Culinary and Sushi Glossary

I'm not gonna go into anything too fancy on here, I like to keep it simple  :)

Knife Cuts
Large Dice - 3/4 in x 3/4 in square
Medium Dice - 1/2 in x 1/2 in square
Small Dice - 1/4 in x 1/4 in square

Batônnet - 1/4 in x 1/4 in x 2 in long
Julienne - 1/16 in x 1/16 in x 2 in long

Brunoise - 1/16 x 1/16 in square
Mince - Chopped very finely. This is usually confused with Brunoise.

_______________________________________________


Concassé - Usually deals with tomatoes; to peel, seed, and rough chop.

You core the tomatoes and score an X on the bottom.  You then blanch them until you see the skin start to peel away, usually under 1 minute..you don't necessarily want to cook the tomato.  Shock the tomato in an ice bath and peel.  Now, a real concassé would mean you would seed the tomato but honestly, unless it's meant to be really fancy or garnish, don't bother.  Finally rough chop to the desired size.          

Deglaze - To add a liquid to a pan to dissolve the remaining food stuck on the bottom of the pan.

Liaison - A mixture of egg yolks and cream used to enhance and lightly thicken a sauce or liquid.
              Liaisons have to be tempered in order to prevent coagulation.

Mirepoix - A mixture of roughly cut vegetables used for flavoring in stocks and sauces.
                 Mirepoix usually consists ofcarrots, onion and celery, but a White Mirepoix,
                 made of parsnip, onion and celery can be used for lighter soups.

Monter au Beurre - To finish with raw (whole) butter.

Mother Sauces - Also called Grand Sauces, the 5* basic sauces that others (small sauces) are derived from.

Velouté
Béchamel
Demi-Glace
Tomato Sauce
Hollandaise

*Some people consider Béarnaise (a Hollandaise derivative) to be a Mother Sauce, but it all depends on how you're taught. 

Roux - A cooked mixture of equal parts fat and flour.  It is usually used for sauces and soups.
           There are 3 kinds - white, blond and brown.
           How to make a roux

Sweat - To cook in fat until soft.  Usually used for vegetables.

Temper - Raising the temperature of a liquid by slowly whisking a hotter liquid to it.
_______________________________________________

Sushi Terms


Sashimi - Raw fish


Types
Maki - Roll
     Futomaki - "Fat" or Large Roll

Nigiri-zushi - "Fingers" of rice with ingredients on top
Chirashi-zushi - Bed of rice with ingredients on top
Inari-zushi - Fried tofu stuffed with rice
Temaki-zushi - Hand roll, shaped like a cone


Common Ingredients
Aburage - Fried Tofu
Ama-ebi - Sweet Shrimp
Anago - Saltwater Eel
Ebi – Shrimp
Hamachi - Yellowtail

Hirame – Flounder

Hokkigai – Surf Clam

Ika – Squid

Ikura – Salmon Roe

Kappa - Cucumber, when used in a roll

Katsuo – Bonito

Kyuri – Cucumber

Kani - Crab

Maguro/Toro - Tuna

Masu - Trout

Sake – Salmon

Tako – Octopus

Tamago – Egg

Tekka - Tuna, when used in a roll

Unagi - Freshwater Eel

Umeboshi - Pickled Plum

Uni – Sea Urchin

  

Nori – Seaweed Wraps

Wasabi – Japanese Horseradish

Shoga – Pickled Ginger

 More on the way!!!