Japanese Cooking Verbs: Kiru, Yaku, Niru, Ageru and More

Heat verbs: the core six

These six verbs cover most cooking methods, and the distinctions are sharper than in English. Food cooked by each method also gets a name built from the verb: yakizakana, grilled fish, from yaku; nimono, simmered dishes, from niru; agemono, fried food, from ageru; mushimono, steamed dishes, from musu; itamemono, stir-fries, from itameru; and yudetamago, a boiled egg, from yuderu.

Note that yaku is broad. It covers grilling, baking, roasting and pan-frying, so pan o yaku is to bake bread and tamago o yaku is to fry an egg. Yakeru is the intransitive partner, to be cooked or baked: yoku yakete imasu, it's nicely done.

Preparation and cutting verbs

Before the heat comes the preparation, shitajunbi. Kiru is the general verb for cutting, and kizamu means to chop finely or mince, usually with repeated knife strokes, as with herbs, onion or ginger. Muku is to peel, and orosu is to grate, which is how daikon and ginger are usually prepared.

Other preparation verbs include arau, to wash, mizu ni sarasu, to soak in water to remove bitterness, and kiru again in a different sense: mizu o kiru, to drain off water. The guide to the verb kiru covers its many other meanings outside the kitchen.

Named cutting styles

Japanese recipes often name the cut instead of describing it, using -giri, the combining form of kiru. Once you know the main ones, a line such as tamanegi wa mijingiri ni suru, chop the onion finely, tells you everything. The pattern is always the cut plus ni suru or ni kiru.

Mixing, seasoning and finishing verbs

Mazeru is to mix or stir, and kakimazeru is to stir thoroughly. Awaseru is to combine ingredients, often a sauce made in advance, and awadateru is to whisk until frothy. Kakeru is to pour or sprinkle over, and nuru is to spread or brush on.

For seasoning, recipes use tsukeru, to dip or marinate, and ajitsuke, seasoning. The traditional order for adding seasonings is often summarised as sa shi su se so: satō, sugar; shio, salt; su, vinegar; shōyu, soy sauce, spelled seuyu in old kana; and miso. It is a rule of thumb rather than a law, but you will see it in cookbooks and cooking classes.

Heat levels, measures and amounts

Japanese recipes describe heat in three steps: tsuyobi, high heat, chūbi, medium heat, and yowabi, low heat. You will also see torobi, the lowest simmer. Microwave instructions give the wattage and time, such as 600W de ni-fun, two minutes at 600 watts.

The measuring spoons are standard. Ōsaji is a tablespoon of 15 ml and kosaji a teaspoon of 5 ml. One kappu is usually 200 ml, which is smaller than a US cup, so conversions matter. For rice, a traditional unit, gō, is about 180 ml, and rice cookers and rice cups use it. Weights are in grams and liquids often in cc, which equals millilitres.

Reading a Japanese recipe

Most Japanese recipes, whether on a website, a packet or in a cookbook, follow the same layout. The top gives the dish name and the number of servings, such as ni-ninbun, for two people. Then comes zairyō, the ingredients, often with a separate list marked A or B for a sauce you mix in advance. Finally tsukurikata, the method, is given in numbered steps.

The steps are written in the plain form or the polite masu form, and they chain actions with the te-form: tamanegi o usugiri ni shite, abura de itameru, slice the onion and stir-fry it in oil. Look for time words, such as ... made, until: kitsuneiro ni naru made itameru, stir-fry until golden brown. Watching recipe videos with the recipe text open is an excellent way to match verbs to actions.

Aji o totonoeru, to adjust the seasoning, and ... te oku, to do something in advance, appear in a huge share of recipes. Learn both as fixed chunks.

Common mistakes

• Using ryōri suru for every kind of cooking: it is fine for cooking in general, but recipes need the specific verb.
• Saying furai suru for deep-frying: the verb is ageru; furai is a noun for breaded fried food, as in ebi furai.
• Using niru for boiling pasta: plain water is yuderu; niru is simmering in a seasoned liquid.
• Using yaku for stir-fried vegetables: moving food in oil is itameru.
• Assuming kappu means a US cup of about 240 ml: Japanese recipes usually mean 200 ml.
• Confusing mazeru, to mix, with majiru, to be mixed: the recipe instruction is transitive, mazeru.
• Reading 大さじ as daisaji: it is ōsaji, and 小さじ is kosaji.

How to review cooking verbs

Cooking verbs stick fastest when you pair them with the action. Narrate your own cooking under your breath: kiru, mazeru, itameru, as you do each one. Label the drawers where your measuring spoons live with ōsaji and kosaji, and read the instructions on Japanese instant noodles or curry roux packets, which use the same verbs in a few short lines.

Unihongo's free learning games let you drill the verbs and the cutting words in quick rounds, which helps with near-pairs like niru and yuderu or yaku and itameru. Then take them into speech by explaining a recipe to someone else, which is where the te-form chains and time words finally click.

• Week 1: the six heat verbs and their dish names
• Week 2: cutting verbs and five named cuts
• Week 3: mixing and seasoning verbs, heat levels and measures
• Week 4: read and cook one full Japanese recipe, reading every step aloud