The plate in the reel above, published 12 October 2026, just landed on a yakiniku grill. The menu word is ホルモン. This page is that one word: what it names, what the English word offal means, and what you say if you wanted a different cut.

What does ホルモン mean on a Japanese yakiniku menu?

ホルモン (horumon) on a Japanese yakiniku menu means grilled offal, the cuts you cook on the grill at your table. Shogakukan's Digital Daijisen, on Kotobank, checked 14 October 2026, gives the food sense in one line: the innards of cow or pig that you eat, grilled or put in a hot pot. The grill entry, ホルモン焼 (horumon-yaki), is pig and similar innards, grilled. Daijisen reads that entry ホルモンやき. The Japanese Wikipedia page for ホルモン焼き, checked the same day, calls the dish grilled 内臓肉 (naizō-niku), also called もつ (motsu). It says the usual plate is intestine, and that skin, stomach, liver, heart, and other organs are used too. On a yakiniku menu the single word ホルモン is that plate. You cook it on the grill built into the table. The request for that is ご自身で焼いてください (go-jishin de yaite kudasai): please grill it yourself.

What is offal?

Offal is organ meat. It is the edible organs and the other parts that are not a steak or a chop. Liver, heart, tongue, stomach, and intestines are offal. A short rib is not. The Japanese Wikipedia page for もつ, checked 14 October 2026, says the English word offal names the edible innards, and the Chambers definition it quotes lists the guts, the heart, the liver, the kidney, and the tongue. 内臓 (naizō) is the Japanese word for the internal organs. 臓物 (zōmotsu) is the same group, and Daijisen uses 臓物 for the grilled dish. A butcher cuts steaks from the muscle. The liver, the heart, the tongue, the stomach, and the intestines are the other edible parts. That set is what ホルモン points at on the menu. You are looking at those parts, ready for the grill. You are not looking at a supplement.

How do you pronounce ホルモン?

Say ho-ru-mo-n, four beats: ホ, ル, モ, ン. Daijisen prints the reading ほるもん. Every vowel is short. The ン is its own beat, so the word is not horumo and not a long hoorumon. Menus write it in katakana, ホルモン. The reel's sentence is これはホルモンです。 (Kore wa horumon desu.) That is nine beats: こ, れ, は, ホ, ル, モ, ン, で, す. The particle は is wa. The sentence means "This is offal." Point at the plate while you say it. To ask, add か: これはホルモンですか。 (Kore wa horumon desu ka.)

Does ホルモン mean the medical hormone?

No. The plate is meat. Daijisen's first sense of the same headword is the chemical: a trace substance made in a gland, carried in the blood, and aimed at one organ. The menu uses the second sense, the food. The Seisen Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, checked 14 October 2026, keeps the same split. Sense 2 is short for ホルモン焼き. The reel says it in one line: on a grill menu, ホルモン means offal, intestines and stomach and the cuts that go with them, and it does not mean hormones. A clinic and a biology book use the chemical. The round grill uses the meat. Order the plate when you want the organs. Choose another line when you do not.

Which cuts does a ホルモン heading cover?

The heading covers a group. The plate in front of you may be one member of it. The もつ page, checked 14 October 2026, splits the broad sense in two. 白もつ (shiro motsu) is stomach and intestine. 赤もつ (aka motsu) is liver and heart. In the narrow sense, ホルモン means the small intestine alone. The same page names the cow's four stomachs: ミノ (mino) the first, ハチノス (hachinosu) the second, センマイ (senmai) the third, and ギアラ (giara) the fourth. マルチョウ (maruchō) is one kind of small intestine. シマチョウ (shimachō) and テッチャン (tetchan) are large intestine. ハツ (hatsu) is the heart. レバー (rebā) is the liver. タン (tan) is the tongue. Menus often print those three on their own lines. In plain English they are still organ meat. If the board says only ホルモン, expect intestine and stomach first. A pot labelled もつ鍋 (motsu nabe) is boiled, not this grill.

How is this different from the izakaya ordering page?

This page is one menu word. The izakaya ordering page is the tablet, the QR code, or the ticket, for when nobody comes to the table. Say ホルモンをお願いします (horumon o onegaishimasu) when a person is taking the order and you want this plate. When the shop never sends a person, use that system and choose the line yourself. The sanma page is one named fish. This page is the heading that means organ meat. カルビ (karubi) is boneless short rib. ロース (rōsu) is loin. Those are muscle. They are the plates you name when you want the grill and you do not want the organs.

What do you say if you did not want organ meat?

See the word and decide before you point. The reel stops on that moment: the plate has landed, and you have not eaten it yet. If you want it, say ホルモンをお願いします。 If you do not, name a different cut. カルビをお願いします (karubi o onegaishimasu) is short rib. ロースをお願いします (rōsu o onegaishimasu) is loin. If a tray is already on its way and it has not reached the grill, say すみません (sumimasen), then the cut you wanted. To call someone over, use the waiter page. Once the pieces are on the grate, cook them through. The もつ page says these cuts have to be heated. The request you can use is よく焼いてからお召し上がりください (yoku yaite kara o-meshiagari kudasai): cook them well, then eat. A change after they are on the heat can mean a new plate.

ホルモン on a yakiniku menu is grilled offal. Offal means organ meat: liver, heart, tongue, stomach, and intestines. The word on the board is that food.