tokoroten

T1O1K5O1R1O1T1E1N1

noun

A dish in Japanese cuisine made from agarophytes, traditionally by boiling tengusa (Gelidium amansii) and then allowing the mixture to congeal into a jelly.

OriginJapanese 心太 →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nountokoroten (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA dish in Japanese cuisine made from agarophytes, traditionally by boiling tengusa (Gelidium amansii) and then allowing the mixture to congeal into a jelly.

    You ate peanuts and tokoroten, so you’re probably past saving.

    1991, Yasushi Inoue, translated by Jean Oda Moy, Shirobamba, London; Chester Springs, Pa.: Peter Owen Publishers, →ISBN, page 189
    5 more examples

    Vendors now sell gold fish through the streets, along with hawkers of tokoroten, or sea-weed jelly, and gaily decorated wind bells.

    1925, The Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, volume 12, page 42

    About 350 years ago, it was discovered accidentally when Lord Shimazu had some unused tokoroten left in his garden in Kyoto. It was winter and very cold. The tokoroten congealed at night, and when the sun came out, it dried out.

    2008 July 15, Audrey Wilson, “Cooking with Japanese jello”, in Hawaii Tribune-Herald, number 197, page C2, column 6

    In Asia, agar is used in many traditional dishes, such as red bean jelly, tokoroten noodles and mitsumame.

    2010, Stefan Gates, Stefan Gates on E Numbers, Octopus Publishing Group, →ISBN

    The main course was fried beef cutlets, followed by tokoroten, a jellied agar garnished with dark molasses, for dessert.

    2019 January 17, Shingo Masuda, “Discover Asakusa’s charms aboard ‘kimono rickshaws’”, in Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 137th year, number 351, page A9

    (206) Agar-agar (Gelidium corneum. Tengusa). Use to make tokoroten or kanten.

    2021, William Shurtleff, Akiko Aoyagi, compilers, History of Azuki Beans Worldwide (300 BCE to 2021): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook, Lafayette, Calif.: Soyinfo Center, →ISBN, page 111, column 2

Origin

  1. Japanese心太
  2. Englishtokoroten

From Japanese 心太 (tokoroten).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tokoroten. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tokoroten

MLA

“tokoroten.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tokoroten. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tokoroten,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tokoroten.

Source: tokoroten on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.