Uwajipedia

A glossary of common, and not-so-common, Asian ingredients and terms.

Filter by Category
Pantry

Shokupan 

Eaten almost daily by many in Japan, shokupan is Japanese milk bread (also called Hokkaido milk bread)....
Read More

Lotus Seeds

Also called the lotus nut, these seeds come from the beloved lotus plant — scientific Latin name:...
Read More

Sesame Seeds

Not only are sesame seeds and their oil used in many Asian cuisines, they’re used in almost...
Read More

Tapioca Starch  

The starch of the cassava root, tapioca is native to South America but has now spread throughout...
Read More

Bibimbap 

It’s easy to see why bibimbap is one of the most famous Korean dishes outside of Korea....
Read More

Doenjang 

Although less famous in North America than its spicy-sweet cousin gochujang, doenjang is another important condiment in...
Read More

Gireumjang

Gireumjang — also transliterated as gireum jang or jang gireum — is an extremely simple dipping sauce...
Read More

Ssamjang

If you’re familiar with Korean cooking, you might have figured based on the suffix “jang” that ssamjang...
Read More

Peanut Dipping Sauce

Also just called peanut sauce or satay sauce, this dipping sauce is a flavorful part of Southeast...
Read More

Gỏi Cuốn 

Although they go by many different names on English-language menus, gỏi cuốn is the native name for...
Read More

Sambal

A staple of Indonesian cuisine, sambal is a chili sauce — some might say it’s more a...
Read More

Umami 

Until recently overshadowed in Western societies by the four other tastes — salty, sweet, sour, and bitter...
Read More