Crafted by a 330-year-old esteemed Japanese soy sauce maker, this premium unpasteurized soy sauce is packed with umami flavor. Its rich, slightly sweet, malty flavor has a subtle pleasing funkiness and strikes just the right balance of salty, deep and sharp. For the price, it fares well when compared to other brands that cost much more, and a little goes a long way. It can be used for any recipe that calls for soy sauce in cooking, but the depth of this one stands out when used raw as a dipping sauce to elevate everyday food. The Shibanuma Soy Sauce Company employs a traditional production method, brewing and aging their sauces in wooden barrels that have been in use for decades. Winner of a Superior Taste Award, this sauce will elevate any dish—meat, fish, vegetables or tofu—but it also goes particularly well with white fish sushi 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.

Bright yet surprisingly layered, Shibanuma’s Yuzu Ponzu is one of the “deepest and most balanced” versions our testers have tried. The sauce is made by combining fresh yuzu juice and Shibanumba’s signature soy sauce, which is brewed and aged in wooden barrels. The 330-year old soy sauce producer also blends vinegar and bonito flakes (a type of dried tuna) into the mixture to strike the perfect balance between sweet, salty, tart, acidic and delightfully funky. It’s both refreshing and complex, making it the perfect dipping sauce accompaniment for tempura, dumplings, sashimi, sushi, meat, fish and vegetables. Or add it to a vinaigrette or marinade for extra umami punch.

Unlike most hot sauces that are vinegar-based, award-winning T’s Japanese Hot Sauce is made with a soy sauce base. Alongside dark, salty soy sauce, this hot condiment combines onion and garlic, fresh ginger and red pepper for a unique, chili crisp-like textured topping. Made in Japan by Shibanuma, a 330-year old soy sauce producer, its distinct allium flavor, punch of ginger and mellow lingering heat work well with just about anything. Add it into sauces, soups and marinades to build flavor or drizzle over eggs, rice, veggies or anything else you want to spice up.