Aemono & Sunomono

Dressed dishes, 和え物, and dishes dressed with vinegar 酢の物。

Lit. "harmonized things," i.e. cooked and cooled vegetables (sometimes with small pieces of poultry or fish), blended ("harmonized") with a dressing.

Also called "dressed salad," but the point is that the vegetables are not raw, as in Western salads, but cooked. Also note that the ingredients must be cold.

Sunomono are dishes dressed in particular with vinegar (su).

"Aemono" and "Sunomono" form one of the main categories of the Japanese cuisine (like agemono, deep-fried dishes or yakimono, grilled dishes). 

[Shira-ae, vegetables dressed with tofu]

The most popular dressings in these traditional dishes are:

aemono:

• sesame - called goma-ae, ごま和え; 
• tofu - called shira-ae, 白和え; 
• mustard - called karashi-ae, からし和え
• miso - called miso-ae, 味噌和え; 
• vinegar and miso - called sumiso-ae or nuta, 酢味噌和え、ぬた
• ground green sprouts (in miso paste) - kinome-ae, 木の芽和え

and sunomono:

• vinegar - called sunomono, 酢の物

[Horenso no goma-ae (Spinach with sesame dressing)]

Examples of typical dishes:

• Horenso no goma-ae, ほうれんそうのごま和え: spinach dressed with sesame, one of the most simple but also most delicious dishes.
• Ingen no goma-ae, いんげんのごま和え: green beans wit sesame dressing
• Tako to kyuri no sunomono, たこときゅうりの酢の物: octopus and cucumber with vinegar dressing.
• Kyuri to wakame no sunomono, きゅうりとわかめの酢の物: cucumber and wakame with vinegar dressing.
• Gomoku shira-ae, 五目白和え: mixed vegetable salad with tofu dressing.
• Nanohana no karashi-ae, 菜の花のからし和え: nanohana (rape blossoms) dressed with mustard sauce.
• Aoyagi to wakegi no nuta,  青柳とわけぎのぬた: clams and leeks with vinegared miso dressing
• Takenoko to ika no kinome-ae, たけのこといかの木の芽和え: bamboo shoots and squid dressed with kinome sprouts

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