
10 Jan, 2018
Location
Earth
Number of Posts
16
In preparing Japanese cuisine or dishes inspired by Japanese cuisine, it seems there are some staple seasonings and ingredients that are a must to have on hand.
These are some of the 'ingredients' I have learned to keep on hand:
shoyu, mirin, sake, rice vinegar, instant dashi stock, katsuo flakes, miso, salt, sugar, chili oil, sesame seeds, nori, kombu, panko, flour, potato starch
Does anyone else, know of other seasonings and ingredients that are a must for the Japanese kitchen?

10 Aug, 2020
Number of Posts
34
You have a good selection already, but you also need bonito flakes and wasabi!
31 years old from USA. New when it comes to Japanese Culture.

10 Aug, 2020
Number of Posts
34
Some households have multiple types of shoyu instead of having just one. Each type is used for a different dish. Personally I only use dark shoyu so I’m not saying it’s necessary.
31 years old from USA. New when it comes to Japanese Culture.

24 Jul, 2024
Number of Posts
4
Shiso/Ooba is a tasty leaf, you can purchase as-is or as shiso salt furikake. It's one of the ingredients that makes umeboshi and ochazuke taste so yummy. I also like having various furikake but you can make your own with the ingredients you listed.
Kiriboshi (dried daikon) is super useful because it can be rehydrated easily or thrown in a rice cooker at your convenience. You can also simply rehydrate it by soaking it with some mirin, shoyu and rice vinnegar, add carrots for a yummy side dish.
From dried goods you can also get dried mushrooms like kikurage, shiitake and matsutake.
I also recommend mentsuyu, kewpie mayo, and sesame oil.
From frozen goods you can sometimes buy natto and pre-fried agedashi tofu.
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