Every Japanese family has these seasonings for home cooking
Do you want to make Japanese food at home? These 10 useful seasonings are necessary to cook Japanese food. Read this post and figure out what seasoning you need to make homemade Japanese cuisine. We’ll recommend some specific Japanese seasoning which Yuki’s family uses everyday. The seasonings below are very affordable and of good quality. Add them to your pantry and easily cook your own healthy Japanese dishes at home.
1) Sake (料理酒)
Sake is a Japanese alcohol which made out of rice. Sake isn’t merely a good drink but it’s also helpful in the kitchen. There’s two types of sake typically used for cooking, nihonshu and ryorishu. Some popular dishes prepared with sake are nikujaga (肉じゃが) / braised potatoes and meat, gyudon (牛丼) / beef bowl.
Nihonshu is regular sake, and is an important seasoning needed to make Japanese food. Since it contains amino acids it makes the food flavorful, rich, and soft. It is common to use at the very beginning of cooking, it improves flavor penetration and adds a savory aroma.
Cooking sake is a brewed seasoning specialized for cooking, made from rice, rice koji, and salt. You will find that ryorishu is saltier and sweeter than nihon-shu, and you won’t be able to taste the rice flavor as much as you would with nihon-shu. Be careful with the amount of salt when you’re cooking with it. The taste will be much stronger than expected if you put too much salt.
2) Shoyu (醤油) / soy sauce
Soy sauce: the most well known Japanese seasoning in the world. You can use this for literally anything. It’s definitely worth having it in your pantry at home. The main ingredients are soybeans, wheat, and salt. This simple sauce acquires its distinctive flavor via fermentation.
3) Mirin (みりん) / sweet sake
Mirin is an alcoholic beveragemade by adding glutinous rice and koji to shochu (distilled spirits). Although it’s sake it has a sweeter taste than nihonshu. The difference between cooking sake and mirin is that mirin brings out the sweetness and brightness of food, while cooking sake removes the smell of food and tenderizes meat.
4) Japanese Dashi (だし)
Dashi is a broth made from boiling bonito flakes, kelp, and other ingredients to enhance the flavor of food. Japanese dashi is made from bonito flakes, iriko (dried sardines), kombu (kelp) and other seafood, and is used in miso soup and simmered dishes.
5) Vinegar (酢)
Vinegar is a sour seasoning often made from grains or fruits. Generally in Japan grain vinegar is for cooking as well as vinegar with a sweet taste, such as apple cider vinegar. Vinegar is known for its nutritional benefits which keeps you beautiful and in good health. Many people drink it as a health drink.
6) Miso (味噌)
Miso is a fermented paste made by adding salt and koji to grains such as soybeans, rice, and wheat. As many of you know, miso is used for miso soup, which is loved by Japanese people. It’s such a staple in fact that people confess their love by requesting their partner make miso soup everyday for them. Check out our article on love confessions to learn some other cute phrases.
7) Japanese brown sauce (中濃ソース)
Japanese brown sauce is a sweet sauce served with Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba, and so on. You can also use it with salad. It’s a Japanese take on Worcestershire sauce which can become quite addicting.
8) Ponzu (ポン酢)
Ponzu shoyu is a Japanese food seasoning made from the juice of citrus fruit, vinegar and soy sauce. It pairs well with fresh leafy greens in salads. Don’t be shy with this tarty sauce! Splash it on top of any dish where soy sauce might be used to add a refreshing kick.
9) Sesame oil (ごま油)
Sesame oil is a popular oil in Japan as well as other Asian countries. It can be used for cooking, but it also works well in sauces and dressings. The oil’s nutty flavor adds depth to your food and it smells good to boot.
10) Bouillon cubes (コンソメ)
Bouillon cubes (consomme) are dehydrated broth made of fat-free meat, vegetables, and fish. Even though they’re originally from Europe, it’s used in Japanese Western-style food such as hamburger steak.
Thank you for reading this post. If you’re lazy to cook some Japanese food, please check this article about 9 popular Japanese chain restaurants in the US. A lot of the restaurants Americans consider to be Japanese are actually adapted to cater to American tastes and can’t really be categorized as Japanese, but these restaurants are originally from Japan, loved by Japanese kids, students, and families, and there are many locations all over Japan as well as in the US.