List of must-have pantry items before you start
- Cooking oil – There are many different oil you can use for cooking. If you are low on budget a bottle of olive oil or grapeseed oil is good enough. You cannot cook at high temperature using olive oil though, so be aware
- Salt & pepper
- Raw sugar
- Dried shiitake mushroom (from Asian grocery stores)
- Dried anchovies (from Asian grocery stores)
- Soy sauce – many different brands but the Japanese-made soy sauce one is probably the most versatile option in terms of taste and quality.
- Oyster sauce – My preference is the Lee Kum Kee brand
- Brown/white rice – short-grain Japanese rice is more suitable for the recipes in this post
Optional pantry items:
- Dried Japanese kombu
- Ajinomoto MSG
- Sriracha sauce
- Fish sauce
- Corn syrup (from a Korean grocery store)
- Sesame seeds
- Sesame oil
- Japanese sake
- Japanese mirin
- Dried seaweed or also known as Wakame (from Asian grocery stores)
Optional fridge items:
- Miso paste (available from most Asian grocery stores)
- Korean Gochujang
- Frozen soy beans in pods (edamame)
- Frankfurt sausages (if you don’t mind meat)