果実 [かじつ] – fruit; nut; berry

• 果 [カ・はたす] – fruit
• 実 [ジツ・み] – truth; reality

果物 [くだもの] – fruit

• 果 [カ・はたす] – fruit
• 物 [ブツ・もの] – thing

Take note that when used in this combination, 果 is read くだ rather than how it is normally read.

河豚 [ふぐ] – blow fish; fugu

• 河 [カ・かわ] – river
• 豚 [トン・ぶた] – pig; pork

Fugu is the fish famous for being so potentially deadly, that only specialized chefs are allowed to prepare it.  I must admit that I had never seen this word written in kanji before today.  My experience is that the word is normally written in hiragana, a somewhat common practice for when oddly-pronounced or complex kanji are involved.  Still, “river pig” has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?

雲呑 [わんたん] – Wonton (Chinese dumpling)

• 雲 [ウン・くも] – cloud
• 呑 [トン・のむ] – drink

Yeah… I don’t get this one either.

拉麺 [らーめん] – ramen

• 拉 [ラ] – crush; kidnap
• 麺 [メン] – noodles

“Kidnapped noodles” doesn’t make much sense, does it?   Neither does “crushed noodles.”  This may be because the Japanese appear to have borrowed the character from China, but not the meaning.  In Chinese, 拉 means “to pull.”  That said, “pulled noodles” makes a lot more sense, provided that you know how hand-pulled noodles are made in Japan and China.

Normally, you will see “ramen” written in katakana: ラーメン.  However, I did see 拉麺 recently in a Chinese noodle shop.  Since I was in a noodle-y mood, knowing how to read it came in handy.