卵黄
ran'ō[ɾã̠ɰ̃o̞ː]
The phrase for egg yolk in Japanese is 卵黄 (ran'ō).
卵黄 is the standard term used when referring to the yellow part of an egg, particularly in formal contexts and written recipes.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of 卵, meaning egg and 黄, meaning yellow.
Which one should you use?
While 卵黄 is the standard term, in casual cooking settings, people often simply refer to the yolk as 黄身 (kimi).
How do you pronounce it?
ran'ō
Did you know?
- While 卵黄 is the technical term, the casual word 黄身 (kimi) is a homophone for the word for 'you' in an intimate or old-fashioned sense. This creates playful puns in Japanese cooking shows and advertisements.
- Japan is one of the few countries where the egg yolk is traditionally eaten raw in a dish called 卵かけご飯 (tamago kake gohan), which is a breakfast staple.
- The word 卵黄 traces its linguistic roots back to Middle Chinese, reflecting how many technical food terms in Japanese were originally imported from China.
Examples in context
- 卵黄だけを使います。ran'ou dake o tsukaimasu.I will use only the egg yolk.
- 卵黄の色がとても綺麗です。ran'ou no iro ga totemo kirei desu.The color of the egg yolk is very beautiful.
- 卵黄と白身を混ぜてください。ran'ou to shiromi o mazete kudasai.Please mix the egg yolk and the white.
Example conversation
Misaki and Ren are baking a cake together.
- 美咲 Misaki蓮、卵黄を準備してね。Ren, ran'yō o junbi shite ne.Ren, please prepare the egg yolks.
- 蓮 Renわかった。卵白はどうするの？Wakatta. ranhaku wa dō suru no?Got it. What about the egg whites?
- 美咲 Misaki卵白は別のボウルに入れて。ranhaku wa betsu no boru ni irete.Put the egg whites in a different bowl.
- 蓮 Ren了解。卵黄だけ分けるね。Ryōkai. ran'yō dake wakeru ne.Roger. I'll separate just the yolks.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 卵黄, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 卵黄, CC BY-SA 4.0.
