Translation guide
The meat of a pig, used in cooking. In Japanese, the word depends on context: general meat, specific cuts, or dishes.
Referring to pork meat in general, such as when shopping, cooking, or discussing food preferences.
The standard word for pork as a meat. Used in recipes, menus, and everyday conversation.
Please buy some pork.
Pork is cheaper than beef.
Loanword from English, often used in compound dish names or on menus, e.g., ポークカレー (pork curry). Less common in everyday speech.
I ordered sautéed pork.
Referring to particular parts of the pig used in cooking, such as belly, loin, or shoulder.
Pork belly, a very popular cut in Japanese cuisine, used for kakuni and yakiniku.
I'll make braised pork belly with pork belly.
Pork loin, often used for tonkatsu or shogayaki.
Pork shoulder, a slightly fattier cut good for stews and pulled pork.
I use pork shoulder for stews.
Pork tenderloin, a lean and tender cut.
Pork tenderloin is tender, isn't it?
Referring to pork as part of a specific Japanese dish.
Referring to minced or ground pork.
Ground pork, used for gyoza, meatballs, etc.
I make gyoza with ground pork.
The word 豚 (ぶた) means the animal 'pig'. To refer to the meat, you must say 豚肉 (ぶたにく). Using 豚 alone to mean pork is incorrect in most contexts.
In Japanese, meat names follow the pattern [animal] + 肉: 豚肉 (pork), 牛肉 (beef), 鶏肉 (chicken). The animal part can sometimes be dropped in compound words like 焼き豚 (roast pork).
豚ロースでとんかつを作った。
I made tonkatsu with pork loin.
寒い日は豚汁がおいしい。
On cold days, pork miso soup is delicious.
とんかつ定食をください。
I'll have the pork cutlet set meal.