Time to brush up on your Japanese Takeaway knowledge.

Japanese cuisine is becoming increasing popular in Ireland, so it pays to know your Tempura from your Teriyaki and your Nori from your Miso.

Ramen

Ramen (rah-mehn) is a clear soup or broth containing noodles, vegetables and sometimes meat. The broth is often soy sauce or miso flavoured. Comon toppings for ramen are boiled egg, bamboo shoots, spring onions and seaweed. The noodles are quick-cooking so there are lots of instant noodle variations available. Ramen is a dish which allows for a great deal of variety in both meat and vegetable content – meaning two dishes are rarely the same.

Nori

Nori (noh-ree) is dried seaweed. It is used in many dishes within the Japanese cuisine: as a wrap for sushi, a wrap for onigiri, a garnish for noodles and soups, and food decoration. Most commonly, it serves as the wrap for sushi. It’s usually toasted and flavoured, typically with soy, spices and sugar.

Edamame

Edamame (eh-dah-mah-meh) translates to ‘beans on a branch’ in Japanese, immature soybeans in a pod. They are typically boiled or steamed and flavoured with salt. Edamame is eaten as a side dish, snack or salad. It’s extremely healthy, packed with nutrients and vitamins.

Top tip: Don’t eat the pod – you’ll be the laughing stock of Japan. Squeeze the beans out of the pod to avoid embarrassment.

Miso

Miso (mee-soh) is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, and pickling vegetables and meat. The ingredients are typically fermented rice, barley, soybeans and soy. One of the most common Japanese dishes is miso soup, which is a mixture of miso paste and a stock called dashi. Miso has numerous health benefits including disease prevention and anti-aging. Miso-hungry!

Wasabi

Wasabi (wah-sah-bee) is also known as Japanese horseradish. Wasabi is a root vegetable from the Brassicaceae family, which cabbage, horseradish and mustard also belong to. It’s used as a condiment, often accompanied by Sushi. If you’ve never tried wasabi then beware! It’s super spicy – not piri piri style spicy, more a nose-tinglingly hot sensation.

Tempura

Tempura (temp-poo-rah) is a popular dish in Japan, consisting of battered and deep fried seafood or vegetables. Tempura is light batter, in comparison to your typical English battered cod and that’s because it’s made from water and soft wheat flour instead of breadcrumbs. This dish is a favourite in bento boxes or makes a great starter! As with the UK, so it is in Japan – everything is better battered.

Bento Box

Bento (Behn-toh) is a pretty simple idea – the Japanese equivalent of a single portion takeaway meal. As is often the case with Japanese cuisine it gets more complicated than that , it’ll be a rice based dish accompanied by fish, meat and cooked vegetables. In its most basic form, it’s a lot like the humble packed lunch – a child’s bento is going to be fun, colourfully decorated and simple. But this being Japan,  it can stray into swanky, high-end Japanese cuisine territory pretty quickly. You can buy fancy gourmet bento boxes at top restaurants or slightly more questionable ones from Japanese  railway stations.

Yakitori

Yakitori (yah-keh-tor-ee) is a grilled chicken skewer. The chicken is cut into bite-sized pieces, marinated in a sweetened soy sauce and cooked over charcoal. Yakitori is a favourite both in Japan and the UK and is best enjoyed with an ice cold Japanese beer. Now you’re talking!

Donburi

Donburi (dohn-boo-ree) is a  large Japanese rice bowl dish, usually paired with some kind of meat or vegetables. Commonly, you can enjoy chicken, prawn, tempura, or beef. Just make sure you top the whole thing off with lots of lovely soy sauce.

Teriyaki

Teriyaki (ter-ee-ya-kee) marinade sauce based on soy sauce, mirin and sugar. The word ‘teri’ means lustre and ‘yaki’ means grill – so, uh, lustre-grill? Mirin is a rice wine that’s supposed to bring the ‘lustre’ to the sauce party. Teriyaki is a sweet and salty tasting sauce with a lovely sticky texure, it’s one of our favourites at here at JUST-EAT.ie.