The 10 basic pantry condiments to cook Japanese food. (A local narrowed it to 5 essentials)

Japanese food is becoming more widely known, and you can find more Japanese restaurants around the streets than ever before. 

However, the cuisine still might be mysterious, and difficult to immediately tell how it’s cooked. The ingredients we use differ so much from the Western cuisines that you might find it a little overwhelming to cook them at home.

Well actually, you don’t have to worry! Japanese food is not so difficult to cook if you have basic Japanese condiments in your pantry. 

If you can use Japanese condiments anytime at home, you can try many Japanese recipes easily and make your daily meals more enjoyable. 

Here are 10 essential condiments to store in your pantry to cook Japanese food at home.

You can usually find them at Asian supermarkets, and some are available at normal grocery stores. 

The basic rule of using Japanese condiments

Before you get Japanese condiments, there is a basic rule that you should know about how to use Japanese condiments properly.

The rule is called “Sa Shi Su Se So,” which means, “Sugar, Salt, Vinegar, Soy sauce, and Miso” respectively. The words come from the first letter of each name of these items in Japanese. 

The order of these condiments is important for Japanese cooking. When you cook using these ingredients, you have to add them in this order because each order has its reasons to cook right.10 Regular pantry condiments to cook Japanese food.

1. Soy Sauce

Soy sauce is a Japanese typical and traditional condiment made from fermented soybeans. It is used to add umami, richness, and color to the food.

You can use it not only as a sauce but for flavoring simmered meat and vegetables, soups, and all kinds of dishes.

2. Miso 

Miso, well-known for miso soup, is a traditional Japanese condiment that adds a compound flavor of sweetness, saltiness, and umami to the food.

In the rule of Japanese cooking, miso must be added at the very end of the cooking process because its flavor reduces as heated.

 Not only for Japanese food but miso can be used for western food as a secret flavor giving some richness.

3. Sake 

When you hear sake, you must think it’s Japanese sake. But this is different from drinking sake, it’s a cooking one, adding some salt, vinegar, and amino acid.

Although this is not included in the basic rules mentioned earlier, it’s also an important condiment for Japanese cooking. 

This works as neutralizing the smell of meat or fish, softening the ingredients, making it easier to absorb flavors, and adding some richness, working just like wine but having less flavor.

4. Mirin

Mirin is like sweet sake that gives sweetness, shininess, and richness to the food. This is also not in the rules but as essential as other basic condiments.

You may think it is substitutable with sugar and sake, but they cannot reproduce the 

same unique effects of shininess or richness from mirin.

5. Vinegar

Vinegar, which is a familiar item outside Japan too, is one of the basic condiments in Japanese cooking. As you already know, it is used to add sourness to food.  

Also, it is used to prevent discoloration, moderate saltiness, remove bitterness, preserve food, and coagulate protein (to make poached eggs or cottage cheese in western cooking).

In Japanese cooking, rice vinegar is commonly used other than wine vinegar or apple cider because it has less flavor and doesn’t interfere with the original taste of the food.

6. Mentsuyu (Noodle soup base)

Mentsuyu is originally the soup base of Japanese noodles, such as Udon and Soba. It’s like a compound of soy sauce, mirin, and dashi, which gives color, flavor, umami, richness, and some sweetness at the same time. 

So it can be used as all-purpose dashi sauce. You can use it to cook anything like sauce for meat, fish, or vegetables, dressing for salad, or sauce for pasta.

There are some types of mentsuyu regarding its concentration, so make sure which type of concentration you have, and use it with the proper amount for your recipes. 

Otherwise, the flavor may get too strong or too weak, depending on how concentrated your mentsuyu is.

7. Ponzu

Ponzu (soy sauce ponzu) is made of soy sauce and citrus acidity, and it gives richness, umami, and fresh sourness to the food. 

It is usually used as a dipping sauce for nabe (hot pot), but it can be used for any type of food just as mentsuyu.

8. Sesame oil

Sesame oil, the oil literally made from sesame seeds, is a popular condiment for Japanese cooking with its rich and roasty fragrance. It gives so much flavor to the food by just drizzling at the end. It can be used for stir-frying, soups, salad, noodles, and so on. But make sure to use it with only a small amount because of its strong flavor. 

Also, since its smoking point is low, which is 350°F（170℃), be careful to cook on high heat because it’s going to get burnt easily.

9. Instant dashi 

Instant dashi is powdered dashi, which is a convenient condiment and makes Japanese cooking so much easier. Just a teaspoon of instant dashi gives the food enough umami right away.

When you make miso soup, you don’t have to take time to make dashi by soaking mushrooms in water, or simmering dried seaweed or dried bonito delicately, just put in the instant dashi and mix with some miso, and it’s done.

Other than Japanese-style dashi, chicken stock powder is also useful to cook Japanese food easily.

10. Ginger and garlic tubes

Ginger and garlic tubes are so convenient that you don’t have to peel and grate each ingredient. Without any effort, you can use grated ginger or garlic and make your food so flavorful. 

Because they are paste, it is easy to mix with any kind of food, for example, sauce, soups, or any ingredients you are cooking. 

One thing you have to keep in mind is that they are easy to get burnt when you stir-fry, so make sure to add them not in the beginning but later in the cooking process.

Is 10 too much? Why not start with these 5 essentials.

Now you have known what you need in your pantry to cook Japanese food.

Although there are 10 kinds of condiments, you don’t have to own all of them from the beginning. If you want to cook authentic Japanese food, what you need are:

• soy sauce
• sake
• mirin
• miso
• instant dashi

With these 5 items, you can cook ordinary Japanese meals, including miso soup and simmered meat or vegetables. 

Also, there are many easy and simple Japanese recipes using all-purpose mentsuyu or ponzu. So don’t worry, Japanese cooking must be much easier than you expect. 

Hope you’ll enjoy Japanese food at home in your daily lives.