Japanese Essentials

Japanese pantry built from artisan producers, not supermarket equivalents. Soy sauces barrel-aged for years. Hon mirin aged for nearly two decades. Koshihikari rice from Toyama. Fresh wasabi root. The ingredients Japanese cooking actually depends on, made the way they're supposed to be made.

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Aged Soy Sauce

Brewed by the Okada family the slow way. The 2-year is rounded and balanced — the everyday bottle. The 5-year is something else: deep, complex, closer to aged balsamic in intensity. A finishing condiment, not a cooking ingredient. Drops over sashimi, raw scallops, a yolk on rice.

Black Hon Mirin — 18 Years

Real hon mirin, aged eighteen years. Rich, syrupy, with caramel and dried fruit. The thin, sweetened cooking alcohol sold as mirin in most places is not this. A few teaspoons builds depth into glazes, teriyaki, simmered dishes and dashi-based sauces.

Fujisu Rice Vinegar — 3 Years

Three years in barrel. Sharp but rounded, with the kind of depth a vinegar gets from time and nothing else. The base for proper sushi rice.

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Sauces & Condiments

Shiro miso from Fukuoka — white, mild, sweet. For miso soup, marinades, glazes, dressings.

Ponzu — three versions. Mikan mandarin ponzu, citrus-forward, excellent with sashimi and grilled fish. Kitoyuzu tomato ponzu, unusual and good. Yuzu kosho ponzu, with chilli heat.

Yakitori sauce for grilled skewers. Yakiniku BBQ for Japanese-style grilled meat.

Kewpie mayonnaise — egg-yolk rich, umami-heavy, the original Japanese mayonnaise.

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Rice, Noodles & Dry Goods

Koshihikari from Toyama prefecture — one of Japan's most prized short-grain rices. Sticky, faintly sweet, the rice for sushi and bowls.

Gluten-free udon with the proper thick, chewy bite. Ogawa soba for cold or hot. Gluten-free panko, made from Japanese rice — lighter and crispier than wheat panko, essential for katsu and tempura.

Nori in two grades — Ariake half-sheets for daily use, Sanpuku sheets for when it matters.

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Fresh Wasabi

The real root. Grated to order on a fine grater — traditionally sharkskin — and used immediately, because the heat is volatile and fades within minutes. Clean, fragrant, completely unlike the horseradish-and-colouring paste that passes for wasabi in most restaurants. Tasting real wasabi for the first time is a revelation.

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Yagisawa Concentrated Dashi

Authentic Japanese stock base, ready to dilute. Rich in umami, the foundation for miso soup, noodle broths, simmered dishes, and countless sauces.

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Delivery

Most of the collection is ambient and shelf-stable — soy, mirin, vinegar, noodles, rice, nori, panko all live in a cool cupboard. Fresh wasabi and miso are perishable: refrigerate on arrival.

Next-working-day UK courier — or choose your preferred delivery date at checkout. Orders before 2pm dispatch same day. Free weekday delivery over £225.