Medetai: 2 Different Meanings of the Japanese Word
With positive meanings, Medetai (めでたい) reminds many Japanese of red sea bream, as in its word, Tai (たい) can mean sea bream or 鯛 (Tai). The truth is that Medetai is derived from Mede-Itashi...
Category: Trivia
Omakase vs. Osusume vs. Suisen: Meaning in Japanese
Omakase (おまかせ/お任せ), Osusume (おすすめ/お薦め), and Suisen (すいせん/推薦) are all Japanese words relating to a recommendation. While Osusume and Suisen are synonyms, Omakase is somewhat different in meaning. But how? Omakase vs. Osusume vs. Suisen...
Sushi: Why it is called Sushi and its literal Meaning
With the Japanese food boom, Sushi (寿司) gained worldwide fame, now enjoyed in many countries. However, many people don’t know the origin of the traditional Japanese dish and seem to be wondering why it...
Prune vs. Plum: What’s the Difference?
As I wrote in this article, Sumomo (スモモ) is a Japanese plum that becomes sweet when ripened, unlike Ume (梅), also known as the Japanese apricot. Sumomo has another name Plum (プラム), and in...
Western Horseradish vs. Japanese Wasabi
Together with the Bainiku tube, I found this product named Horseradish (ホースラディッシュ)/Seiyo Wasabi (西洋わさび) from S&B on the same shelf in the seasoning section. And I picked it up too because I wanted to...
Hoshi (星) & Hoshi (干し): Meaning in Japanese
When we Japanese hear Hoshi (ほし) (pronunciation), the first thing that comes to many people’s minds will probably be a star. And in that case, the word is written as 星 using kanji (Chinese character). ...
Ebi Katsu vs. Ebi Fry vs. Ebi Tempura (Ebiten)
As I wrote before, Katsu (カツ) is the generic term for Japanese cutlet dishes, and the representative variety is Tonkatsu, including Hire Katsu and Rosu Katsu. While the Katsu using pork is Tonkatsu, we...
Ume vs. Sumomo: Japanese Plums
When it comes to Japanese plums, what comes to many people’s minds would be Ume (梅) or Sumomo (スモモ). As you may know, the original home of both is China. Sumomo has the English...
