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 single-origin white sesame seeds from northwestern Ethiopia that have an ideal oil-to-protein ratio.

We absolutely love this small-batch vinegar from French artisanal producer Huilerie Beaujolaise. With a bright and tangy vibrancy akin to tangerine, this vinegar almost tastes like a shrub, or drinking vinegar. Ubiquitous to Filipino cuisine, calamansi is a citrus hybrid between kumquat and mandarin orange.

Juicy, flavorful and wonderfully textured Yakami Orchards Yuzu Marmalade is made with fresh, local yuzu from a collective of family farms in Japan’s Miyazaki prefecture. Balanced out with honey and sugar, this yuzu marmalade is bright, tart and warmly sweet with every bite. Just by opening a jar of Yakami Orchards’ product, you’ll be able to smell the bright and subtly floral aroma of yuzu. We love the plentiful chunks of yuzu rind, which are thinly sliced and add texture without making the marmalade clumpy. The yuzu pieces contribute a pop of piney bitterness that is a pleasant counterbalance for the overall sweet spread.

This chili sauce is enhanced with preserved black beans, mushroom powder, sesame oil and garlic for a complete flavor profile. The crispy bits of chili, the namesake ingredient of this dish, provide bursts of contrasting texture, making it an ideal tableside topping for stir frys, soups, braises and more.

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.

Too many supermarket hoisin sauces come across as cloying—usually candy-sweet with an occasional aftertaste of unpleasant chemical bitterness. Tan Tan’s version of the classic Chinese fermented soybean condiment, however, yields the perfect balance of sweet, earthy and savory notes with an addictive umami core that adds even more depth. An elegant hint of anise floats in and adds aromatic, nuanced complexity, while garlic grounds the sauce without overwhelming its other flavors. It’s texture is satisfyingly syrupy, not too molasses-thick like some brands, and it’s made with no preservatives from a family recipe—the epitome of an elevated pantry essential.

Angkor Food's Lemongrass Paste is an all-purpose curry paste made with bright and aromatic lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and galangal, balanced out by earthy garlic, onion and turmeric; fish sauce gives the paste a savory and complex boost. Angkor Food's Lemongrass Paste is an all-purpose curry paste made with bright and aromatic lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and galangal, balanced out by earthy garlic, onion and turmeric; fish sauce gives the paste a savory and complex boost.

Made with dried rose petals, this aromatic harissa has an amazing depth of flavor, with an up-front warmth that builds gradually. The subtle rose flavor doesn't overpower but rather enhances the other ingredients, layering botanical notes with earthy spices and playing up the fruity and floral notes of the chili. Made with dried rose petals, this aromatic harissa has an amazing depth of flavor, with an up-front warmth that builds gradually. The subtle rose flavor doesn't overpower but rather enhances the other ingredients, layering botanical notes with earthy spices and playing up the fruity and floral notes of the chili.

A traditional condiment made from fermented malted rice, shio koji is known in Japan for packing a punch of umami into everything from marinated meats to savory soups. All shio kojis aren’t created equal, though, for Hanamaruki Foods distills the powerful flavor properties of this essential Japanese ingredient into an easy-to-use liquid form—the only Liquid Shio Koji available on the market—to create the ultimate pantry secret weapon. We love the condiment’s clean, yet bold flavor: salty rounded out with a pronounced sweetness and burst of umami. It’s made by pressing shio koji in its original paste form and filtering until it yields the clear, golden-hued liquid. The product isn’t heat-treated, so its enzymes remain active and effective in rendering meat remarkably moist and juicy, balancing bitterness in veggies like eggplant and adding amino acids for a full-flavored finish to any dish to truly change the way you cook. Use as a marinade for meats and fish, drizzle into salad dressings and sauces to balance savory flavors, or incorporate into baked goods to add a layer of tantalizing complexity.

This all-purpose condiment layers the spicy elements with salty-sweet soy sauce, umami-rich mushroom powder and brown sugar for a robust, well-rounded sauce; you can think of it as a variation of Sichuan chili oil with just as much bold aroma but less heat. Fly by Jing uses regional Sichuan dried chilies and mouth-tingling Sichuan peppercorns for a classic mala profile that defines much of Sichuan cooking.

The black Kampot peppercorns, picked green and unripe then dried in the sun, are the most intense of the lot, packing a bright, fleeting heat and flavor notes of menthol and floral notes. It’s different than any other pepper we have tasted and an exciting new addition to the home pantry. We use them as our everyday peppercorns for bold flavor or highlight the flavor in Southeast Asian curries and even Italian classics, like cacio e pepe. The red Kampot peppercorns are left on the vine to fully ripen and possess a complex aroma and bright, fleeting heat level tempered by a sweet, almost fruity note. Use these as an everyday peppercorn, or blend with black peppercorns for complexity. We like them blended into southeast Asian curries or salad dressings, where the peppercorn’s sweetness can temper acidity. Fully ripened and peeled of their strong-tasting exterior layer, white peppercorns are the mildest of the bunch (though still pack a bright, fleeting heat) and ideal for milder dishes or light-colored dishes that would otherwise be marred by the fleck of peppercorns.

This small-batch chili paste from Auria's Malaysian Kitchen has a wonderful chili-forward flavor, with a balance between the brightness of fresh peppers and the earthiness of dried chilies that makes it adaptable to all manner of recipes. The spice is rounded out with pungent garlic and a touch of sugar and vinegar, and the producer also uses shrimp paste in its recipe, which contributes umami flavor without any fishiness. As an ingredient for cooking, you can get more mileage out of sambal than hot sauce thanks to its thicker consistency, while its complexity makes it a great powerhouse ingredient for weeknight stir-fries. Try substituting sambal for the red chili flakes in our Thai Stir-Fried Spinach.