As a foreigner living in Japan, going to the supermarket can be quite a daunting experience. As much as it would be nice to cook dishes from back home, foreign ingredients are expensive and not as readily available. One way to save money is to use local ingredients and make the most out of seasonal crops and dishes to make the most out of your budget. Don’t know where to start? Here are some of the most basic Japanese ingredients to stock up on to allow you to easily cook lots of tasty and time-friendly Japanese dishes.
1. Rice
Japanese rice is a type of short-grain rice that sticks easily together when cooked, so it’s perfect for making rice balls and sushi. It’s also easier to eat with chopsticks! The price of Japanese rice can vary dramatically, but the average person would pay roughly ¥3,000 for a 5-kilo bag of Japanese rice.
2. Noodles
There are a variety of noodles used in Japanese cooking, including ramen, udon, soba and somen. Here’s a basic overview of the types of noodles you’ll want to experiment with and what you can use them for.
- Ramen noodles are yellowish, thin and made from wheat. As the name suggests, they are the main ingredients in ramen broths.
- Udon noodles are white, thick and made from wheat flour. Popular dishes using udon noodles include zaru udon, curry udon and tempura udon.
- Soba noodles are brown-grey, thin and made from buckwheat flour. They have a strong nutty flavor and can be served hot or cold.
- Somen noodles are white, very thin and made from wheat. Served cold during the hot summer months.
3. Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a key ingredient in any Japanese kitchen. A good-quality Japanese soy sauce has a delicate taste, allowing it to blend easily with other ingredients and bringing out the natural umami in food. It’s a versatile ingredient to have in your kitchen for a simple stir-fry or to add to a casserole or one-pot dish. The options are endless!
You’ll need this to make most Japanese dishes like gyudon (beef bowls) or mentsuyu (noodle broth). For more depth, check out the other variants of soy sauce like tamari (for sashimi or raw fish), saishikomi (refermented), usukuchi (light) and shiro (white or extra light soy sauce).
4. Rice Vinegar
Rice vinegar is mainly used to make sushi rice, Japanese salad dressings and sauces. It has a very delicate taste compared to other vinegars and has been around as early as the Edo Period.
5. Rice Wine
Sake or Japanese rice wine, is made from polished rice and a type of bacteria culture called koji. Although sake is similar to wine in appearance, the brewing process of sake is more similar to beer. Additionally, the alcohol content of sake is higher than that of wine and beer, which is usually up to 18%.
Sake helps tenderize meat and fish, eliminates odor and brings out the flavor of the dish. Mirin, is a type of cooking sake with a lower alcohol content and is used only for cooking in Japan. It adds a nice, sweet balance to Japanese dishes.
6. Japanese Seven Spice
This wonderful collection of seven spices adds an interesting dimension to the taste of a dish and also adds a nutritional explosion, with each spice boasting different health benefits. This spice mix includes chili, orange peel, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, seaweed, Japanese pepper and ginger.
It adds a little kick and extra taste. Sprinkle this over soups, stews and noodle dishes. It also works really well as a seasoning for meat, fish or seafood.
7. Tofu
Tofu is low in calories yet high in protein and calcium. Different types of tofu are available in the supermarket. “Silken tofu” has a soft and delicate texture that you can add to salads and soups. “Firm tofu” has a tougher texture and works better in one-pot dishes and stir-fries. Fresh tofu can be eaten cold straight from the fridge or added to hot dishes.
8. Miso Paste
Miso is made from fermented soybeans, salt, rice or barley and koji (fermentation starter). There are different types of miso, which vary in color from light brown to dark red/brown. Generally, the lighter the color, the milder the taste. Once you open a container, store it in the refrigerator. It acts as a great marinade for meat, fish or even vegetables.
9. Seaweed
Seaweed is full of vitamins and minerals and is an important part of the Japanese diet, from sushi making to simple stocks and salads. Here is a list of the seaweeds that I regularly use for cooking:
- Kombu (kelp) adds umami to dishes and is one of the main ingredients in dashi (Japanese cooking stock). It’s a common ingredient in salads and stews.
- Nori is for wrapping sushi rolls and onigiri (Japanese rice balls). You can buy it as roasted seaweed sheets or milled ao-nori. Store nori sheets in an airtight container to preserve their crispy texture. Sprinkle ao-nori over dishes like okonomiyaki and yakisoba just before serving.
- Wakame is dehydrated seaweed used in miso soup and salads. Be careful how much wakame you add to a dish, as these tiny pieces of seaweed expand once they are in the water.
10. Dashi
One of the most common ingredients in most Japanese kitchens is dashi stock powder. If you’ve just started cooking Japanese dishes, this is a key ingredient from miso soup to oyakudon (chicken and egg rice bowl), nikujaga (Japanese meat and potato stew) and the list goes on. The most common types of dashi use seaweed, dried fish like anchovies or sardines, mushrooms and bonito fish flakes.
Did we miss out on any other basic Japanese ingredients? Let us know in the comments section!
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Unable to get real Ramen hear in Massachusetts rely miss it ( Raman Shops)as i don’t like the instant type
Hello. Thanks for your comment. Miso is a fantastic ingredient to have in your kitchen if you can get it. However, you can use other ingredients to flavour broths such as seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, fish bones or flakes (but maybe you can’t source these either)….. There is a recipe in my cookbook called “udon noodles & pork meatballs” I use the following to season the broth: 1 litre chicken stock, 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sake. I hope this helps a little.Fiona 🙂
Question what noodles do they use tu make the YAKISOBA dish that you see at the festival stalls? I know its some sort of soba noodles but there are so many different ones.
Hello Tania, thanks for your comment. It can be very confusing as there are many types of noodles used for different Japanese dishes. Also the name yakisoba suggests soba noodles are used but this isn’t the case. Actually the noodles used for ramen are also used to make yakisoba!! I hope this helps. I hope to post an article at some stage about noodles. Fiona 🙂