), side dishes and salads (for example "kyuri no sunomono" – vinegared cucumber) etc. |
| Wasabi is called green or Japanese horseradish. Unlike chili and other "hot" spices it will not burn your throat, but rather sting your nose. Like its European relative, it contains etheric oils that will affect not only your nose, but may quite possibly bring a tear to your eye as well. It can be bought as a paste, or as powder (to be mixed with water). It goes very well with sushi-dishes and sashimi (raw fish). |
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