Seasonal Ingredients in Japan

Seasonal Ingredients in Japan

Let’s Cook and Eat Seasonal Ingredients in Japan!

The use of seasonal ingredients in food has long been valued in Japan. “Shun” refers to the time of year when a given ingredient is at its freshest and most flavorful. Also, shun ingredients change with the season, and we are able to enjoy them every year during their peak without ever growing tired of them.

At Tsukiji Cooking, in every class we use super-fresh and seasonal ingredients directly from the Tsukiji Market, the largest wholesale market for fish, meat, fruits and vegetables in central Tokyo.

Here, we introduce some of the representative seasonal ingredients in Japan.

 

Summer Ingredients in Japan:

 

-Summer Vegetables

Eggplant

Bell pepper

Bitter melon/Goya

Cucumber

Edamame

Lettuce

Myoga/Japanese ginger

Okra

Shiso

Tomato

-Summer Fruits

Chinese Plum/Japanese Apricot

Muskmelon

Peach

Watermelon

Yuzu

Grape

Cherries

-Summer Seafood

Eel

Flounder

Horse mackerel

Sardine

Sea bass

Sea urchin

Sweetfish

 

Autumn Ingredients in Japan:

 

-Autumn Vegetables

Sweet potato

Matsutake

Satoimo (taro root)

Pumpkin

Ginkgo nuts

Rice (the first harvests of rice)

Shimeji

Shiitake

Maitake

-Autumn Fruits

Sudachi

Japanese chestnuts

Kaki (Japanese Persimmon)

Japanese pear

Sweet potato

Fig

-Autumn Seafood

Chum salmon

Sanma (Pacific saury)

Bonito

Mackerel

Ikura (salmon roe)

Octopus

 

Winter Ingredients in Japan:

 

-Winter Vegetables

Chinese cabbage

Daikon

Renkon (root of the lotus plant)

Turnip

Cabbage

-Winter Fruits

Mikan (mandarin/satsuma oranges)

Strawberry

Apple

-Winter Seafood

Fugu (pufferfish)

Buri/Hamachi (Japanese amberjack)

Amaebi (sweet shrimp)

Tuna

Red sea bream

Oyster

Yellowtail

Monkfish

 

Spring Ingredients in Japan:

 

-Spring Vegetables

Bamboo Shoots

Udo

Shiitake

Potato

-Spring Fruits

Strawberry

Citrus

Loquat

-Spring Seafood

Grunt

Flounder/Turbot

Silver Striped Round Herring

Clams

Greater amberjack

 

Come and join us at Tsukiji Cooking, a unique cooking classroom and culinary experience with seasonal ingredients in Japan!