So I just moved to Japan and find the food a bit bland compared to what I usually eat ( Indian food).
I have ordered the spices that I need but I also want suggestions on condiments and readymade stuff that I can add to already prepared food. I am usually very lost at the supermarket when looking for stuff.
Thank you
19 comments
Most grocery stores and konbini will have lots of ready to eat curry pouches (can’t speak towards any authenticity, but I like them).
How about pickles? Different flavor profile for sure, but they pack a lot of punch in a few bites.
go to æ¥å‹™ã‚¹ãƒ¼ãƒ‘ー they have spices that is good enough. ( Sri lankan here) and they have easy to cook paratha and chapati , some vietnamese spicy sauces, Indonesian sumbal wich are awesome.
– rayu (garlic chili oil) not very spicy but very fragrant
– kimchi (fermented, sour and lil spicy)
ユーラージャオ aka lao gan ma. It’s a spicy oil with crispy chilis and peanuts, tofu, meat, etc. depending on the type. The brand with the lady on it is the famous one, but you can get a similar one from Gyomu super.
You can put it on anything. Eggs, rice, vegetables, dumplings, meat, fish.
Try sansho (山椒) pepper to give various dishes an extra interest. It works very well with soups.
What kind of food do you usually prepare?
I get chili oil from the other asian aisle and pour it on everything. There’s also some sort of chili powder with black sesame seeds inside. My favorite premade curry is LEE x20 or x30. Great with beer.
Death Sauce can be found in any large supermarket…
Yuzu Shichimi
This may not be what you’re envisioning, but I’m a big fan of yuzu kosho. They sell it in tubes next to the wasabi at any grocery store. It has a nice citrusy flavor but a little kick to it, and it’s delicious with meat, veggies, soup, you name it.
A popular condiment locally (fukuoka) is mentai mayo. Mentai is spicy cod roe. Goes great with most things that you can use mayo as a condiment for.
There are many Indian stores in Japan. If you’re specifically looking for Japanese spices, I’d recommend sansho powder. It’s a spice with slight citrus flavor, generally used on grilled eel fish dish.
KarashiMayo – mayonnaise with powdered mustard mixed. Not very spicy, but a nice flavor combination.
Korean gochujang – spicy miso sauce. Good for stir fries, not made for soups.
Korean samujang – same type of thing. Great with pork and Korean veggies on sanchu leaf lettuce.
Taberu ra-yu/crunchy chili oil is really good. You can get it with garlic or without (I prefer without). Also has a few different spice levels available.
It has crunchy pieces of onion in which are really fun to eat :)) it tastes so insanely good. It comes in a jar, I get the Momoya (桃屋) brand.
May sound random, but if you don’t have dietary restrictions (e.g. veg only), I suggest fasting to reset your palette and try Japanese food again. Having done multi-day fasting, i found “bland” flavors not so bland anymore.
It might be a bit more expensive than normal supermarkets, but have you been to Kaldi? They have lots of imported spices.
When I first got here the options were as varied as they were unfamiliar. I’ve gotten some tips from Japanese friends who know what I enjoy (from many trips to izakaya together) and who could point out some recommendations at the market when they were in my neck of the woods. I highly recommend a similar approach, as you’ll learn more than you would have thought of asking about in the first place.
That chilli nira in the refrigerated section in Kaldi is bangin’ on various rice dishes.
serious question:
i am from Russia, and the only spice i ever use is salt, would an Indian be able to survive without spices?