Glossary of Japanese Snack and Food Terms

Note: This glossary is constantly being built. If there is a term you'd like to see added or a question about a certain word, please leave a comment and I'll add the term or provide an explanation in the comments.

Also, please keep in mind that this is just a quick reference. Please click on the linked information for full explanations from other sources.

• adzuki: Red beans. This is the type of bean that is often used in Japanese sweets.
  
• anko (an): Red beans mixed with sugar to make a bean paste. This is often used to fill traditional Japanese sweets.
• anmitsu (あんみつ): a dessert made up of cubes of jelly made from seaweed combined with fruit, sweetened red beans and sweet black syrup.
• arare (あられ): hard, crunchy, pellet-like rice snacks which resemble hail
• bento: "lunch box"
  
• black sugar: Brown sugar or molasses sugar.
• "bo": Literally, this means "stick" but this word is used to describe foods sold in what we would call "bar" form.
• castella (カステラ): a type of Portuguese sponge cake which is very popular in Japan.
• cider (サイダー): a lemon lime drink
• dagashi: cheap snacks designed for children
• daifuku: a rice cake (mochi) filled with confections such as sweet red beans.
• dama (だま): lumps
  
• dango: "Dumplings" or balls made from rice flour which come in a variety of flavors. They are often served on a stick and covered in a sweet sauce.
• dashi: Japanese soup stock prepared in a variety of ways including with fish parts, soy sauce, kelp, and mushrooms.
• dekopon: A Japanese orange which is sweeter than conventional oranges. They can be identified by a small bump on the top.
  
• edamame: Baby soybeans served in their pods. These are often boiled, salted and served with alcoholic beverages.
• fuwa fuwa: "fluffy", (an onomatopoeia)
• goma: sesame seed
  
• hiragana: Japanese phonetic characters which are used to represent Japanese words. 
• hyuga-natsu: a fragrant and somewhat sour citrus fruit from the Miyagi prefecture area of Japan
• imagawayaki (今川焼き):  A Japanese pancake-like pastry which is shaped like a hockey puck and filled with red beans or other fillings. It is usually sweet, but there are also savory versions.
• iwashi/いわし: sardines
• kamaboko: processed white fish sold in small "loaves" or tubes (similar to cookie dough tubes in the U.S.)
  
• kanji: Chinese characters used in Japanese writing. These are not phonetic so you must be able to recognize the character's meaning to be able to pronounce it.
• karinto (花林糖,): a flour, sugar and yeast-based fried snack (akin to deep fried doughnut batter). Typically, it is coated in brown sugar, but other flavors are sold.
  
• katakana: Japanese phonetic characters which are often used to represent foreign words. For example: "Cheese" in English is phonetically represented in Japanese as "Chii-zu" (チーズ).
• katsuoboshi: Fish shavings (from tuna) which are used to flavor various Japanese dishes.
  
• kinako: Toasted soy bean flour which resembles peanut butter in flavor
• kombu:Seaweed or kelp used in Japanese soup stock or dishes.
• kongari (こんがり): "browned", often used on products that looked toasted.
• koshian: Red bean paste passed through a sieve or strainer to remove the skins in preparation for using it in sweets or other dishes.
• kuchidoke (くちどけ): "melt in your mouth"; often used for creamy chocolate products
• manju: A general name for a variety of Japanese sweets which tend to include (but are not limited to) a shell made from rice, yam, or buckwheat flour and a filling from sweetened beans.
  
• matcha:Very fine powdered green tea used in tea ceremonies and used for flavoring and dying food.
• marron: Chestnuts
• mentaiko (明太子): Marinated pollock roe (fish eggs)
  
• mirin: Sweet rice wine used in cooking (not for drinking).
• miso: Fermented soy bean paste, often used in soups or as flavoring in various dishes.
  
• mitsu: thin, dark sweet syrup used with traditional Japanese sweets like warabimochi and anmitsu.
• mochi: Rice cake made by pounding rice until it is stretchy and can be formed into shapes.
• momo: peach
• monaka: sweets (beans, ice cream, chestnuts, etc.) sandwiched between two bland wafers
  
• mugi-choco: Chocolate-coated puffed wheat
  
• mugi-cha: Roasted barley tea
• natsumikan: "summer oranges" - a grapefruit like Japanese citrus fruit
• nori: edible seaweed
• onigiri: rice balls
  
• oshiruko: Sweet red bean soup with mochi.
  
• otsumami: Snacks to be eaten with alcoholic beverages. Usually, they are salty, but not always. Sometimes referred to as "sakana" or "skuukoo".
• pero pero (ペロペロ): "licking" (used with candies on sticks)
• saku saku: "crispy", (an onomatopoeia)
• sakura: cherry blossom (often used to describe cherry-flavored sweets)
• sarasara: indicates the sound of something moving smoothly like water or sand, or it can mean "squeaky clean", (an onomatopoeia)
• satsuma: a citrus fruit of Chinese origin, similar to a mandarin orange
• satsumaimo: Japanese sweet potato
  
• shittori (しっとり): moist, damp (often used to denote softness in crisp snacks)
• shoyu: Soy sauce
• soba boro (蕎麦ぼうろ): buckwheat cookies made with whole wheat flour, sugar, eggs, and buckwheat
• suppai: sour, or acidic
  
• taiyaki: a fish-shaped sweet made of pancake-like batter usually made with a filling of beans or custard
• takoyaki: octopus dumplings
  
• tare: thickened soy sauce, often mixed with other flavors, often used as an accompaniment to meat
  
• taro: a Japanese corm (plant stem)
  
• tonkatsu: breaded, fried pork cutlet.
• tonkotsu: pork bone
• torori (とろ～り): creamy, melting
• torukeru (とるける): melt, melty, or melting, often used to describe ganache- or fudge-like chocolate confections
• tsubu tsubu: "pebbly", (an onomatopoeia)
• umeboshi: Sour and salty pickled plums.
• wagashi: traditional Japanese sweets, often served with tea
• warabimochi (蕨餅): a jelly-like sweet made from braken starch, often served with kinako and mitsu (thin, dark, sweet syrup)
• wasabi: Japanese horseradish
• watagashi: cotton candy
• yakiimo: grilled sweet potato, often sold by street stalls or vendors
  
• yakiniku: grilled meat
• yakitori: grilled chicken on wooden skewers
• yatsuhashi:  a triangular-shaped Japanese sweet made from rice flour and often filled with beans or other fillings; it is commonly sold in its uncooked form as a souvenir and is quite sweet and flavored with cinnamon
• yooshoku(洋食): a synthesis of European and Japanese cuisine developed during the 19th century during the Meiji restoration
  
• youkan: a jelly dessert usually made with bean paste, usually sold in blocks
  
• yuzu: A citrus fruit, the juice and rind of which are used to flavor various dishes. It tastes like a cross between a mandarin orange and a grapefruit.
• yuzukoshoo: a fermented seasoning made from yuzu, salt and chili which is often used in savory dishes
  
• zunda (ずんだ): mashed raw soy beans (edamame); it is often used in sweets, but also other types of regional cuisine (especially in the Tohoku region)