Harmony in Flavor: Understanding Japan's Essential Spices and Herbs

Are you curious to know how Japanese foods get their rich and savory flavors? The answer lies in the traditional herbs, spices, and condiments in recipes. Join us as we explore the role of spice in Japan and all of the flavorful options you can add to your cooking.

Introduction to Japanese Spices and Herbs

Japanese spices and herbs are seasonings derived from plants that add flavor to Japanese cuisine. The main role of the spices is not to alter the taste of the ingredients they grace, but to enhance them. Hence, they’re used as natural flavor enhancers in the kitchen and dining table, where they bring aroma, texture, and color to dishes.

Japanese spices, herbs, and condiments share a lot in common. They’re aromatic and flavorful solids, liquids, or pastes added during or after food preparation. They often have a complex, savory flavor known in the Japanese culinary space as umami. Examples of these seasonings in action include the use of wasabi alongside sushi or sashimi, furikake sprinkled on rice, and shichimi togarashi in udon noodle soup.

In this post, we’ll not only be looking at Japanese spices, but we’ll also consider herbs, sauces, and other condiments that enhance the flavor of traditional dishes.

Common Japanese Spices

Let’s begin by examining the ingredients that bring spicy flavors to Japanese cooking. In this section, we’ll only consider ingredients with some level of pungency and heat. The following are some popular Japanese spices:

Shichimi togarashi (seven-flavor chili pepper): This is the most important spice in Japan. It’s a unique blend of seven different ingredients, which are chili pepper, ground ginger, nori seaweed, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, orange peel, and sansho pepper. Its main ingredients are often dried, ground, or roasted. This Japanese seven-spice blend was invented in 1625 in Tokyo, back when the city was called Edo. It has a bright, citrusy, and slightly spicy flavor that enhances the taste of many traditional dishes. You can sprinkle some on soups and noodles or use it in salad dressings, marinades, and rice bowls.

 

Wasabi: This is a Japanese horseradish served in the form of a green paste. You may have seen it paired with sushi and sashimi in Japanese restaurants. Real wasabi is a zingy and spicy ingredient derived from the underground stem of a wasabi plant that requires specific conditions to grow. Hence, the plants are expensive and difficult to cultivate, making real wasabi an incredibly rare commodity. Many restaurants outside Japan use a fake wasabi made with European horseradish as an alternative.

 

Furikake: This is the most popular rice seasoning in Japan. Furikake can contain any kind of dried ingredient. However, it often includes dried fish, seaweed, sesame seeds, bonito flakes, salt, and sugar. The traditional way to enjoy furikake is to sprinkle it on cooked rice. Depending on the ingredients used, it may be spicy or sweet, but it must always have a crispy texture. 

 

Sansho pepper: This spice is common in Japanese cooking, even though most people outside the country don’t know about it. It’s a derivative of green peppercorns native to Japan. Sansho pepper has a bold and tangy flavor that’s spicier than the black pepper used in Western cooking. It’s used as a crucial ingredient in spice blends, sauces, seasonings, and condiments.

 

Chili pepper: Although chili pepper is not technically a Japanese spice, it’s one of the most popular ingredients in Japanese cooking. Like sansho, you’ll find this pepper in all kinds of sauces, seasonings, and condiments. It can also be used alone to spice up dishes.

Japanese Herbs and Their Uses

Japanese herbs are derived from parts of plants (typically the green leaves) and used to enhance the flavor and visual appeal of traditional dishes. The following are the essential Japanese herbs:

Shiso (perilla): Also known as perilla leaves of Japanese basil, shisho has different uses in the kitchen. You can use it as a garnish on meat, seafood, and noodle dishes. You can also use it to add the taste of citrus and a slight bitterness to salad dressing and tempura. 

 

Mitsuba (Japanese parsley): This herb has a flavor that resembles a mix of celery, sorrel, and common parsley. It can be added to soup, seafood bowls, and stews. Uncooked mitsuba has a slightly sweet taste and aroma.

 

Myoga (Japanese ginger): This native plant has a more floral and zesty taste than regular ginger. You can use it as a topping for salad, tofu, and sashimi.

 

Aonori: This is basically dried seaweed turned into flakes. It has an earthy aroma and brings umami flavors to a wide variety of traditional dishes, including okonomiyaki, udon, and ramen.

Condiments that Define Japanese Cuisine

If you plan to dabble in Japanese cuisine, you need to stock your pantry with all the right condiments. These ingredients will be responsible for replicating the umami-rich flavors in recipes for traditional Japanese dishes. Shoyu or soy sauce is the number-one Japanese condiment and a must-have in your pantry. Made from fermented soybean, wheat, and salt, it’s a major source of saltiness and savoriness in dishes. You may have noticed that fermentation plays a vital role in Japanese cuisine. The process creates many other useful ingredients, including miso. Miso is a type of fermented soybean paste and rice vinegar often contains fermented rice.

Dashi is a Japanese soup stock and common condiment. It consists of katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and kombu (edible kelp). You’ll find dashi in miso soup, noodles, hot pots, and simmered meals, where it serves as a broth base.

Japanese people also use different forms of rice wine as condiments. Mirin is a low-alcohol, sweet rice wine used as a glazing agent and meat tenderizer. Cooking sake is a version of drinking sake that contains salt. It’s often used as a marinade or to add a sweet flavor to Japanese food.

Before we move on, rayu (chili oil) deserves a mention. This condiment is an infused mixture made of sesame oil and red chili flakes. You’ll find rayu in a variety of Japanese sauces.

Japanese Hot Sauces and Seasonings

Japanese hot sauces don’t just bring heat to food; they also add all kinds of unique flavors based on their core ingredients. For example, one of the most famous hot sauces in Japan is yuzu kosho, a citrus-based chili paste. It contains chili peppers, which serve as the main source of spiciness in the sauce. However, it also includes yuzu peel, which is responsible for its sour and tangy flavors. Yuzu kosho pairs well with tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlets), yakitori (skewered grilled meat), and raw seafood.

Although hot sauces from China, Thailand, and Vietnam are also used in Japan, we’ll stick to native sauces. One of them is karashi (Japanese mustard), a spicy seasoning made with crushed mustard seeds and often found in dipping sauce. Tonkatsu sauce is another popular option, and it contains fruits and vegetables, including tomato, carrot, apple, and onion.

Regional Variations in Spice Usage

Different regions of Japan have distinct spices and herbs that define their local dishes, and it might help to know some of these regional flavorings. The Kyushu region is famous for making dishes with yuzu kosho. In Akita Prefecture, people enjoy a fish sauce known as gyosho.

If you travel to Okinawa, you’ll find that a lot of their dishes contain katsuobushi, but in Hokkaido, they prefer kombu. Many of these regions make local variations of popular spices based on naturally available ingredients. For instance, kombu thrives in Hokkaido’s cold waters.

Exploring Umami: Key Japanese Ingredients for Depth and Flavor

Umami is a Japanese term for a delicious savory flavor. As a recently discovered fifth taste, umami spreads across the human tongue, makes the mouth water, and lasts for a long time. Umami-packed ingredients add more depth to food than other flavors such as salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.

The three main sources of deep umami flavors in Japanese cuisine are dashi, kombu, and katsuobushi. Hence, they’re often used separately, in pairs, or as a mixture.

Conclusion:

Stocking your pantry with Japanese spices, herbs, and condiments will bring both diversity and richness to your cooking. Feel free to experiment with as many of these ingredients as you like. Discovering what blends work for each meal is a vital part of the culinary journey.

At Bokksu, we never stop discovering new snacks and sweets from Japan. Every month, we curate a box filled with our latest discoveries. Get access to our mystery boxes by securing your Bokksu Snack Box Subscription today.