While most mayonnaise is made with vinegar, Hotaru Foods uses 100% yuzu juice as its acid of choice, which adds a bright, citrusy kick and subtle sweetness reminiscent of Kewpie mayonnaise, a Japanese favorite. We especially like to pair it with seafood, which doesn't need its usual squeeze of lemon thanks to the tart yuzu flavor.

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.

If mayo is your go-to condiment, you have to try this Japanese version. Japanese mayo is famous for being extra rich, ultra decadent and flavorful, since it uses just egg yolks and not the entire egg unlike the majority of American mayonnaises. Even the eggs themselves in this particular brand of Japanese mayo are special: They’re sei-agri eggs, which come from chickens hand-fed a special vegetarian diet to yield better flavor. A little apple cider vinegar brings brightness, while mustard brings balance. And a vacuum-sealed pot is used during the mayo’s emulsification process to further preserve the complex flavor. Plus, it contains no additives like other brands—just bold taste and creamy texture.

Suehiro’s Usukuchi Soy Sauce with Koji is one of those rare products that is in a category of its own. It lands somewhere in the middle between dark and light soy sauce. With a richness like dark soy but less viscous, it has a slightly saltier flavor closer to light soy. Though fermented for less time than some other soy sauces, Suehiro brilliantly adds koji—a special type of rice mold—not just during the initial brewing, but for a second time later in the process, to add deep complexity and funk that makes it taste like it’s been fermented for years. Brewed in small batches using traditional methods since 1879 in Japan’s Tatsuno City, Hyogo Prefecture, this usukuchi shoyu is made with soy and wheat grown in Japan. It’s aged in fiberglass tanks that are inside a wooden building full of beneficial bacteria that adds the flavor to the shoyu. Upon opening the bottle you’ll notice a dark caramel and malty aroma that leads into a mildly sweet, rich and toasty flavor. You can use this soy sauce just about anywhere, but we think it’s especially is great for drizzling and dipping.

Tamari, the liquid byproduct that results from pressing miso, is so much more than gluten-free soy sauce (a common misconception among American cooks). The distinct tamari from Ito Shoten—based in the Aichi Prefecture, a region of Japan known for deeply rich, uncommonly dark miso—is so complex it’s no wonder it has been likened to a wine. Aged in cedar barrels that are over 100 years old, Ito Shoten’s tamari develops a dark, almost inky color, as well as a wine-like depth and body. Its heady, malty aroma promises plenty of meaty savoriness, as well as caramel notes, deep umami and a lively salinity. This tamari is one to treasure: use it raw in small quantities to finish dishes where its flavor will shine, almost like a soy extract rather than a condiment. Its complexities get lost when it’s cooked into a sauce or dish.

Made from premium black soybeans and aged in cedar barrels for over two years, this Ki-ippan Kuromame Shoyu is thick and rich in flavor—full of funk, earthiness and a bit of sweetness. Crafted by fifth-generation Japanese company Yuasa Soyu Sauce Co. in Yuasa—a traditional brewing city that’s like a living soy sauce museum—it has won the Grand Gold Medal at the Monde Selection for 10 consecutive years. The deep umami and sweet notes that make this shoyu stand out come from the premium black soybeans, sourced from Tanba in Hyogo Prefecture. Known also as “Kuromame,” they have a black skin and white interior, and contain a distinctive taste. Use this anywhere you would soy sauce, from dumplings to meat to noodles, or in marinades, dipping sauces and salad dressings.

Since 1879, Suehiro has used the same traditional methods to make their small-batch soy sauces in Japan’s Tatsuno City, Hyogo Prefecture. We were especially wowed by their Double-Brewed Soy Sauce, or Saishikomi, which is deeply layered in comparison to any run-of-the-mill grocery version. Unlike most on the market, this soy is brewed not once but twice, first delicately with soybeans, wheat, salt, water and koji. Then, the mixture is brewed again, this time without salt or water, yielding an earthy, rich and viscous soy sauce that stands apart. It’s salty, but less so than other brands, with funky, coffee-like notes that round out into a dark, almost burnt caramelly sweetness. Use it anywhere you would soy sauce, but we love it most served simply with dishes that have few ingredients, like hand rolls and sashimi.

Translating to “grilled meat” in Japanese, yakiniku is a social style of cooking and eating around a communal grill. Popular throughout Japan, family and friends gather around a tabletop grill to cook meat, vegetables and fish together before dipping them into a several kinds of yakiniku sauces. Shibanuma’s Yakiniku BBQ Sauce is inspired by this concept. Crafted by a 330-year-old esteemed Japanese soy sauce maker, it is no surprise that the first ingredient in this sauce is an umami-rich soy sauce, which is brewed and aged in wooden barrels. The soy is then combined with onion, fruity apple and zingy sansho pepper—a fragrant and floral Japanese peppercorn—to cut through the richness and balance out the flavors. The result? A complex grilling sauce that works just as well as a marinade as it does drizzled over rice.

Incredibly fragrant and full-bodied, this rich sesame oil is better than any supermarket brand we’ve tried. The warm, nutty oil offers the best of both worlds: The flavor reminds us of a darker toasted sesame oil, but unlike those—which tend to be limited to finishing due to the low smoke point—it can be used for cooking, like that of a lighter sesame oil. Kuki’s oil gets its rich, dark, deep flavor from the highest-quality sesame seeds, which are slow-pressed using traditional methods without the use of any chemicals (often added to mass-produced brands to speed up extraction). The whole process takes roughly 1.5 months, but it’s worth it—this sesame oil is unlike any other we’ve tasted. Try the oil as a finish for stir-fries, soups or noodles; mixed into marinades dressings or as a cooking oil.

The Kito district of Tokushima Prefecture is known as the birthplace of yuzu trees in Japan, so it’s only fitting that Ogon no Mura Co., Ltd’s Yuzu Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made from fresh yuzu picked in the region. It’s why the brand’s name also translates to “a village shining with the gold of ripened yuzu fruit.” Locally grown without chemicals or pesticides and certified with a Geographical Indication, the bright Asian citrus fruit is pressed for oil within 24 hours after harvesting to capture the freshest flavor. This oil is then paired with mild, smooth Taggiasca Extra Virgin Olive Oil, sourced from Liguria, Italy, for a flavorful and bright final product that expertly balances sour and sweet notes. With an aroma that falls between a mandarin orange and a Meyer lemon, it leaves behind a hint of fruitiness and pleasant richness on anything it’s drizzled over. Use to dip bread or for finishing crudo, ceviche, soups, noodles, salads and more.

Packed full of savory, umami flavor, Woon Kitchen’s Stir Fry Sauce is a quick and satisfying addition to noodles, vegetables, rice, meat and more. Based in LA, the mother and son duo behind the company began selling Chinese comfort dishes at a pop-up restaurant. Immensely popular today, Woon Kitchen now has a brick-and-mortar location where they sell the same comfort food and some of the ingredients that make it—including their stir-fry sauce. Packaged in an easy-to-squeeze bottle, perfect for controlling your drizzle, this sauce combines a punch of oyster sauce and the funk of mushrooms, balanced out by a hit of sugar and salty soy sauce. It coats udon noodles and vegetables evenly, or makes a fantastic marinade for grilled meats.

Made from freeze-dried soy sauce from Japan’s Naogen Brewery, this unique Crystallized Shoyu contains one-sixth the amount of sodium of table salt, while still adding a kick of salinity to anything. The flaky crystals melt on the tongue, leaving behind a lovely tasting shoyu: rich, not too salty and a little sweet and earthy, like chocolate. The shoyu is brewed from buttery Enrei soy beans, sea salt and Hakusan Mountain spring water; once freeze-dried into airy flakes, the aromatic crystals add a pleasant kick of saltiness to sushi, grilled meat, soups and stews, toast, tempura, eggs, pasta and vegetables. And because the flakes have a mild sweetness behind their savory flavor, they pair beautifully with dessert: Use a pinch to finish blondies, cookies and ice cream, or anywhere you would use a hit of flaky sea salt. The crystallized shoyu adds extra dimension beyond the salinity of plain salt.