Japanese Seasonings and Sauces

  • Sugar (Sato) – The most popular type for cooking is johakuto: a plain white sugar with glucose and fructose added to it. Caster sugar (guranyuto): mainly for baking or sweetening drinks. Cane sugar (kibizato): far less refined – healthier. Sugar beet (tensaito): unrefined – least sweet of the options but more nutrients. Wasanbon sugar: feels like powdered sugar – high-quality taste. For confections.
     
  • Salt (Shio) – Sea salt most commonly used since Japan is an island nation.
     
  • Rice Vinegar (Su) – Fermented rice wine. Clear, slightly sweet – mild taste compared to other vinegars. (essential for Sushi)
     
  • Soy Sauce (Shoyu or Seuyu) – Originally a Chinese invention, but made its way to Japan sometime in the 7th century. Dark Soy sauce (koikuchi) & light soy sauce (usukuchi). Also Tamari: made without wheat and much thicker. White soy sauce (shiro shoyu) used for soy flavor w/o the color.
     
  • Miso – Fermented soybean paste. Umami and health benefits. Wide variety, but for beginners: red miso (aka miso): rich taste 7 quite salty, white miso (shiro miso) used in light soups – sweeter taste, blended miso (awase miso) – combo of red & white miso. Also common to find varieties with less salt.
  • Japanese Rice Wine (Mirin) – A sweet Japanese rice wine with lower alcohol content than cooking sake. Adds a mile sweetness an umami & masks unwanted smells like seafood.
     
  • Cooking Sake (Ryori Shu or O-Sake) – Made of rice and water. Undergoes a brewing process much like beer. More alcohol content than Mirin and less sugar, giving it a sharper taste.
     
  • Dashi – Japanese soup stock: the base for many Japanese dishes. Common ingredients: Kombu (dried kelp), dried anchovies or sardines (iriko or niboshi dashi), shiitake mushrooms, and bonito flakes.
     
  • Mentsuyu – Japanese soup base using dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Purpose: To add umami to the dish w/o requiring you to measure out a variety of ingredients.
     
  • Wasabi – Japanese horseradish: a root vegetable often ground into a paste. Gives dishes a kick as well as gets rid of any fishy or unpleasant flavors.
     
  • Mayonnaise – The most famous brand of Japanese mayonnaise is Kewpie: known for its incredibly rich egg flavor, creaminess, and sweetness.
     
  • Ginger (Shoga) – Great for getting the appetite going as well as counteracting strong smells and flavors in meat and seafood. Often either grated and used as a paste or cut up into tiny slivers. Fari – pickled sushi ginger (yellow) used as a palate cleanser. Beni shoga – another pickled ginger (red).
  • Furikake – A dry condiment sprinkled on top of rice for additional flavor. Typically a mix of dried fish, seaweed, sugar, salt. Comes in a wide assortment of flavors. Shelf stable.
     
  • Japanese Chili Pepper (Togarashi) – A blanket term for Japanese chili peppers – an extreme diversity across the country. The two most common: Shichimi togarashi – ground chili flakes, citrus peel, seaweed flakes, sesame seeds. Ichimi togarashi – Ground Japanese chili pepper  is much hotter than shichimi togarashi.
     
  • Bonito Flakes (Katsuobushi) – Bonito fish flakes. Key component for dashi and used as a topping for a dish right before it’s to be served. Arabushi: the bonito fish is simmered & smoked before being shredded. Honkarebushi: Fish is fermented after being smoked.
     
  • Yuzu Pepper (Yuzu Kosho) – A paste made from chili peppers, yuzu citrus peel, and salt.
     
  • Japanese Sansho Pepper (Sansho) – A powder spice with a citrusy scent and strong peppery kick. Made of the seeds and leaves of the sansho peppercorn fruit. Often used in eel cuisine.
     
  • Seaweed Flakes (Aonori) – Green seaweed or laver that’s been dried and powdered or crumbled into fine flakes. Used as a topping. It is a kind of seaweed distinguishable from nori, wakame, or kombu.
     
  • Perilla Leaves (Shiso) – A type of mint. Citrusy and sharp. Masks fishing or overly meaty odors.
     
  • Japanese Yellow Mustard (Karashi) – Made from crushed seeds of the Oriental mustard plant. Hotter than yellow USA mustard. Paste or powder form.
     
  • Sesame Oil and Seeds (Goma Yu and Goma) – Not an exclusively Japanese ingredient. Used especially in Chinese-Japanese fusion fare.
     
  • Japanese Chili Oil (Rayu) – Found in most ramen shops and gyoza restaurants. Either a liquid or in its taberu rayu form: contains bits of crunchy garlic, ginger, spring onions.
     
  • Umeboshi – Pickled plum fruits. Extremely sour and salty. Served whole over white rice or in onigiri.