Cooking and food shopping: 〜すぎる, 〜やすい and 〜かた

Cooking for yourself saves money, and Japanese supermarkets have everything you need — if you can read the labels. This lesson gives you the words for meat, rice and tea, the patterns for “too much”, “easy to” and “how to”, and a simple way to check a label for pork or alcohol. For halal and vegetarian shopping in more detail, see our food shopping guide.

Meat, rice and tea

Japanese	Reading	Meaning
牛肉	ぎゅうにく	beef
豚ぶた肉	ぶたにく	pork
鳥肉 / 鶏とり肉	とりにく	chicken
ひき肉	ひきにく	minced meat
魚	さかな	fish
ご飯	ごはん	cooked rice; a meal
お米こめ	おこめ	uncooked rice
お茶	おちゃ	tea (often green tea)

Chicken is written both 鳥肉 and 鶏とり肉; on packs you will usually see 鶏とり肉 or 若鶏わかどり. ご飯 is cooked rice and also “a meal”: ご飯を食べに行きませんか — “Shall we go and eat?”

Too much: 〜すぎる

The ます-stem of a verb, or an adjective without い / な, + すぎる means “too …” or “too much”: 食べすぎました — “I ate too much.” このカレーはからすぎます — “This curry is too spicy.” この部屋へやはしずかすぎます. いい becomes よすぎる. すぎる is a group-2 verb: すぎます, すぎて, すぎない.

Easy to, hard to: 〜やすい and 〜にくい

ます-stem + やすい = easy to; + にくい = hard to: このはしは使つかいやすいです — “These chopsticks are easy to use.” この肉はかたくて、切りにくいです — “This meat is tough and hard to cut.” Both become い-adjectives: 食べやすい料理 (food that is easy to eat).

How to: ます-stem + 方かた

ます-stem + 方かた makes a noun “the way of doing”: 作つくる → 作つくり方かた (how to make; recipe), 食べ方かた (how to eat), 使つかい方かた (how to use). The object takes の, not を: カレーの作つくり方かたを教おしえてください.

Deciding: 〜にします

Noun + にします means “I’ll have / I’ll go with …”: 私は魚のていしょくにします — “I’ll have the fish set meal.” Ask others with 何にしますか. It is the same にする as in lesson 8, used for choices.

Reading a food label

On the label	Reading	Meaning
名称めいしょう	めいしょう	product name
原材げんざい料名めい	げんざいりょうめい	ingredients
賞味期限しょうみきげん	しょうみきげん	best before (taste and quality)
消費期限しょうひきげん	しょうひきげん	use by (safety — don’t eat after this date)
保存方法ほぞんほうほう	ほぞんほうほう	how to store
〜産さん	〜さん	produced in … (国産こくさん = made in Japan)

Ingredients are listed from the largest amount to the smallest. To check for pork, look for 豚ぶた, ポーク, ラード (lard), ベーコン, ハム and 豚骨とんこつ (pork-bone soup). ゼラチン may come from pork. For alcohol, look for 酒さけ, みりん, 料理酒しゅ and アルコール. Most products have no halal mark, so if you are not sure, ask the staff.

Japanese stock (だし) is often made from fish (かつおぶし), so many dishes that look vegetarian contain fish.

At the supermarket

An original example — asking a member of staff:

ラフマン：すみません、このぎょうざは豚ぶた肉が入っていますか。
店員：はい、入っています。こちらは鳥肉と野菜やさいだけですよ。
ラフマン：そうですか。お酒さけも入っていませんか。
店員：ちょっと待まってください。…原材げんざい料には書いてありませんね。
ラフマン：ありがとうございます。じゃあ、こちらにします。

Rahman: Excuse me, do these dumplings contain pork? Staff: Yes, they do. These ones are only chicken and vegetables. Rahman: I see. Is there no alcohol in them either? Staff: Just a moment … It isn’t in the ingredients list. Rahman: Thank you. Then I’ll take these.

A simple recipe

An original recipe card for 親子丼どん (chicken and egg on rice) for two people:

• 鳥肉とたまねぎを切ります — Cut the chicken and the onion.
• なべにだし、しょうゆ、砂糖さとうを入れて、鳥肉とたまねぎを煮にます — Put stock, soy sauce and sugar in a pan and simmer the chicken and onion.
• 卵たまごを入いれて、ふたをします — Add the egg and put the lid on.
• ご飯の上にのせます — Put it on top of the rice.

Tip: 煮にすぎないでください — don’t cook it too long; the egg should stay soft. Many recipes use みりん (sweet rice wine); if you don’t use alcohol, use a little more sugar instead.

New kanji: 料, 理, 肉, 牛, 鳥, 飯, 茶

料 and 理 make 料理 (りょうり, cooking; dish); 料 is also a fee: 料金 (りょうきん). 理 is in 無む理 (むり, too much; impossible). 肉 (にく) is meat, 牛 (うし) a cow and 鳥 (とり) a bird: 牛肉, 鳥肉. 飯 is cooked rice: ご飯 — from now on 朝ご飯, 昼ご飯 and 夕ご飯 are written without furigana. 茶 is tea: お茶, 茶色 (ちゃいろ, brown).

Common mistakes

• Keeping い before すぎる: からいすぎます ✗ → からすぎます ✓.
• Dictionary form before やすい: 使つかうやすい ✗ → 使つかいやすい ✓.
• を before 〜方かた: カレーを作つくり方かた ✗ → カレーの作つくり方かた ✓.
• Reading 牛肉 as うしにく: it is ぎゅうにく.
• Treating 賞味期限しょうみきげん and 消費期限しょうひきげん as the same: after the use-by date, don’t eat it.

How to practise

• Take three food products from your kitchen and find the ingredients and the date on each label.
• Write the recipe of a dish from your country in four steps, then say what is easy and hard to make with 〜やすい / 〜にくい.
• Write 料, 理, 肉, 牛, 鳥, 飯 and 茶 on the worksheet and read the label exercise.