It's always exciting for me to visit supermarkets during my trip overseas, and I think it's pretty much similar for travelers in Japan too. So, if you have no idea what to buy, but want to buy some food "Japanese", here are some ingredients you may be interested in.
1. Dashi
You might probably be familiar with the word "Umami" by now. It could be described as one of the 5 basic tastes, or something like the savoriness. Although the scientific facts are very complex, what is for sure, is that these umami are included in meats, fish, vegetables, fermented products, and so on, and the umami is what makes the Japanese food so unique. By making the broth or "Dashi" using these ingredients, you can create some Umami in your dish, but it is a bit difficult to make your own Dashi, if you are just a beginner, and especially if you are unable to frequently purchase Japanese ingredients. But the good news is that you can easily purchase these Dashi products in Japanese supermarkets.
Some examples of Dashi products:
- ヒガシマルうどんスープ (Higashimaru Udon Soup): Dashi for Udon Soup, but can also be used for other purposes too.
- ほんだし (Hondashi): Basic Dashi for various uses, such as Miso soup, "Nimono" (simmered dish).
- めんつゆ (Mentsuyu): Its original purpose is a rich sauce for noodles such as Soba or Udon, but can also be used for other dishes when diluted with water.
2. Udon/ Soba
Udon and Soba are Japanese noodles, which are basically eaten with the dashi soup, or some thicker flavored mentsuyu. Udon is made of wheat flour and Soba is made of buckwheat flour. Although the precise cooking directions differ according to each Udon or Soba noodle brand, it's basically similar to cooking pasta. You boil hot water in a pan, put in the Udon or Soba noodles, wait until it's cooked, remove the noodles from the hot water, and serve it in a warm style together with your dashi soup, or serve it in a cold style after washing the noodles in cold water and remove the water drops in a strainer with your cold mentsuyu noodle dip. I would recommend to buy the Udon/ Soba noodles because you can buy dry noodles which are rather light, cheap, easy to buy anywhere, and cooking these dishes are simple with the least necessary ingredients (Udon/Soba noodles + Dashi).
Some examples of Udon/Soba products:
- 稲庭うどん (Inaniwa Udon)
- 五島手延うどん (Goto Tenobe Udon)
- うどん県のうどん (Udon Ken no Udon)
- おびなた 十割そば (Obinata brand "Ju-wari" Soba)
- 滝沢更科 十割そば (Takizawa Sarashina brand "Ju-wari" Soba)
- 山本かじの 十割そば (Yamamoto Kajino brand "Ju-wari" Soba)
3. Shoyu
Shoyu can be used for anything, and it would probably make a lot things have that Japanese flavor. Shoyu is mainly used for various Japanese dishes, but if you don't cook that much Japanese food so frequently, you would probably be most familiar by using Shoyu together with Sashimi (thinly sliced raw fishes and seafood).- しぼりたて生しょうゆ (Shiboritate Nama Shoyu)
- しょうゆ (Standard Shoyu)
