Japanese Cooking Kits

What goes into a Japanese cooking kit

Start with ramen. Our Ramen Set holds egg-free noodles, miso, soy sauce, toasted sesame and the seasonings that give hot stock real depth and flavour. Give the broth time and the kitchen fills with the warm, savoury aroma of miso and toasted sesame. Choose the version with two ramen bowls and ladles if you want the full setup, or the one paired with the Ramen Forever cookbook if you'd rather learn the theory as you go.

Miso soup is the quicker route in. Kombu and dried shiitake steep until the water turns amber and faintly oceanic. Katsuobushi flakes go in next, curling as they meet the heat. Then the miso, whisked in off the boil so the flavour stays alive—salty, faintly sweet, with a savoury depth that lingers. The Miso Soup Starter Kit brings that together, and there's a version with two Aki brown and blue bowls if it's heading out as a present.

Then breakfast. The Tamagoyaki Breakfast Kit includes the rectangular pan the omelette is named after, plus chopsticks, dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and seasoning. Thin layers of seasoned egg, rolled one over the next, until you have a neat golden log to slice. It cooks in minutes and looks like it took far longer.

Sushi has its own kit. The DIY Sushi Starter Set gathers sushi rice, nori, rice vinegar, a bamboo rolling mat, wasabi powder and sushi ginger. So, the only thing you're sourcing separately is the fish. There's a version with the Sushi At Home cookbook if you want the technique explained properly.

Pick a Japanese cooking starter kit to suit the cook

Not everyone wants the same way in. The Tofu Making Kit arrives with Banrai soymilk, nigari sachets and a wooden press and its cloth, so the tofu is warm and barely set. What you end up with is a long way from the firm blocks in a supermarket chiller. The Japanese Art of Pickling & Fermenting Set pairs its book with everything needed for a first batch, making it a natural choice for anyone already keeping a sourdough starter going.

Cooking without animal products? The Vegan Japanese Ingredients Set brings white miso, vegan ponzu and dried mushrooms alongside a vegan cookbook. The Ultimate Vegan Japanese Cooking Collection widens that out with mirin, sushi vinegar, spice packs and clear soy sauce.

If you'd rather start broad than pick one dish, the Japanese Cooking Starter Set is built around the JapanEasy cookbook, with soy sauce, white miso, yuzu ponzu and a seasoning mix to cook from. The Ultimate Japanese Cooking Collection goes further, adding mirin, vinegar and more sauces for anyone stocking a cupboard from scratch.

For something lighter, The Yuzu Taster Collection runs on a single ingredient. Marmalade, sauces and condiments all carrying the fruit's sharp floral perfume that is somewhere between grapefruit and mandarin, with a bitter edge that stops it turning sugary. It's for anyone who loves the bright citrus burst of yuzu and the extra depth it brings to both sweet and savoury dishes.

The Japanese Spice Set is the one for heat. Yuzu condiments, sansho spice mix, La-Yu chilli oil and hot sauce, for a cook who has the basics covered and wants sharper edges. 

Every kit here is an easy way into Japanese cooking, whether you're just getting started or simply enjoy discovering new ingredients, techniques and flavours. Browse our cookbooks and Japanese ingredients if you want to build a box yourself, or take a look at our recipes first.