Spices & Seasonings

First Spices & Seasonings post, folks, and a long one too!

Over the years I realized I've written a few things scattered here and there that really should all belong in this same post. Hubby and I love food, and before our little guy came along I used to cook a lot more than I do now. That meant spices, seasonings, and condiments galore. Here they are, some of my favorite things to share with you.

First up, a few of my most loved Japanese condiments. Don't get me wrong, I love a great many condiments, but I have a special soft spot for the Japanese variety since hubby and I have lived in Japan a few times and are accustomed to Japanese food.

When we were still living in Yokoyama (2010-2012), I saw this Momoya seasoned chili oil on TV one day and just had to run out to the grocery store to get it. Japanese food shows almost always make me hungry because folks just squeals and shrieks with pleasure as they chow down whatever that was presented. This chili oil has the funniest name: 辛そうで辛くない少し辛いラー油 (karaso de karakunai sukoshi karai rayu), which roughly translates to, "Looks-spicy-but-not-really-spicy Mildly Spicy Chili Oil" LOL! Its English name is much more boring: Chili Oil with Fried Garlic.

***Stock photo courtesy of Momoya JP.

I found it hard to believe, but they claimed this stuff was the first of its kind. What I did witness though was that it then spawned many copy cats and was constantly sold out at my local grocery in Yokohama, so I'd grab a few jars whenever I saw it restocked. Basically, it's a seasoned chili oil with fried garlic among other things. No, you don't add it to soy sauce or any other kinds of sauce because it's already flavored and ready to eat. And by ready to eat, I mean you can literally spoon it over rice and eat it just like that.

Hubby is more reserved with his use of condiments but I pretty much put this chili oil on everything, steamed rice, fried rice, noodles, soups, sandwiches, etc. The possibilities are endless because this stuff is truly addicting, the savory flavor, the aroma, the crunch, it's everything except for the heat--it's not at all spicy. Ha. I even sent home several jars to my folks and they too loved it. When hubby and I moved to San Francisco in the winter of 2012, I was thrilled to find Japantown's Nijiya Market on the corner of Post and Webster Street carried it. By the time we both moved home again in the summer of 2014, I was happy to find it available on Amazon. 

But alas, it was time to branch out a bit, which brings me to Kyo Rayu. I don't remember how I learned of this brand, but back in 2014 I saw it on Rakuten JP via a shop called Ochanokosaisai. I couldn't resist and ended up buying a few items. Save for the four varieties of shichimi below, I bought two of everything for myself and my parents to try.

The namesake Kyo Rayu. Like Momoya, this was a seasoned and ready-to-eat chili oil. It wasn't as fragrant and garlic-y as Momoya's but still better than other copy cats. It was a touch spicier as well. The hexagonal glass jar was nice and I've washed and reused it many times. 

The Kyo Rayu Furikake was pretty tasty as well, and was much less salty and your average furikake. Aside from flavoring rice with this, I used it on eggs also, be they boiled, scrambled, or sunny-side-up, and sandwiches.

This was perhaps my favorite: Hihi Maikohan Rayu, literally "Hee-hee Maikohan Chili Oil," as in it's so hot the maiko is blowing air through her teeth as she eats, hence the onomatopoeia "hee-hee." And indeed this seasoned ready-to-eat was spicy, so my spicy my mom couldn't eat it and my dad got the whole jar to himself. Will definitely repurchase this one!

Clockwise from top left: Yellow, Red, Black, and Yuzu Shichimi. My parents don't care for ichimi or shichimi so these four varieties were for myself. I usually make gyudon, oyako don, and nikujyaga at home and these are perfect for that purpose. I put them in chicken noodle soups to spice things up a bit also.

Since 2016, my newest condiment obsession has been yuzu koshou, pretty much a seasoned yuzu chili paste. Unlike the seasoned chili oil above, this is not a ready-to-eat condiment, as in I can't spoon this over rice and eat it. However, if you like yuzu flavor, you'll love yuzu koshou. I put yuzu koshou in most things, soups, oyako don, etc. It's usually available in green, but there's also a red variety, and each can be chunky or smooth. I love both green and red, though I prefer it chunky. So you bet I stocked up on them before hubby and I moved home from Tokyo.

This was a yuzu koshou gift set I bought for myself in Tokyo :P The yuzu rich was a dressing of sorts, tangy with yuzu flavor. Yum!

In the spring of 2017, I went with my friend K. to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Unbeknownst to us, on the North Tower's observation deck was a Local Specialties Fair, basically all manners of edible and inedible souvenirs from all over Japan. Yup, you guessed it: condiments galore! You bet I picked up a few things there too, some of which I brought home and still have with me, well, more like just the empty bottles/tins I'm too sentimental to recycle ^.^": two bottles of honey-colored Yuzu (left) and Ginger (right) Sweet Vinegar, Anzu (Apricot) Black Tea (rightmost tall round tin), ume salt (bottom row, leftmost pink bottle), yuzu kosho (next to ume salt), and the tiny travel-sized bar of honey soap (bottom row, rightmost package). 

If you're wondering what the sweet vinegars were for, well believe it or not, you're supposed pour a teaspoon or two over ice, wait for it to dilute some, and then drink it. I tried that, and while the ginger vinegar was decent the yuzu vinegar was way too tart. So for a while I mixed the ginger vinegar with sparkling water to create a tart ginger ale (yum!) and saved the yuzu vinegar for dressings and marinades until I ran out of both.

As for the Anzu Black Tea (this really belonged in a tea post but I couldn't figure out how to nicely crop out this part), it was surprisingly tart and tasted more like a hibiscus tisane than a black tea. The ume salt I sprinkled a pinch over vanilla ice cream (try it!), and the yuzu kosho was excellent. 

Starting the spring of this year, I developed an insatiable craving for ochazuke. It was really just me missing Japan and my nostalgia taking on a funny form. Of course, I couldn't buy the "nama" (生, as in fresh) variety and had to go with the freeze-dried seasoning packets which are often very salty--think instant ramen versus the "fresh" ramen in the refrigerated section. And as with everything else, there are varying degrees of quality ingredients, flavor, and taste for ochazuke, so I spent days browsing Rakuten JP and ended up with a few different brands to try.

I couldn't figure out the brand for this 65g Wasabi Chazuke seasoning packet (right) so I figured it must be a generic grocery variety. It sure tasted generic, very salty and with generic quality nori (the same kind used in generic instant wakame soup). Meh. Will not repurchase. The left black packet is a yuzu flavored instant wakame soup which I'll post about in a separate Snack Time post.

This Hagoromo (はごろも) Ochazuke Gift was supposed to be a wedding gift set but I bought it for myself xD Speaking of which, does anyone know why ochazuke seasoning is often gifted at weddings? I don't understand this and am curious to know. Either way, these seasonings tasted slightly better than the generic packet above, though not by much. They were still pretty salty, although with toasted nori shredded into thin strips. The gift set came with 8 packets of Nori (のり, seaweed), and 5 each of Ume (うめ, pickled plum) and Sake Wakame Maze Gohan (鮭わかめ混ぜご飯, salmon and seaweed rice seasoning).

***Stock photos from Rakuten JP. Watermarked photos are my own.

Shirako Nori (白子のり) is a popular brand of gourmet seaweed offering anything from nori sheets (for onigiri, sushi, etc.) to sprinkles. Of course they make ochazuke seasoning too, for which nori is an indispensable ingredient. These were much better tasting in my humble opinion: less salty, with better quality freeze-dried ingredients and of course much better quality nori, and more of it too! This Ochazuke Assortment Set had 10 packets each of Sake (さけ, salmon), Nori, and Ume Shiso (梅しそ, pickled plum with perilla), and 5 each of Hotate (帆立, scallop), Tai (鯛, seabream), Wasabi (わさび), and Nozawana (野沢菜, pickled mustard leaf).   

In addition to assortment gift sets like the above, Shirako Nori also sell these premium ochazuke seasonings in limited "standard" flavors (nori, sake, ume, wasabi) in packages of 3 each. I actually found this one Amazon (US, not JP!) of all places! It's pretty good, although I like the gift set better for the assortment.

Nagatanien (永谷園) is another popular brand of ochazuke seasoning readily available at grocery stores. Each year, they also release limited edition seasonal flavors (it's Japan, what did you expect?) and LE regional specialty flavors. The LE stuff is difficult to get a hold of outside of Japan so that's where Rakuten JP and even Amazon JP come in handy. The only down side to these two online venues is that I never know what they would and would not ship overseas =.="

This spread below was actually a gift from A-san, hubby's old colleague from his academia days in Yokohama. A-san had visited us pretty much everywhere we'd gone, Taipei, San Francisco, and here at our home. Before he visited this past April, he was so sweet to ask hubby what I like so he could bring me a gift. Hubby mentioned I'd been obsessing over ochazuke, and these were what he brought.

These three were "standard" Nagatanien offerings: Sake, Umeboshi, and Wasabi, all of which I can find on Amazon! I liked Sake the least as it was probably the fishy-est tasting ochazuke seasoning I've had. From these three flavors I liked the Wasabi best.

In addition to Nagatanien ochazuke seasoning, A-san also brought me two jars from a brand that I couldn't figure out for the life of me, only that they have an office in Kyoto. One jar is furikake, and the other is labeled Ochazuke no Moto (お茶ずけのもと, ochazuke base), an unflavored and unseasoned dry mix of nori, sesame seeds, and little panko balls for the crunch effect. I use this Ochazuke no Moto to "enhance" the lesser-quality ochazuke seasonings I have that are more salt than toppings, like the wasabi one in the big packet and those from Hagoromo.

Finally, A-san brought me this packet of Tsukudani Konbu from Okuikaiseido, another gourmet food shop specializing in konbu, dashi, and the likes. I found this stuff addicting and consumed it different ways: added it to my ochazuke, put a scoop into a tea mug, poured in hot water, and drank it like konbucha (as in kelp tea, *not* the American kombucha), or simply popped a strip into my mouth and savored the sweet, salty, and slightly tangy taste. Yeah, this packet didn't last me long at all ^.^"

Hands down the best ochazuke seasonings I've had thus far were from Shinshu Mebukido (信州芽吹堂, check out their Rakuten JP shop, Shinshu is an old name for present day Nagano). Each packet of seasoning was full of quality toppings, much, much less salty, and yet was still flavorful somehow. Below are Nozawana and Wasabi flavors, in packages of 10 packets each. Not pictured is the Ume flavor that arrived later. The first time I tried these, I immediately went back to that Rakuten JP shop that would ship it overseas and bought some more ^.^ Totally hoard-worthy, to be consumed within the printed expiration date, of course :P

More to come for sure!