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!