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.
Shibanuma Yuzu Ponzu
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.