Glossary

Amazake: Comes as a yoghurt-like substance made from rice or millet. Do not confuse with 'sweet sake' and do not let someone sell you the liquid sweet sake in a bottle when you ask for this. You can buy this in health food stores (and some supermarkets) or online in the UK made by ClearSpring (they don't distribute yet to the US). Amazake is produced at the first alcohol-free stage in the production of sake. It has a sweet taste (and can be eaten from the jar!). It can be used to make a variety of vegan ice creams and other recipes.

Amazake can be made - by adding the magical mold, Aspergillus oryzae (Koji) to cooled cooked wholegrain rice, which then ferments to a yoghurt-like substance - recipes for Amazake date back to at least 200-500 A.D. and are mentioned in one of the first Japanese texts (Nihon Shoki).

Kanten Powder: This is Agar Agar. It is sold in 4g sachets in Japan. Agar Agar should be fairly easy to find. If you can find similar sized sachets good, otherwise you will need to find another way to measure it out... this is generally used to jellify liquids .. you can jellify chopped steamed veg into small blocks.. jellify soya milk and almond milk... heat with the liquid and once boiled simmer for 1-2 minutes ... then pour in a mould and cool to set. Experiment with various things..

Koji-kin: is a filamentous fungus. The magical mold, Aspergillus oryzae (Koji). Koji is used in many recipes for making grain-derived products like miso, soya sauce, sake etc. It rapidly grows onto the grain, secretes enzymes onto the rice, accumulates flavouring compounds and has a pleasant fragrance.

It might be possible to by Koji-kin online. This is perhaps true in the UK - but not so sure about the US.

Nagaimo: Dioscorea opposita. also known as Yamaimo, Japanese Mountain Yam, Chinese Yam, Korean Yam. It is a type of yam that can be eaten raw. Imo is a general word in Japanese for potato/tuber/corm/yam. Nagaimo is a tuber that grows to about 10m in length and is cut down into short lengths before it is sold packed with sawdust on the ends. The flesh is rather gooey and sticky.. but it is so quick to prepare... one dish can be made in only a few minutes by grating, adding salt, frying in a pan like an omelette with sliced spring onions. Ask in local Oriental Supermarkets or find a source online.

Suri-Oroshi: This is a grating device for daikon radish (mooli), potatoes etc. It is a very fine grating grade and the result is called tororo, a kind of paste. Here are some example photos: Traditional and this is the one I use