1. Sukiyaki is the most well-known example of a 'nabemono' (lit. pot thing), where all the meal is cooked at the table in a communal pot. Which of the following is not a nabemono? chirinabe shabu-shabu mizutaki yakitori

2. Which of these foods are you most likely to be offered for lunch on a hot, humid day in August? ozoni somen noodles takenoko gohan matsutake

3. Yakisoba (stir-fried noodles) is an example of an everyday Japanese meal which you won't usually find in Japanese cookbooks because it is regarded as a Chinese dish. Apart from its Chinese origin, what makes yakisoba different from other 'soba' dishes? It's only eaten for breakfast It's not actually made from soba noodles The soba noodles are unusually thick like udon noodles It has a hot chilli flavour

4. What is 'ochazuke'? rice with green tea poured over it sweets to accompany green tea pickles eaten at the end of a meal with green tea iced green tea

5. Which of these vegetables are you least likely to find on your local supermarket shelf in rural Japan? (you can probably find anything in the big cities!) zucchinis/courgettes eggplants/aubergines potatoes cabbages

6. We think of Japanese traditionally eating bowls of steaming white rice at every meal, but in less affluent times the rice was often mixed - or completely substituted - with which grain? corn/maize millet oats buckwheat

7. Many Japanese housewives are up early every morning preparing 'obento' lunchboxes for their family. Simple rice-balls (often actually triangles),usually wrapped in nori, are an obento staple. What are they called? Answer: (Two alternative answers - both seven letters starting with o.)

8. What are the main ingredients of 'nikujaga'? beef and potatoes pork and shiitake mushrooms fish and rice chicken and udon noodles

9. What do chawanmushi and tamago-dofu have in common? They're both chicken dishes They're both beef dishes They're both tofu dishes They're both egg dishes

10. All your images of refined, sophisticated Japanese cuisine are destroyed when you first encounter 'omuraisu'! What is it? left-over rice mixed with egg and poached in soy sauce an omelette of fish offal served on rice for breakfast a frittata of leftovers served in miso soup a thin omelette filled with seasoned rice and topped with ketchup

11. Who in the family eats 'rinyushoku'? newlyweds the sick and very elderly babies expectant mothers

12. A 'donburi' dish is a bowl of white rice with various toppings covered with sauce. 'Gyudon', for example is beef on rice and 'tendon' is tempura on rice with a sauce over the top. 'Oyako donburi' means 'parent and child donburi'. What are the main ingredients of this very common dish? salmon and salmon roe chicken and egg pork and pork offal cod and cod roe

13. This dish is a popular winter nabemono and is also traditionally sold by street vendors. Various ingredients such as hard-boiled eggs, daikon radish, potatoes, deep-fried tofu and various types of fish paste dumplings are simmered in stock and eaten with mustard. What is it called? omochi udon oden donburi

14. When does the family eat 'osechi-ryori'? weddings New Year funerals O-bon festival

15. The final question is a little unrelated but a tribute to the women who are usually responsible for doing all this cooking! Which of the following is not a Japanese word for 'wife'? oyomesan tsuma okusan okaasan