Kayanoya's Dashi Stock Powder is the best version of this essential Japanese ingredient. In addition to the traditional bonito flakes, the powdered soup stock gets layers of savory complexity from sardines, herring and roasted flying fish for a meaty-rich flavor and delicate aroma like smoked fish. And unlike many store-bought versions, it's not overly “fishy” or salty.

Kayanoya uses meaty shiitake and earthy, woodsy maitake mushrooms to make this savory and aromatic broth. We can't get enough of its delicate flavor profile—the subtle extra additions of savory fermented seasonings and yeast result in a much cleaner and clearer mushroom flavor than store-bought mushroom stocks. We also like the convenience factor of the powder packets, which allow you to adjust the strength of the stock to your liking.

This amber-hued liquid is the epitome of full-flavored versatility. Used widely across Japan as a stand-along sauce, soup base and a quick and bold way to dress cold noodles, we love the umami-packed zing mentsuyu brings to the table, as its main ingredient is soy, but it also yields sweet, earthy, salty and smoky flavors. That unique balance is what makes its taste so distinctive and layered. We love this one, made from premium ingredients and no artificial additives. Savory awase dashi broth, briny kombu (seaweed) and rich katsuo dashi (made from bonito) come together to form a flavorful stock, while a special mixture called “hongaeshi” is added to draw out even more complexity. It entails slowly melting sugar into a mixture of soy and mirin over a low temperature. In our store, we have dashi bases, mushroom broths, soys and all sorts of flavoring agents from Japan, but this one is unique in that it is equal parts ingredient and finisher—it won’t overwhelm your dish while also being complete as is.

We find that store-bought vegetable broth often leans too sweet and tastes strongly of the carrots used to make it. Kayanoya Vegetable Stock Powder is far more balanced, with a subtle sweetness and a complex, lightly caramelized onion flavor; the result is similar to a French onion soup base. We also like the convenience factor of the powder packets, which allow you to adjust the strength of the stock to your liking.

Japanese producer Sugimoto grows their shiitake naturally on sawtooth oak logs, which are known in the country for imparting sweet, dense flavor into the mushrooms, and then dried with an far-infrared method, which minimizes moisture more than other brands to preserve quality and taste. These woodsy shiitakes are then ground into a fine powder that’s easy to sprinkle into all manner of savory dishes to add a touch of umami. Its flavor is delicate, but can easily be amped up the more you sprinkle into your dish, adding a lovely mushroom character to dishes without the prep work.

We love finding new “magic” pantry ingredients from around the world that instantly boost flavor, and this Yondu is no exception. Fermented soybeans and a rich stock made from a robust blend of vegetables—including shiitake mushrooms, onions, garlic and cabbage—yield a concentrate bursting with umami. Not only will it give you delicious savory vegetarian broth in the blink of an eye, it can also be used as a secret umami boost for everything from marinades to cooked grains. We love how it’s an easy-to-pour liquid (and not a paste, which can be harder to incorporate into dishes) and how deeply savory its flavor is compared to store-bought broths—which can taste too sweet from relying on carrots. It’s wonderfully earthy from alliums and mushrooms, yet remains balanced. And the yeast extract, a popular ingredient for boosting savoriness in vegan dishes (and for creating the distinctive flavor of Marmite), produces an incredibly rich, intensely savory character that complements the Yondu’s complex flavors perfectly.

Bonito flakes, or katsuobushi, are made by smoking whole bonito or skipjack tuna fillets, then shaving them into delicate flakes that can be used as a meaty, umami-packed topping for all manner of Asian dishes. Because bonito flakes are used in large quantities to flavor the essential soup stock dashi, most brands sell them in overwhelmingly large quantities that can expire before the bag is used up. We prefer Yamaki's reasonably sized product; the package is just enough to make a batch of stock or sprinkle over rice, noodles, tofu, salads and more

Kombu is the Japanese term for dried edible kelp that's commonly used as an ingredient across East Asia. In Japanese cuisine, it's essential to make dashi, the soup stock that provides a savory, salty yet clean flavor foundation for miso soup and other dishes. Packaged in a resealable, recyclable pouch, these whole dried sheets are harvested from pristine Maine waters and have an especially crisp brininess and delicate, sweet clarity from the kelp's natural sugars; simply cut up a few sheets and steep to make a light, fragrant broth (for a more concentrated stock, try Kombu Flakes). Don't balk at the white powder coating the kombu sheets—it's a naturally occurring layer of nutrient-dense salts. It's common to gently wipe some of the salt off, but leaving a little residue will boost the flavor of your soup stock since the powder contains glutamic acid, the compound responsible for umami.

Kombu is the Japanese term for dried edible kelp that's commonly used as an ingredient across East Asia. In Japanese cuisine, it's essential to make dashi, the soup stock that provides a savory, salty yet clean flavor foundation for miso soup and other dishes. Ocean's Balance harvests its product from pristine Maine waters, which produce nutrient-dense, clean-tasting kombu. These pre-cut flakes come in a stay-fresh metal tin, and because they have more surface area than Whole-Leaf Kombu, they simmer more quickly and yield a darker, robust and briny broth that's savory and vegetal, versus the murky flavor of lower-quality kombu. And don't balk if you see white powder the kombu—it's a naturally occurring layer of nutrient-dense salts and glutamic acid, the compound responsible for umami.

Made from fresh clams harvested in the North Atlantic by sustainable fisheries, St. Ours Clam Broth packs concentrated clam flavor into a small package. Unlike most companies, St. Ours dehydrates their steamed clam stock and packs it in envelopes, which preserves the briny, sweet flavor without taking up space in large bottles. We love it as a quick fish stock or dashi, as a substitute for seafood bouillon or clam juice, as the base for seafood soups, chowders and stews, or added to pastas and risottos for extra depth of flavor. One packet makes 1 cup of broth.

These clever tablets manage to contain an incredible amount of flavor in a dime-sized package. The primary flavors are a rich roasted fish and a hint of seaweed, though it’s not as briny as homemade dashi. The tablets yield a meaty broth that really does give you the character of traditional stocks, with plenty of alliums, celery and sweet-earthy carrots. Compared to other fish stock products, this one is much more robust, with a roasted fish flavor that stands out from the pack. The other ingredients give it incredible depth, and it never tips into that dreaded “fishy” realm like some concentrated fish products. Because they are so compacted, these tablets need heat to properly dissolve—just throw them directly into your cooking pot.