Vermicular Oven Pot - 22cm
Weighing in at 9.3 pounds, the Vermicular Oven Pot is one of the lightest Dutch ovens we’ve tried—but it’s still incredibly durable. It features three layers of heat-resistant enameled coating made from a proprietary glass composition that distribute heat evenly. Plus, a precision seal between the lid and rim helps to lock in moisture and flavor. Its design promotes excellent heat conduction, radiant heat and steam convection to cook food gently and evenly. Both the lid and pot are equipped with ergonomic handles for a secure, comfortable grip when transferring the pot from stove to oven or from kitchen to table. Use to steam-roast vegetables, cook rice, soups, stews, braises and more. Available in natural beige or matte black.
Vermicular Skillet and Lid
Our kitchen team was, quite frankly, stunned by the Vermicular 10-inch skillet. It is at least 50% thinner than other cast-iron skillets, making this 2.4 pound one the lightest we’ve tried. Durably designed, it features a heat-resistant enameled surface and a wooden handle that stays cool to the touch. The pan cooks more like stainless steel than cast iron thanks to its thinness, which makes it heat up more quickly, but it offers the nonstick and cleaning advantages of enameled cast iron. It’s the perfect skillet for searing or stir-frying. The skillet also comes with a glass lid that’s designed to be stood upright to avoid touching a dirty counter. Use to sauté veggies, fry an egg, sear a steak or make the perfect crispy grilled cheese.
BLiS Gourmet Barrel Aged Fish Sauce
This bourbon barrel-aged fish sauce is mellowed by seven months of sitting in oak, so the earthy, meaty funk that one expects from any fermented fish product is beautifully balanced by a complementary sweetness. BLiS's product is also rounded out with soft notes imparted by the seven-month aging process: warming spices, vanilla, and fruit woods, as well as a subtle smoky depth.
Yakami Orchard Yuzu Marmalade
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.
Namikura Kyoto-Style White Miso
Savory, sweet and flavor-dense, white miso is an absolutely essential pantry item. Winey-sweet, buttery and deeply rich, this organic version from Japanese family producer Namikura Miso Co. is more complex and less salty than other brands, which means it can be used more freely with soy sauce without dishes tasting overly seasoned.
Kamado-San Double-Lid Donabe Rice Cooker
If you eat as much rice as we do, it's worthwhile owning a proper rice cooker. There’s convenience to an electric cooker, but we much prefer the remarkably moist, fluffy grains of rice produced by clay donabe-style rice cookers. The unique design of these age-old pots features two lids—the inset lid allows some moisture to escape to control the rate at which the rice cooks and lightly pressurizes the pot. This particularly thick-bottomed, durable pot is made from a uniquely porous clay, which heats evenly and maintains a steady heat for very uniform cooking. Beyond rice, the pot can also be used for small batches of soups and stews, like a quick miso soup. We love the thick rustic glaze and the way the pot patinas with use. It looks good enough to come right to the table
Ohsawa Brown Rice Vinegar
The nutty, rounded flavor of this vinegar comes from the whole-grain brown rice that is used to make it. Following the Ohsawa Company’s principles of whole, natural foods—founder George Ohsawa revived the modern macrobiotic food movement in the 1960s—the Uchibori family producer that makes this vinegar adheres to a thousand-year-old tradition of aging the vinegar outdoors in earthenware crocks for over 12 months. Highlight the slight nuttiness of Ohsawa Brown Rice Vinegar in quick pickles, like our Japanese-Style Salt-Pickled Radish and Red Onion, or pair it with the sesame and peanut flavors in our Smashed Cucumber Salad. Try a splash on your avocado toast, or if you like rice bowls, season the rice with a splash of vinegar and a pinch of sugar; top with blanched spinach, smoked salmon or trout, and a few toasted sesame seeds or shichimi togarashi, the Japanese chili pepper blend.
Nitto Jozo White Tamari
Note that while tamari is often used as a term for gluten-free soy sauce, Nitto Jozo’s White Tamari is actually all wheat-based. (In Japan, tamari simply refers to a liquid that is pressed out of another substance—in this case, wheat.) This sauce is malty-sweet and slightly tangy, a great choice for those who want the umami flavor of soy sauce with less saltiness.
Suncraft Nakiri Knife
Suncraft’s modernized 7-inch nakiri takes the classic Japanese blade’s typical rectangular shape and adds a soft, pointed tip for a uniquely useful knife. The blade’s geometry is more arced than a traditional nakiri, which makes it adept at mincing and rock chopping. Despite the curving blade, it retains a nearly consistent broad blade to the tip for finger safety and the ability to scoop chopped foods up to transfer to the mixing bowl or hot skillet. Suncraft’s classically styled “Senzo” line of knives feature AUS-10 steel blade, a tried-and-true knife steel that holds an edge well, is easy to tune up and is highly resistant to corrosion (though as with any knife, should be dried after use). The western-style handles are fashioned from pakkawood, a traditional handle material of wood stabilized with resins, which makes them impervious to water.
Ito Shoten Tamari
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.
Yuasa Ki-ippan Kuromame Shoyu
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.
Suehiro Double Brewed Soy Sauce
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.
Shibanuma Yakiniku BBQ Sauce
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.
Milk Street Cast Iron Furusato
Here at Milk Street, we’re big proponents of cooking with cast iron because it heats evenly and retains that heat—which is why we designed our own pot for the ideal solution for soups and stews. Our Cast Iron Furusato is modeled after the traditional pot used for Japanese nabe (hot pot), but its durable cast-iron craftsmanship and stunning wooden lid carved from Japanese cedar make it a candidate for everyday use. Sturdy yet light enough to use often, it’s equipped with a swinging handle for easy maneuvering. Plus, unlike some furusato pots, this one is compatible with any stovetop, and it comes with a small silicone pot holder.
Suncraft Senzo Bunka Knife
Suncraft’s Senzo Pro bunka, made in Seki City, Japan, not only looks gorgeous but is a joy to use. At 6.5 inches long, the compact, nimble blade is hand-forged from laminated high-carbon SG2 steel—an alloy forged from a powdered base blend of ingredients balanced for durability, corrosion resistance and edge retention—which means an ultra-durable blade that needs minimal honing and maintenance. The blade edge is subtly curved tip to butt for intuitive, comfortable slicing and the tip makes quick work of mincing onions, shallots and garlic. It’s small enough to use for prep work, like peeling garlic or trimming mushrooms, but is long enough for slicing proteins and dicing big onions or thick carrots. And a finely pointed tip is just right for trimming meats and skinning fruit. The blade is finished with an oversized Pakka wood handle for a secure grip, as well as a mosaic pin—a tell-tale marker of a handmade, premium knife.
Suncraft Wood Cooking Chopsticks
Streamline your cooking with cooking chopsticks—replace your spatula, tongs, whisk and spoon as you turn, flip, mix and stir with one sleek tool. Longer than chopsticks designed for dining, cooking chopsticks keep your hands far from heat and flames, which makes them safer for risky jobs like deep-frying. And they’re more precise than tongs or spatulas: Gripping food with the pointed ends means you can target even pieces or parts of a single ingredient with extra dexterity, for specific control and even cooking. Suncraft’s are simultaneously fine enough to pick up a single noodle to test doneness or an herb sprig while plating, while also being sturdy enough to toss a whole stir-fry with speed and confidence.
What sets these apart from other cooking chopsticks is a small scoop for seasoning at the thicker end, perfectly sized to add a pinch of salt, pepper or spice while cooking, and a textured point on the narrow end, which provides traction and helps grip food better. Made from handsome dark wood, which won’t scratch up your pans, these chopsticks are resistant to high temperatures.
Suncraft Silicone Cooking Chopsticks
Streamline your cooking with cooking chopsticks—replace your spatula, tongs, whisk and spoon as you turn, flip, mix and stir with one sleek tool. Longer than chopsticks designed for dining, cooking chopsticks keep your hands far from heat and flames, which makes them safer for risky jobs like deep-frying. And they’re more precise than tongs or spatulas: Gripping food with the pointed ends means you can target even pieces or parts of a single ingredient with extra dexterity, for specific control and even cooking. Suncraft’s are simultaneously fine enough to pick up a single noodle to test doneness or an herb sprig while plating, while also being sturdy enough to toss a whole stir-fry with speed and confidence.
What sets these apart from other cooking chopsticks is a small scoop for seasoning at the thicker end, perfectly sized to add a pinch of salt, pepper or spice while cooking, and a textured point on the narrow end, which provides traction and helps grip food better. Made from durable silicone—which won’t scratch up your pans—these chopsticks are heat resistant up to 446°F and dishwasher-safe.
EatCo Saji Slim Spoon
We reach for this sturdy, ingenious spoon from EatCo almost every time we cook: Long-handled with a slim profile, it’s perfect for comfortably scooping from narrow jars without getting caught on its way out. The 0.85-inch thin, deep bowl of the spoon holds plenty of seasoning, spices or sauce (it makes a great tasting spoon, too.)