Though upon first glance Aux Co. Ltd’s Gassiri Tongs seem just like any other pair, our kitchen team was blown away after testing them. The rounded shape makes it easy to pick up spherical items like meatballs, eggs or potatoes that may run away using a normal pair of tongs. But the sides of these tongs are what really set them apart—one is designed with slits and the other with a scoop that can hold about a tablespoon of liquid. Use the slotted side to strain out unwanted liquid, like when rendering bacon, or use the scoop side to add pasta water to your sauce. Sturdy stainless steel construction—complete with a sufficient handle length—also makes these tongs strong and safe so you can pick up heavy, hot ingredients without any problems. However, they can still be used delicately—they work just as well picking up a strand of spaghetti or a soft boiled egg.

Bring dan dan noodles, a popular Sichuan street food, home with this ready-to-use jarred sauce from Chinese Laundry Kitchen. The layered, umami-forward sauce gets its tingly spice from roasted Sichuan peppercorns and nutty flavor from sesame, a classic dan dan sauce ingredient. With a hint of sweetness and warm aromatic spice, it makes a near-instant dinner—just boil noodles and toss with the velvety sauce. But we also like it with other ingredients, like fried tofu or in a green bean stir-fry. Made with 100 percent real ingredients and no additives by a family-owned business in California.

Standard chef’s knives are big and heavy because they evolved from Middle Ages daggers, which were designed for defense. It stabs fine, but how well does it handle standard kitchen tasks such as chopping and slicing? Our solution was to look toward Japan, where knives are based on the design of the featherweight samurai sword. Japanese knives are thinner and designed for the task at hand. Based on these lighter, safer knives and our own cooking experience, we developed an all-new modern chef’s knife that’s remarkably easy to use. It’s the Milk Street Kitchin-to, part Chinese cleaver and part vegetable knife. It can handle small jobs such as slicing garlic but also makes heavy-duty jobs a breeze. With the Kitchin-to, you let the knife do the work!

Here’s our problem with proofing: You can never fully control the environment. Your kitchen on a hot and humid summer day might be okay for high-moisture breads, but leave others dense and squat. And if it’s too hot, then you run the risk of the dough rising too fast and not having enough time to develop flavor. But a chilly air-conditioned kitchen will extend the proofing time significantly, as yeast divides and grows much slower in cold temps. That’s why we love this unique dough riser—it takes the guesswork and the risk out of the proofing process. Our kitchen team was incredibly impressed with how perfectly the dough turned out each time. We made loaves with and without using the Raisenne and the loaf made with the tool came out a half inch taller and a half inch wider. It’s compatible with any dough that needs to be leavened and is especially great for low-yeast and whole-grain breads that have longer rest times. Simply place the thin disk under your bowl or pan of choice, plug it in and let the heating circuits do the rest. It heats to an ideal 85 degrees, which is the optimal temperature to let your loaf grow at a consistent pace without sacrificing flavor for speed.

Enjoy the best of both worlds with Graza’s “Drizzle & Sizzle” combo pack of extra-virgin olive oils. Grown and made in Jaen, Spain, the country where about half the world’s olive oil is produced, Graza uses 100% picual olives for both their blends of extra virgin olive oil. Use “Drizzle” for finishing, made from olives harvested by hand in October when they are still young, green and not fully ripe. The younger olives make an olive oil that is full of attitude, grassy and peppery, with a spicy zip that finishes a dish beautifully. “Sizzle” is for everyday cooking, made from picual olives harvested in December and January, when they are more mature and juicy. Once pressed, “Sizzle” is a bit more mellow and milder in flavor—though still with a grassy, peppery bite—perfect for roasting, searing, poaching, pan frying, baking and marinating. Both versions also come packaged in an easy to use squeeze bottle, so you can emulate exactly what chefs do in restaurants.

As attractive as they are functional, yukihira pans are traditional Japanese saucepans that date back centuries for cooking soups, broths and stews. What sets them apart from European-style sauce pans are the thin construction and textured hammered finish—and this one from Wahei Freiz comes with a custom-fit sieve. The pot’s thin stainless steel bottom heats up fast, perfect for boiling water or reducing sauces or soups, and the hammered surface has two advantages: It both strengthens the thin metal and creates more surface area to help foods cook fast and cut down on reduction time. The wooden handle will stay cool during use, and dual pour spouts—perfect for left- and right-handed cooks—minimize spills while serving.

Hitting the right balance between fine and coarse mesh, the sieve allows for efficient drainage without leaking, perfect for washing anything from rice to leafy greens and draining pasta or grains. Try the set together for simmering, boiling, frying, steaming and draining—we like it for blanching vegetables, boiling eggs, reheating pasta, preparing soups, stocks and sauces, particularly soy sauce tare, miso soup or Japanese dashi stock. And since they’re made of stainless steel, these pots are easy to clean, and work well on gas, electric and induction cooktops.

Made by expert metal craftsmen in Tsubame, Japan, Wahei Freiz’s Enzo Frying Pan is the small and medium pan built for frying. It’s made from carbon steel, a lighter weight professional-grade iron durability of cast iron without all the heft, with a wide, thick bottom that heats evenly and deeply sloped sides that are perfect for saucework. The pan won’t cool down if you add more ingredients to it, a benefit of Wahei Freiz’s proprietary carbon steel, and the custom shape has to be finished either by hand or lathe, since it’s optimized for maximum surface area, efficient cooking and hard sears.

This lightweight pan is easy to maneuver and lift; we could toss and flip its contents with ease during testing. It’s fabulous for steaks, chicken thighs, fillets of fish, eggs and even stir-fries, thanks to the higher sides. The pan works on gas stoves as well as induction stoves. Like other premium carbon steel pans, the pan will get even better with time. Very limited availability in the United States.

Tired of trying to mince slippery shallots, or cook them to an even golden brown without the risk of burning? Slow cooking takes time and supervision, which is something few of us have the time for on busy weeknights.

Milk Street’s Premium Shallot Confit is a rich-tasting blend of minced shallots, olive oil and ghee simmered slow and low to a deep, savory flavor and jammy texture. White wine, bay leaf and a touch of spice add dimension to boost any cuisine. It’s designed to be all-purpose enough to replace cooked shallots in virtually any recipe. Try in soups, stews, sauces and sauces. Fold into grains or beans, spread inside grilled cheese and paninis, top burgers or dollop on to pizza. It saves valuable time and effort, getting a flavorful dinner on the table faster.

We’ll be the first to admit that tahdig, the traditional Persian rice dish with a crispy top, can be intimidating to make at home. The combination of fluffy rice in the middle and a crunchy top layer is challenging to achieve and requires a treacherous pot flip. So we were thrilled to try out the Pars Rice Cooker, designed specifically to take the complexity out of crispy rice dishes like tahdig. Featuring a customizable timer, measuring lines for better precision, a nonstick pot and an easy to follow manual, this appliance takes all of the guesswork out of rice-cooking. Just add your rice, water and spices, then let the Pars do the rest. Plus, it’s easy to clean and stores away compactly when not in use.

Made by expert metal craftsmen in Tsubame, Japan, Wahei Freiz’s Enzo Bowl and Strainer Set will be a long-lasting and handy addition to your kitchen. Made of rust-resistant, easy-to-clean, ultra-durable stainless steel, this stackable mixing bowl and strainer set is lightweight but stable on your counter or in your sink. Hitting the right balance between fine and coarse mesh, the sieve allows for efficient drainage without leaking, perfect for washing anything from rice to leafy greens. It nestles snugly into the bowl when stored, and sits up on low-profile feet for extra clearance when draining.

And its bowl companion is just the right depth to stir ingredients, subtly curved and finished with a smooth lip for an easy grip when working. It’s sturdy, too—it beat lesser bowls by a mile during testing, less likely to dent or nick.

Many supermarket tahinis are over-roasted, which gives them an unpleasant, bitter flavor. They are also too thick and hard to stir into a creamy blend. Soom's tahini has a full, nutty flavor as well as a pourable and well-balanced texture, made from roasted and pressed premium white sesame seeds that have an ideal oil-to-protein ratio.

Megachef Oyster Sauce is made with premium oysters that are harvested off the Gulf of Thailand and smoked over hardwood for a deeper flavor and smoky, grilled aroma. We love its complex yet clean flavor: robust and savory, slightly briny and almost sweet. Although it's prepared by cooking down oysters until their juices caramelize, this sauce does not taste like oysters; rather, it has a molasses-like richness and sweet, savory and umami flavor that's slightly similar to soy sauce. Megachef's version has no added artificial flavors or colors—in contrast, even high-quality brands tend to augment their oyster sauce with ingredients like MSG and caramel coloring, resulting in an artificial taste.

While oyster sauce is mostly used as an ingredient for marinades, stir-fries or flavoring rice or noodle dishes, Megachef's Oyster Sauce is also delicious on its own as a condiment—the sauce's smoother consistency compared to other brands is perfect for dipping or drizzling over dishes.

Designed for steaming food, the Marna Piggy Steamer from Japan is a silicone lid that forms a tight seal over pots and containers, vents excess steam through its snout and is easy to lift by its ear-shaped handles. Use it for perfect stovetop steaming, splatter-free microwave cooking or even refrigerator storage in place of plastic wrap. It's more compact and flexible than metal pot lids and fits any vessel less than 8.5 inches in diameter, with the silicone locking in moisture for effective steaming; smartly designed holes in the pig snout act as vents to avoid built-up pressure. When you're done using it, you can throw the lid in a kitchen drawer for storage without worrying about finding a spot on the shelf.

You can think of this chocolate tahini spread as the bittersweet, dark-chocolate sister of Nutella. Similar to how adding espresso powder to brownies brings out the chocolate flavor, the nutty and pleasantly bitter notes of toasted sesame are a wonderful counterpoint to the chocolate in this spreadable halva. Soom's tahini is made from roasted and pressed premium white sesame seeds that have an ideal oil-to-protein ratio and result in a creamy, pourable texture.

Most people only know Ibérico pork for jamón ibérico, the ultra-luxe Spanish cured ham, but the melt-in-your-mouth meat tastes delicious in any form. For the highest-quality Ibérico products, we trust family company Fermín, which is based in Salamanca, Spain, and was the first authorized exporter of Ibérico products to the United States. We love that these dry-cured sausages are coarsely ground for a meatier texture and to emphasize their marbled appearance. Thinly sliced, they taste tender and rich, with the naturally nutty and sweet flavors that Ibérico pork is prized for. This set of 3 includes warm, peppery Mild Chorizo made with sweet paprika and balanced by garlic and oregano; smoky Spicy Chorizo with hot paprika, cumin and a nutty boost from nutmeg; and Salchichón, a Spanish equivalent of salami that is minimally spiced to highlight its robust meaty flavor. As an added bonus, Fermín only uses pure salt to cure its chorizo, for a cleaner flavor than other brands made with nitrates.