How to say "fry" in Japanese

• 炒めるいためるJLPT N1approx.Common
  ichidan verb, transitive verbThe cooking sense: to fry, sauté, or stir-fry food in a pan with oil, as when cooking vegetables or meat. This is the word you want whenever 'fry' is a verb about preparing food.
  ルーは、バターと小麦粉こむぎこを炒いためながら作つくります。↗

  Roux is made while cooking flour and butter together.
• 小魚こざかなCommon
  nounReally means 'small fish' — little fish in general, such as the kind eaten whole — so it suits 'fry' only when the point is simply that the fish are small, not their growth stage.
• 稚魚ちぎょCommon
  nounThe term for the fry stage itself: a juvenile fish, also called a fingerling. Choose this when 'fry' is the young-fish noun, especially in biology, fisheries, or aquarium talk.
• 幼魚ようぎょCommon
  nounAlso a noun for young fish, matching 'fry (young fish)'. It largely overlaps with 稚魚 in meaning; for the young-fish sense of 'fry', this and 稚魚 are the words to reach for.

「炒める」 is the cooking verb 'to fry'; the other three are nouns for young fish, with 小魚 the everyday 'small fish' word and 稚魚 and 幼魚 the juvenile-fish terms for when 'fry' means baby fish.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 炒めるいためるto fry
• 小魚こざかなsmall fish
• 稚魚ちぎょfry
• 幼魚ようぎょfry (young fish)