Views #97 | Mid Intermediate 5

Japanese Salad

Hisa gives a recipe for a unique kind of Japanese salad that she makes.

Script
Vocab
Quiz


Hisa	Todd

Todd: OK, Hisa, why don't we talk about food?

Hisa: Good.

Todd: OK, first of all, actually, can you cook?

Hisa: Yes, I can.

Todd: Yeah. What can you cook?

Hisa: I can cook most of the Japanese dishes. And I also like baking.

Todd: Oh, really. OK. Since you're Japanese can you tell us what things you cook in Japanese cuisine.

Hisa: OK. I use a lot of vegetables in my cuisine, in cookery, and then I prepare lots of Japanese type of salad, which is sometimes we call it suno-mono.

Todd: Suna-mono. OK

Hisa: Yes, with vinegar w hich is especially good for spring? And the summer time, and then also pickles, is one type of thing and then I use vegetables, even cooked kind of salad I use, that is, we call it O-shi-tashi, green leaves, throughout the year, I use a different kind of green vegetables for salad.

Todd: Can you talk about one kind of salad that you can make? (Yes) And how do you make it?

Hisa: OK. For example, this is spring, I tell you one kind of salad, Udo.

Todd: Udo.

Hisa: That is a white stick, kind of vegetable. Just you peel them very thick because outside is quite bitter, so inside you slice up and then put them in the water with vinegar because that is how you can keep this white color. It lasts long, yes, and then, usually I put some wakame, sea vegetables, and then two ingredients I use, and then add some ginger, which I love very much. Chop up some ginger, and then those three things I mix with vinegar, a little bit soy sauce and then salt and then just sometimes you can even marinate if you like.

Todd: Wow, sounds good.

Hisa: Very light.

Todd: And I can buy these ingredients at the Japanese supermarket?

Hisa: Yes, green grocer's, and it is only for spring time. Udo! Sounds like Udon. Just you remove "n"

Todd: Udo. Good luck.

Hisa: Alright, I'll try and make it.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

cuisine

I use a lot of vegetables in my cuisine.

Your 'cuisine' is the food that you eat, your cooking style or your diet. Notice the following:

Very few people know about Cambodian cuisine.
I really love Italian cuisine.

green vegetables

I use different kinds of green vegetables for salad.

'Green vegetables' are vegetables that have a green color like lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cucumbers, etc. Notice the following:

The salad is full of green vegetables.
You need to eat green vegetables because they contain a lot of iron.

bitter

You have to peel this vegetable thick, because the outside is quite bitter.

If something is bitter it has an intense, sharp taste, which many people consider to be unpleasant. Examples of bitter foods would be orange peel, olives, or the flavor of an aspirin. Notice the following:

The soup actually tastes a little bitter.
Bitter things make my mouth feel tight.

slice up, chop up

Slice up the vegetables, and chop up some ginger.

To 'slice' something is to cut it carefully into longer pieces, like how you would cut cheese or tomato for a sandwich. When you 'chop' something you cut it more roughly into very small pieces like garlic when you are going to cook it. Notice the following: