おかず（おかず、okazu）
- side dish

The Japanese word おかず refers to the side dishes or accompaniments served with a main dish, especially rice. It's the food that you eat alongside your rice, not the rice itself. Think of it as anything besides the main staple. It can include various types of food, such as meat, fish, vegetables, tofu, eggs, and pickles. The primary function of おかず is to add flavor, texture, and nutritional variety to the meal.

⚫︎今日の晩ご飯のおかずは何ですか？ Translation: What side dishes are for dinner today? ⚫︎お弁当のおかずをたくさん作りました。 Translation: I made a lot of side dishes for the bento box. ⚫︎このおかずは味が濃い。 Translation: This side dish is strongly flavored.

⚫︎You'd use おかず when talking about the food that accompanies your main dish, especially rice, in a meal. ⚫︎It's common to use it in everyday conversations about what you're eating, planning meals, or describing a meal. ⚫︎It can be used in the context of home cooking, restaurant food, or packed lunches (bento). ⚫︎When you are planning a meal, you might say 今日のおかずは何にしようかな？ (What should I make for the side dishes today?)

⚫︎おかず is typically written in hiragana. ⚫︎There is no Kanji for the term おかず in regular usage.

There aren't direct synonyms for おかず in the sense of a single word, but related terms include: ⚫︎副菜 (fukusai) - This is a more formal term for side dishes. ⚫︎料理 (ryōri) - Although this means "cooking" or "cuisine", it can also refer to the dishes prepared for a meal.

There aren't direct antonyms for おかず. You could, however, consider the main dish or the staple food (like rice) as the opposite in the context of a meal.

今日の夕食は、焼き魚と野菜の炒め物がおかずです。 ・Translation: Today's dinner is grilled fish and stir-fried vegetables as side dishes. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the menu for dinner, specifying the おかず or side dishes.

お弁当には、卵焼きと唐揚げがおかずに入っています。 ・Translation: The bento box includes tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) and karaage (fried chicken) as side dishes. ・Explanation: This sentence explains what kind of [おかず]おかず are packed in a bento box.

The word おかず is believed to have originated from the word 数 (kazu), meaning "number" or "amount". It's thought that the "o" is an honorific prefix, and "kazu" evolved to represent the extra dishes that added "number" to your meal. Over time, the meaning shifted to refer to the side dishes themselves, thus おかずおかず.