Baking

A different family of flours, sugars and starches

Japanese baking ingredients work on their own terms. Mochiko, a glutinous rice flour, gives sweets that signature springy chew. Plain rice flour (komeko) bakes into a crumb that's lighter and more delicate than wheat. Kinako, ground from roasted soybeans, brings a warm, toasted-bean aroma that suits everything from shortbread to a dusting on hot doughnuts. Hon kuzu, often sold abroad as Japanese arrowroot starch, thickens custards and sets puddings with a clean, glassy finish you can't get from cornflour.

The sugars are just as distinct. Okinawa kokuto is an unrefined cane sugar pressed from sugarcane on Japan's southernmost islands. It carries notes of molasses, dried fig and dark caramel, far deeper than a standard demerara. A spoonful in your batter shifts the whole character of a sponge, and the sweetness sits gently.

Our shelves stretch past the three subcategories, too. You'll find premium matcha for folding into cake batters, traditional Japanese red bean paste made from Hokkaido azuki for filling daifuku and dorayaki. We also stock yuzu marmalade for pastry centres, and panko breadcrumbs for golden-crusted bakes.

From mochi to chiffon, what you can bake

A small shelf of Japanese baking supplies goes a long way. Mochiko makes daifuku (chewy rice cakes wrapped around fillings of sweet red bean paste), and it's also the base for the springy mochi doughnuts now spreading across UK bakeries. Komeko folds into chiffon cakes for a cottony, almost weightless crumb that practically dissolves on the tongue, and into gluten-free sponges that stay tender for days after baking.

Kinako shows up dusted over warabi mochi or worked into shortbread, where its toasted-bean character plays beautifully against butter. Hon kuzu thickens kuzu mochi, anmitsu syrups and silky chilled puddings without any starchy aftertaste. And Okinawa kokuto? Try it in chocolate brownies, banana bread or a simple syrup for iced coffee. The dark, treacly depth lifts everything it touches.

For everyday baking, our Japanese panko works as a crisp topping on baked pasta or a golden coating on katsu. Browse our Japanese flour, sugar or panko breadcrumbs collections to start building your pantry, or pair a tub of red bean paste with a bag of mochiko for your first batch of daifuku.