Essential Ingredients for preparing Japanese Dishes

If you are thinking of buying ingredients to prepare Japanese food, you can start with this list of essential ingredients that we offer you! Once you have these ingredients you can combine them properly and have almost all the flavors and seasonings of Japanese cuisine!

1. SOY SAUCE (Shouyu、醬油)

This is one of the most basic seasonings in Japanese cuisine. It is normally used in place of salt to add a rich flavor. Soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans and can also be used as a dipping sauce. It is usually mixed with rice wine vinegar, mirin and if you want you can add wasabi , ginger or chives to have another variety of flavors.

2. RICE VINEGAR (Komezu 米酢)

This is used to season rice for sushi, for example. To prepare it, you must heat a saucepan with rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of salt, until the sugar dissolves. Then pour this mixture over the rice and stir well. Rice wine vinegar can also be used with soy sauce to make a sauce that goes well with fried foods like gyoza .

3. MIRIN (味醂 or みりん)

Mirin is a sweet rice wine used to add a slight sweet flavor to dishes. You’ll probably find it in some soup stocks or meatball stuffing mixes.

4. RICE for SUSHI (Sushi-meshi 鮨飯)

The difference from other rice is that this is a short grain and it becomes sticky and glutinous when cooked, which is great if you are eating rice with chopsticks (ohashi) as it will clump together and be easier to eat. This rice, while great for sushi, pairs well with Japanese curry and is easier to make onigiri.

5. MISO PASTE (miso 味噌 )

It also comes from fermented soybeans and is usually mixed with sea salt and rice to make miso paste. It’s the base for miso soup, but it’s also an excellent base for broths or for adding great flavor to meats.

6. WAKAME (ワカメ)

This is a seaweed that you will normally find in miso soup. It is generally sold dry and is softened by adding hot water and letting it soak. It is a good ingredient to add to any Japanese soup or broth, as it has a sweet and subtle flavor and a lot of vitamin power.

7. NORI (海苔)

This is another dried edible seaweed. Maki sushi rolls or onigiri are wrapped with this seaweed, although you will also find it cut as a topping for ramen and soups.

8. TUNA FLAKES (Katsuobushi 鰹節)

Bonito is a variety of tuna that is often dried and then “scraped” into fine flakes that are used as the base for many Japanese broths. The flavor is not strong nor is it similar to that of tuna and when it is heated in water it is to make dashi broth that gives the dish umami or “raise the flavor”. The good thing about this ingredient is that you can have it in reserve in your refrigerator for a long time!

9. NOODLES (men 麺)

There are various types of dry noodles in Japan. Udon noodles and soba noodles are very popular for their taste and texture. In general, noodles go well with any of the sauces or ingredients we have mentioned so you can create your own flavors by adding vegetables to make a complete meal!

10. WASABI (ワサビ, わさび, or 山葵)

Wasabi is a paste made from a variety of Japanese horseradish. Real wasabi is very expensive as the root is very difficult to grow correctly, so most of the cheaper wasabi pastes are actually horseradish. The best sushi restaurants will have real wasabi freshly grated into a paste. It is the ideal accompaniment to sushi, although it also goes very well with meat.