About YUU🔪 Cutting & cooking tips
How to cut, and words that often come up in recipes (heat levels, scum, drop lids and more), step by step.
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🔪 Cutting
- Hangetsu-giri (half-moons)Cutting a vegetable in half lengthwise, then slicing from the end into half-moon shapes.
- Hitokuchi-dai (bite-size)Cutting into pieces you can eat in one bite. The size matters more than the shape.
- Hoso-giri (thin strips)Cutting into thin sticks, a little thicker than julienne. Often used for stir-fries.
- Icho-giri (quarter-moons)Cutting a vegetable into quarters lengthwise, then slicing from the end. The pieces look like ginkgo leaves.
- Kaku-giri (cubes)Cutting into cube shapes, like dice.
- Koguchi-giri (thin rounds)Slicing long, thin vegetables such as green onion or cucumber from the end into even rounds.
- Kushigata-giri (wedges)Cutting round foods toward the center into wedges. The shape looks like an old-style comb (kushi).
- Mijin-giri (finely chopping)Cutting vegetables into very small pieces. Often used for onion, garlic, ginger and leek.
- Naname-giri (diagonal slices)Slicing long vegetables with the knife at an angle. The cut faces become long ovals.
- Ran-giri (roll cut)Cutting on a diagonal while turning the vegetable a little each time. The shapes differ, but keep the size the same.
- Sen-giri (julienne)Cutting into very thin strips, like threads. Often used for cabbage, shiso and ginger.
- Sogi-giri (angled slicing)A way of cutting with the knife held low at an angle. It turns thick meat or vegetables into thin, wide slices.
- Wa-giri (rounds)Cutting round vegetables from the end into slices of the same thickness.
- Zaku-giri (rough chop)Cutting leafy vegetables roughly into big pieces. The shape doesn’t matter, but keep the size about the same.
🔥 Heat & simmering
- Aku (scum)The gray or brown foam that rises when you simmer food, and the bitterness in some vegetables. Removing it makes the taste cleaner.
- BoilingWhen water or broth gets hot and big bubbles keep rising. “Bring to a boil” means heating it until that happens.
- Heat levels (high, medium, low)“High”, “medium” and “low” heat in recipes depend on how the flame touches the bottom of the pan.
- Mushi-yaki (steam-frying)Covering the pan so the steam inside cooks the food. Browned outside, juicy inside.
- Nitsumeru (reducing)Simmering a liquid so the water cooks off and the flavor gets stronger. Sauces become thick and glossy.
- Otoshibuta (drop lid)A lid smaller than the pot that sits right on the food while it simmers. Flavor soaks in even with a little liquid.
🥄 Prep & mixing
- Beaten eggEggs cracked and mixed until the white and yolk are blended.
- Cooling slightly (aranetsu)Letting freshly cooked food cool until it’s warm enough to touch.
- Hitotsumami & shoushou (a pinch)Amounts of salt and so on picked up with your fingers. “Hitotsumami” uses 3 fingers, “shoushou” uses 2.
- Kitsune-iro (golden brown)A light brown, like a fox’s fur. Used as a guide for frying and browning.
- Mawashi-ireru (pour in a circle)Pouring a little at a time in a circle over the whole pan. Used for beaten egg, seasonings and starch slurry.
- Potato starch slurryPotato starch mixed with water. Stir it into soups and sauces to thicken them.
🔎 Also found on the other pages
- 🥬 Ingredient guideAburaage (fried tofu pouches)Thin slices of tofu fried in oil. The inside forms a pouch that soaks up broth.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideAtsuage (thick fried tofu)Tofu cut into thick pieces and deep-fried. The outside is fried and the inside is still tofu. Also called namaage.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideDashiA broth that carries the savory taste (umami) of bonito flakes, kombu and more. It’s the base of many soups and simmered dishes.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideEggsChicken eggs. Fry them, boil them or add them to simmered dishes—they go in all kinds of food.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideSesame oilOil pressed from sesame seeds. It has a toasty aroma and is used for stir-fries, Chinese-style dishes and dressings.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideKatakuriko (potato starch)A white powder made from potato starch. Used to thicken sauces and to coat fried food.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideKatsuobushi (bonito flakes)Bonito that’s simmered, smoked and dried hard, then shaved thin. Full of umami and aroma.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideKonegi (green onion)A thin, green onion. Sliced into thin rounds for garnish and color.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideKonnyakuA jiggly food made from konjac potato. It’s very low in calories.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideMirinA sweet seasoning made from sweet rice and more. It adds gentle sweetness and a glossy shine.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideMisoA seasoning made by fermenting soybeans with salt and koji. Used for miso soup, stir-fries and marinades.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideNaganegi (Japanese leek)A green onion with a long, thick white part. Sharp when raw, sweet when cooked.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideNinniku (garlic)A vegetable with a strong aroma. Cooked in oil, it becomes toasty and makes food taste deeper.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideOoba (shiso leaves)Green shiso leaves. Fresh and minty, used as a garnish or for wrapping.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideOyster sauceA dark brown sauce made with oyster extract. It adds depth to Chinese-style stir-fries.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideShoga (ginger)A root with a fresh aroma and a little heat. It takes away strong smells from meat and fish.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideShoyu (soy sauce)Japan’s basic seasoning, made from soybeans, wheat and salt. It’s salty, savory and fragrant.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideTofuA white food made from soybeans. There’s firm “momen” tofu and smooth “kinugoshi” (silken) tofu.
- 🥬 Ingredient guideChicken thighMeat from the top of the chicken’s leg. Juicy and tender with just enough fat.
- 📜 Food originsHow champon beganNagasaki champon is said to have been created in 1899 by the owner of the Chinese restaurant Shikairo for students from China.
- 📜 Food originsHow chicken nanban beganIt’s said to have started in the 1950s–60s as a staff meal at a Western-style restaurant in Nobeoka, Miyazaki.
- 📜 Food originsHow chikuzen-ni (gameni) began“Gameni” is a local dish of Fukuoka. Northern Fukuoka was once called “Chikuzen”, so it’s also called chikuzen-ni.
- 📜 Food originsHow goya champuru began“Champuru” is a stir-fry of seared Okinawan tofu and seasonal vegetables—an everyday dish that represents Okinawa.
- 📜 Food originsHow hiyajiru beganHiyajiru (cold miso soup) from Miyazaki is said to come from farmers eating barley rice with miso and water in the hot summer.
- 📜 Food originsHow imoni beganImoni (taro stew) from Yamagata is said to have begun in the mid-1600s, when boatmen shared a pot on the banks of the Mogami River.
- 📜 Food originsHow katsuo no tataki beganSeared bonito from Kochi is said to have spread from meals fishermen ate on their boats.
- 📜 Food originsHow kenchinjiru beganA soup of vegetables stir-fried in oil, then simmered. One theory says it comes from “Kenchō-jiru” at Kenchō-ji temple in Kamakura.
- 📜 Food originsHow Napolitan beganNapolitan is a spaghetti dish said to have been born in Yokohama after the war. There is the tomato-sauce version from a hotel, and the ketchup version served at local Western-style diners.
- 📜 Food originsHow sara udon beganNagasaki’s sara udon was created by the owner of Shikairo, who invented champon, as a champon without soup.
- 📜 Food originsHow toriten beganToriten (chicken tempura) from Oita is said to have started at a restaurant in Beppu in the early Showa era.