Why “YUNOMI”?

In Japan, when a recipe simply says "sugar," it usually means jōhakutō, a soft, slightly moist white sugar found in almost every supermarket. But what exactly is jōhakutō? For many Japanese home cooks, the question might seem strange. It is simply ordinary sugar, something they have used for years without giving it much thought. Yet the standard white sugar in American kitchens is different. Americans typically use dry, free-flowing granulated sugar, while Japan's everyday white sugar has finer crystals and a softer texture. This difference is not just about appearance. Even a tablespoon of sugar can contain a different amount ...

When people outside Japan think of Japanese vinegar, sushi rice may be the first thing that comes to mind. But sushi is only the beginning. In Japanese home cooking, vinegar has many other roles. It brings brightness to vegetables, balances the richness of fried food, adds character to dipping sauces, and even appears in slow-simmered meat dishes. Consider Chicken Nanban, fried chicken coated in a sweet-and-sour sauce and often served with tartar sauce. Or Aji Nanbanzuke, where fried horse mackerel and vegetables are marinated in a sweet-and-sour vinegar mixture. Neither dish has much in common with sushi, yet vinegar is ...

If you have ever followed a Japanese recipe, you may have noticed the same three ingredients appearing again and again: soy sauce, mirin, and sake. They are common in dishes such as teriyaki chicken, simmered fish, and nikujaga, a Japanese meat and potato stew. Sometimes a recipe uses equal amounts of all three. Other times, the proportions are completely different. Why do Japanese cooks combine these particular seasonings? What does each one contribute, and do you really need all three? The answer is not simply that they taste good together. Each seasoning brings different flavors and cooking properties, and understanding ...

Japanese recipes often call for sake. For someone outside Japan, that raises an obvious question: does this mean ordinary drinking sake, or is there a special product called cooking sake? At first, the answer seems simple. Regular Japanese sake can usually be used in cooking, but that is only part of the story. In Japan, some products are brewed specifically for cooking. They are not necessarily cheaper versions of drinking sake; their fermentation and flavor balance may be designed from the beginning for what happens after the sake goes into a pan. Other products contain salt and are sold as ...

Ask a Japanese home cook what mirin does, and the answer may be surprisingly vague. “It adds sweetness.” “It gives food a nice gloss.” “It makes the flavor feel more complete.” All of those answers are true. But none of them fully explains mirin. That is because mirin does not have just one job. It adds sweetness, aroma, gloss, and balance while also changing how other flavors work together. Japanese cooks use it constantly, often alongside soy sauce and sake, but many people rarely stop to think about what it actually is. And when you look closely at a Japanese ...

Most Japanese green tea is described by its leaves. Sencha is known for its fresh green character. Gyokuro is famous for its deep umami. Matcha is made by grinding specially processed tea leaves into a fine powder. Kukicha is a little different. Kukicha (茎茶) means "stem tea," but that does not necessarily mean the tea is made only from stems. It is better understood as a Japanese green tea with a relatively high proportion of stems and leaf stalks. That difference may sound small, but stems and leaves do not have exactly the same composition. As a result, kukicha often ...

Green tea powder sounds simple. But in Japan, there are several very different kinds of tea that can all look like green powder. Four of the main ones are matcha, konacha, powdered green tea (funmatsucha), and instant green tea. To the eye, they can look surprisingly similar. But they are not the same tea. Matcha and powdered green tea are made by grinding tea leaves. Konacha consists of fine particles separated during tea processing. Instant green tea is made from brewed tea extract that has been dried into a soluble form. This is where English becomes confusing. Words such as ...

Bancha sounds like it should be easy to explain. It is often described in English as an inexpensive Japanese green tea made from larger, more mature leaves than sencha. That is partly true. But ask several Japanese people what they picture when they hear the word bancha, and you may not get exactly the same answer. One person may imagine a pale yellow-green tea made from large leaves. Another may think of something darker and roasted. Someone who grew up with a regional style may consider that version completely normal. That is what makes bancha interesting. It is not one ...

San-nen bancha sounds simple. San-nen means "three years," and bancha broadly refers to tea made from more mature leaves than the tender shoots typically used for sencha. So is san-nen bancha simply bancha aged for three years? Not necessarily. Some san-nen bancha is aged for around three years after harvest. Other versions are made from tea plants left to grow for three years or longer before harvest. Some producers combine both approaches. In other words, even the "three years" in san-nen bancha does not always refer to the same three years. And once the production method changes, the raw material, ...

Green tea mixed with roasted rice may sound unusual if you've never tried it before. But in Japan, this combination has its own name: genmaicha. Its most recognizable feature isn't one fixed flavor, but its aroma. The roasted rice gives genmaicha a warm, toasted fragrance that can remind you of browned rice, rice crackers, or roasted grain. The tea underneath can vary. Some genmaicha is made with bancha, others with sencha, deep-steamed tea, or stems, and matcha may also be added. That makes genmaicha more flexible than its simple name suggests. Once you look closely, a few questions naturally come ...