Japanese seasonings

【Weee!】 is a general shopping site where you can get Asian products. Weee! has many Japanese products and fast delivery, so you can easily get Japanese seasonings without going to the trouble of buying them at Asian food stores.
Let me introduce some of the standard seasonings for making Japanese food.

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Soy Sauce (Shoyu or Seuyu / 醤油)

Soy sauce is perhaps one of the most crucial seasonings for almost any Japanese dish. Originally a Chinese invention, it made its way to the Japanese archipelago sometime in the 7th century and has been loved ever since.

Miso (味噌)

Miso is a traditional fermented soybean paste that’s indispensable in Japanese cooking.Its wonderful umami taste and health benefits have attracted interest overseas, and it is one of the secrets of Japan’s longevity.

Japanese Rice Wine (Mirin / みりん)

Mirin is an alcoholic beverage seasoning with a mild sweetness, made mainly from “glutinous rice.Mirin is used to add a mild sweetness and umami to dishes as well as help mask unwanted smells like seafood. If you can’t procure mirin, you can use a ratio of 3:1 cooking sake and sugar as a substitute

Cooking Sake (Ryori Shu or O-Sake / 料理酒)

Since sake is made from rice and water, many  tend to refer to it as a kind of rice wine like mirin, but it actually undergoes a brewing process much like beer. It also has more alcohol than mirin and less sugar, giving it a sharper taste.
While you can certainly cook using any type of sake, much like wine, many Japanese people prefer to use sake made specifically for cooking. Called ryori shu (料理酒), this sake has salt added to it to make it unfit for drinking,Japanese people tend to use cooking sake to remove unpleasant odors, tenderize meat, and so on.

Dashi (だし / 出汁)

Dashi” is an abbreviation for “soup stock” made by boiling bonito, kelp, shiitake mushrooms, dried sardines, etc., and is the base for the flavor of a dish. It is said that umami is dramatically enhanced when glutamic acid, the umami component of kelp, inosinic acid, the umami component of bonito flakes, and guanylic acid, the umami component of shiitake mushrooms, are combined.

Rice Vinegar (Su / 酢)

Rice vinegar is yet another staple seasoning for most Japanese cuisine. It is made by fermenting rice wine into acetic acid in a process that takes several months. The result is a clear, slightly sweet vinegar that’s surprisingly mild in taste compared to other kinds of vinegar like balsamic vinegar, yet goes splendidly with Japanese food.

Ponzu Sauce (Ponzu / ポン酢)

“Ponzu” is a Japanese citrus-based sauce with a tart and tangy flavor. Many think of it like a vinaigrette, and indeed, you can use it like one since it has a similar flavor profile. It can also be used as a dipping sauce for dishes like Japanese “shabu-shabu” hot pot and as a marinade for meats and seafood.
A lot of the ponzu sauces you see in the supermarket are actually ponzu with soy sauce mixed into it, which is why many people mistakenly think ponzu sauce is just a variation of soy sauce. Real ponzu sauce is light yellow in color.

Mayonnaise (マヨネーズ)

Mayonnaise has a huge role to play in many Japanese kitchens. The most famous brand of Japanese mayonnaise is Kewpie, which is known for its incredibly rich egg flavor, creaminess, and sweetness.
Japanese mayonnaise uses only egg yolks and rice vinegar as its main ingredient. It is rich and creamy, with a mild acidity.
Overseas mayonnaise is made with whole eggs, and vinegar is mainly high-acid brewed vinegar made from grape vinegar, vegetables, and other ingredients.
It is whitish in color, has a tangy smell, and a sour taste.

Mentsuyu (めんつゆ)

Mentsuyu is a Japanese soup base that makes seasoning Japanese dishes a lot easier. It is made using dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, and its entire purpose is to add umami to the dish without requiring you to measure out a variety of ingredients.
It is used in noodle dishes such as soba, udon, and somen, but is also used in stewed dishes and as a dipping sauce for tempura.

Wasabi (わさび)

“Wasabi” is the name for Japanese horseradish, a root vegetable that’s often grinded into a paste which accompanies raw seafood dishes like sashimi and sushi. It has traditionally been used as a Japanese spice to give dishes a bit of a kick as well as get rid of any fishy or otherwise unpleasant flavors. Most of the wasabi found in supermarkets and even restaurants are not real wasabi, as it’s very difficult to cultivate and therefore commands a high price.
However, imitation wasabi—made by coloring regular horseradish—works just fine in most cases.

Tonkatsu Sauce (Tonkatsu no Tare / とんかつのタレ)

Japanese sauces can be broadly divided into “Worcester sauce,” “Chuno sauce,” and “Tonkatsu sauce,” which is made by adding seasonings and spices to vegetables and fruits, then simmering and aging the mixture.
They are divided into these three types according to their viscosity.
Tonkatsu sauce is mainly used for fried foods such as tonkatsu (pork cutlets), and has a thick texture and fruity sweetness. It is the fruitiest of the sauces, and is less acidic and spicy, easy for even children to eat.

Curry roux（カレールー）

Curry roux is a mixture of curry powder, flour, oil, and seasonings, and is produced in various types such as solid type, flakes, and paste. It is mainly used to make curry, and is characterized by the fact that it dissolves when added to hot water and thickens when simmered.
Today, curry chain restaurants such as “Gogo Curry” and “Curry House CoCo Ichibanya” have successfully opened stores overseas. Now, Japanese curry is expanding to the world.

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Try your hand at making Japanese food with a variety of seasonings.