Japanese has many types of cooking styles, and each method has its own unique way of cooking food. Learning to distinguish the differences between these cooking methods in Japanese can be very helpful in learning Japanese cooking recipes.

Let’s start with the most basic way of cooking and that is boiling. The Japanese verb for boiling something in Japanese is waku. Waku means to cook something using water.

Ane wa ima oyu wo waite imasu.

My sister is boiling hot water now.

Kono niku wo sanjikan waku to, yawaraku narimasu.

If you boil this meat for 3 hours, it will become soft.

Oyu mo wakasenai, anta ittai dou yatte ryouri suru no?

You can’t even boil hot water, how the hell are you going to cook?

The most popular and healthy way of cooking is steamed. To steam your food, you need to place it over boiling water and close it with a lid (the steam or hot air will cook your food). The Japanese word for steaming is musu.

Watashi wa mushi buta ga daisuki!

I love steamed pork.

Tamago ha butaniku to isshoni musu to, sugoku oishiku narimasu yo.

If you steam the eggs together with the pork, it will be super delicious.

One of the easiest ways to cook is to fry food. You will need abura (oil) to fry any food.

The Japanese verb for frying is ageru.

Kono butaniku no agekata wo watashi ni oshiete kurenai?

Can you teach me how to fry this pig?

Watashi wa tabemono wo ageru yori, masu no hou ga kenkou teki to omoimasu.

I think it’s healthier to steam food than to fry it.

Toufu wa rang fuu ni ageru to, mazuku mat shimau zo.

If you fry toufu like that, it will turn horrible.