Soy Sauce | Shoyu
Soy sauce is a sauce made from fermented soy beans, grain, water and salt. Japanese Soy Sauce is sweeter than the chinese equivalent and isnt interchange-able within recipes. The most popular and known maker of Japanese Soy Sauce is Kikkoman. Kikkoman exports worldwide, and can most likely be found in your local supermarket.
Soy Sauce is commonly used in Japanese cooking as an addition to sauce mixtures, it can also be used as it stands as a dipping sauce.
Rice Wine | Mirin
Mirin is a low alcohol rice wine, similiar to Sake, but more appropriate for cooking. A common export brand, which can be found at your local supermarket is ‘Yutaka’.
Mirin is commonly used in Japanese cooking as flavouring sauce.
Deep Fried Tofu | Aburage
Aburage is a food product made from soybeans. Aburage is made by thinly slicing Tofu and deep frying at 2 tempurature levels. The result is a spongy texture, ideal for adding to soups or using when making inarizushi.
Aburage is one of my husbands favourite Japanese foods. Though Aburage is commonly used in Inarizushi and Miso soup in Japan, My husband insists that I try it in other dishes. We’ve found that it can be added to all manner of dishes, favourites being to add to thai / korean soups (great for absorbing the strong flavours) and filling with cream cheese and grilling!
Powdered Seaweed | Ao Nori
Ao Nori is a powdered variety of seaweed, with a strong aroma and salty taste it is ideal for adding to noodle dishes, such as Yakisoba and to dishes such as Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. With its vivid colour, Ao Nori can make food look even more appetising, it could be called the Japanese Parsley!
One of my favourite varieties of potato chips in Japan are Nori Shio, which are flavoured with Ao Nori. It may sound different to people unaccustomed to eating Seaweed, but it is slightly similiar to salted chips, with a slight difference. I’m not sure if they can be bought from your country, but if you ever visit Japan, try them!
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