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Japanese plates

A Japanese menu word is often a shape, not a species. Split the broth, the cut, the dashi, and the cooking wine. Eel is cited as fish; calamari and octopus are a cited school split. Mirin is alcohol, not a trace.

• Source-dependent

  Ramen

  Wheat noodles in broth. The noodle is plant. Tonkotsu is pork-bone; shoyu and miso still hide bonito, lard, and meat fat. Instant sachets are a third …

• Source-dependent

  Tonkotsu

  Pork-bone broth. The name is the pig’s bone. A chicken or vegan ‘tonkotsu-style’ must say so. The chashu on top is a separate cut.

• Source-dependent

  Katsu

  A breaded cutlet. Tonkatsu is pork; chicken katsu and ebi fry are sisters. Shared oil, panko (sister), and tonkatsu sauce (sister). The word katsu doe…

• Source-dependent

  Yakitori

  Grilled chicken skewers. Some stalls also do pork belly (butabara) under the same grill. Tare is soy, mirin, sugar. Shared grill with pork is the stal…

• Source-dependent

  Shabu shabu

  Thin-sliced meat swished in kombu broth. Beef or pork. The dipping sauce (ponzu, sesame, bonito) is a second check. See dashi and shrimp.

• Source-dependent

  Sukiyaki

  A sweet-soy one-pot, usually beef. Warishita sauce is soy, sugar, mirin. The meat slaughter and the mirin are two checks. A raw egg dip is a third.

• Source-dependent

  Japanese curry

  A thick Japanese curry, often from a roux block (apple, flour, oil, flavour, sometimes honey). The protein (chicken, beef, katsu, vegetable) is a seco…

• Source-dependent

  Takoyaki

  A batter ball with a piece of octopus. Octopus is a sister row. Bonito flakes, mayo, and a shared griddle with meat. Vegetarian takoyaki (corn, cheese…

• Source-dependent

  Okonomiyaki

  A cabbage pancake. Pork belly on top is common; seafood and vegetarian versions exist. Sauce, mayo, bonito. The grill is a shared-iron question.

• Source-dependent

  Kamaboko

  Steamed cured fish paste, often the pink-swirl slice on ramen. Fish plus starch plus flavour. The ramen broth under it is a different row.

• Source-dependent

  Furikake

  A dry rice sprinkle: nori, sesame, sugar, salt — and often katsuobushi (bonito), egg, or shrimp. Read the pack. A vegan furikake exists.

• Source-dependent

  Hon dashi

  A powdered dashi, classically skipjack (bonito) plus salt, sugar, E621. Fish. Kombu dashi and shiitake dashi are plant sisters. Instant ramen seasonin…

• Unverified

  Kombu dashi

  Stock from dried kelp. Plant. A bottle labelled dashi is often bonito. Unverified as a class because kelp is not the doubt.

• Source-dependent

  Mirin

  A Japanese cooking wine. Alcohol is the ingredient, not a trace. Hon-mirin is about 14% alcohol. Positions on cooking-off alcohol diverge — Muttoo doe…

• Source-dependent

  Cooking sake

  Salted rice wine sold for cooking. Alcohol is the ingredient, not a trace. Sister to mirin and to sake-derived alcohol. Muttoo does not copy a grade-C…

• Halal

  Eel

  AskMufti (Mufti Siraj Desai): eel falls under fish in Hanafi fiqh, so the animal is lawful as samak. Unagi sauce is soy, sugar and mirin — mirin is a …

• Disputed

  Calamari

  Squid, usually fried. Named positions disagree. Hanafi: calamari/squid is not samak (AskMufti; Darul Fiqh — no spine, gill, fins), so not permitted. i…

• Disputed

  Octopus

  A cephalopod, not a scaled fish. Named positions disagree. Hanafi: octopus is not samak (Darul Fiqh / Shaykh Faraz Adam), so not permitted. islamqa.in…

• Unverified

  Uni

  Sea urchin gonad. Not scaled fish. No named uni fatwa URL is on file, so Muttoo does not auto-copy the shrimp split or call it haram. Served raw, ofte…

• Source-dependent

  Ikura

  Cured salmon eggs. Roe is fish eggs, not the shrimp split. Soy and mirin in the cure. A sushi garnish of tobiko or masago is a sister row.

• Source-dependent

  Tobiko

  Flying-fish roe, often dyed. The dye may be carmine, paprika or synthetic. Masago (capelin) is a cheaper cousin. Not ikura.

• Unverified

  Umeboshi

  Salted Japanese apricot. Plant. Red shiso gives the colour — not carmine. Unverified as a class. Onigiri fillings and a shared rice paddle still apply…

A procedure for reading a pack - not a product certification and not a fatwa. See the methodology.