調理方法 – 7 Essential Verbs for Japanese Cooking

Published on •Author: Keith•Category: Learning JapaneseVocabulary & Expressions
Image of different foods using various Japanese cooking methods

There are many different cooking methods out there. Depending on if you use oil, water, or steam there are different ways to prepare the same ingredients into something else. In Japanese, there are several words for cooking. Here are 7 essential verbs for Japanese cooking.

Table of Contents

焼やく

steak on the grill

First, the word 焼くhas a broad range of meanings when it comes to cooking. It can mean to cook something with or without using oil by directly cooking it in fire or by grilling it.

焼く also means to bake something like bread or a cake. Finally, you can say 焼く when you want to talk about roasting or pan-frying something in some cases. This usage of 焼くthough can get tangled up with our next word.

クッキーを焼く匂においがする。
I smell cookies baking.

焚火たきびで焼いたりんごはおいしい。
Apples roasted over a campfire are delicious.

炒いためる

stir-frying meat and vegetables

炒める is a verb only referring to cooking something or sauteing it in a frying pan. If you put vegetables, meat, or whatever in a frying pan and stir-fry it swiftly, you would say 炒める in Japanese.

切きった野菜やさいを強火つよびで炒める。
Saute chopped vegetables over high heat.

揚あげる

empanadas being deep fried

The word for deep-frying something in Japanese is 揚あげる. Unlike 炒いためる which is just using a little bit of oil in a pan, 揚げる is the word for submerging something fully like fried chicken in oil.

美味おいしいフライドポテトの揚げ方かた
How to fry good French fries

煮にる

soup simmering in a pot

Next, 煮る is the verb for cooking or simmering ingredients in water, broth or other liquids. You would use 煮る when you talk about making things like soup or other recipes where the water or broth is part of the final recipe.

シチューを30分ぷん煮る。
Simmer the stew for 30 minutes.

炊たく

cooked red bean rice

炊く is similar to 煮る in the sense that you are cooking something with water or broth. For the most part, though this word is only used to talk about cooking rice.

父ちちがご飯はんを炊いた。
Dad cooked the rice.

茹ゆでる

cook spaghetti pasta in boiling water

茹でる is also similar to 煮る and means to boil something. The difference here is that you are boiling something and removing it from the water. The water is not part of the final recipe. So, if you wanted to boil an egg you would use 茹でる.

トウモロコシを茹でる。
Boil the corn.

蒸むす

steamed stuffed buns in a bamboo steamer

Finally, we have 蒸す. This is pretty straightforward. 蒸す means to steam something.

蒸し野菜やさい
steamed vegetables

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