Casablanca Market's preserved lemons have a bright, balanced flavor, and they aren't overly salty or bitter like some brands. We like that they add a bold, piquant kick to dishes without being too sour, and their tender texture is perfect for chopping finely and incorporating into recipes.

A unique cross between a Japanese vegetable knife and a Chinese cleaver, the Kitchin-to™ will replace your chef’s knife.The knife's overall design borrows elements from our two favorite knives: the Japanese vegetable knife (nakiri) and the Chinese cleaver (cai dao). The 7-inch-long blade is nearly as tall as a cleaver—almost 2.5 inches at the butt—and 1.5 millimeters thick, much thinner than most Western-style knives and sharpened to an acute 15-17 degrees per side. The Kitchin-to™ can mince, chop, slice and push-cut, and it's broad enough to use as a bench scraper for transferring chopped foods from the cutting board. And similar to a Japanese santoku, the gently arced blade design can be used for both Western- and Japanese-style cutting methods. Its blunt tip keeps fingers safe, and the butt of the bolsterless blade is curved inward to make it easy to grip for fine control. A filework pattern machined into the blade near the handle acts as a grippy, tactile point for the thumb and index finger to grasp securely.
The knife’s ergonomic handle is made from micarta, a nearly indestructible composite created from layers of linen tightly compacted in phenolic resin. The material feels smooth and secure in the hand and becomes subtly grippier when wet. The handle is flattened on top to securely fill the palm, then tapers downward toward the butt of the knife to accommodate a secure grip.

Made from Sicilian pistachios and extra-virgin olive oil, Pistacchiosa is a creamy, aromatic spread you will want to put on all your desserts and, yes, eat straight out of the jar.

We absolutely love this small-batch vinegar from French artisanal producer Huilerie Beaujolaise. With a bright and tangy vibrancy akin to tangerine, this vinegar almost tastes like a shrub, or drinking vinegar. Ubiquitous to Filipino cuisine, calamansi is a citrus hybrid between kumquat and mandarin orange.

Villa Jerada’s Harissa No. 1 is our favorite version of this North African red pepper paste for its bright, complex flavor. While many store-bought varieties have a one-dimensional spicy flavor, this harissa layers acidity and fruitiness with preserved lemons, a touch of vinegar and tomato paste for a lively, tangy condiment. Villa Jerada uses just enough high-quality Moroccan olive oil to make the harissa spreadable and smooth without diluting its flavor, as opposed to conventional brands that contain a high proportion of water and vegetable oil.

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.

Finally, a wok perfectly designed for the home cook. Our 5-quart, carbon-steel, flat-bottomed wok heats quickly and distributes that heat evenly for uniform cooking. The domed glass lid seals in liquids, prevents splatters and allows you to see your food when cooking, while also allowing you to steam as well as stir-fry in the wok. The wok’s long handle and helper handle make the wok easy to maneuver, no matter how heavily loaded. We also like this design because it is not too large—many 12-inch or larger woks are difficult to store, so they end up going to the basement, not the kitchen! Pair it with our Wok Spatula.

Pic’s Peanut Butter works equally well for classic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as it does for baking and cooking. Choose between salted or unsalted—even the salted version has only half the salt of comparable brands. And while not impervious to separating, we find the peanut butter comes together quickly with just a stir or two, as opposed to the vigorous blending required with other versions. It also boasts a shelf stability up to 10 times greater than regular peanut butter. And the peanut butter itself is always made without any added sugar, oil or emulsifiers, so the peanut flavor comes through clearly in both sweet and savory recipes.

The gritty texture of Skeppshult's hand-held grinder makes it easier to coarsely grind spices and is designed so ingredients stay in a concentrated area for efficient crushing. The softly radiused iron base fits the hand well, and the walnut-wood top provides a better grip and looks beautiful. Weighing just over two pounds, it feels great, looks great and is a pleasure to use.

Our chef's knife blade is 7 inches, not 8. It weighs a bit over 6 ounces, not 10. It has a deeper blade, a huge advantage that makes it easier to rest the flat side of the blade against the knuckles while slicing, which substantially improves comfort and safety. The heel of the blade is scalloped, which means there is room to bring up your fingers for a good grip on the blade for close-up work. It also feels like a knife that you can handle, which won't get away from you like a 20-inch chainsaw or a 12-cylinder sports car. It has enough power to do the job, but it's not overwhelming. The knife also features comfortable, midsize polymer handles and tough high-carbon stainless steel that will hold an edge and resist rust. (To preserve the blade’s edge, we strongly recommend hand washing and drying.) It is constructed from German stainless steel with a forged one-piece design and triple-rivets in the handle. — Christopher Kimball

It is a standing joke around the office that I LOVE this rice washer. It is just the right size, so storing it is not a pain (it’s small enough to keep it on my drain board at all times), it’s lightweight, it’s well-designed, and—if you like—it also washes rice. Why do we all have huge colanders, anyway? This 2.5-quart colander is the perfect size for 95 percent of your kitchen draining jobs. With rice, the device allows one to cover the rice with water and swish it around; there are tiny drain holes in the bottom and larger holes near the spout. You can use this simple bowl for washing any sort of produce, including berries—a simple but brilliant concept. As for cooking rice, I use a ceramic Japanese rice cooker (the Kamado-San Double-Lid Donabe Rice Cooker—available in our store) and use slightly less water than rice.

Designed for steaming food, the Marna Piggy Steamer from Japan is a silicone lid that forms a tight seal over pots and containers, vents excess steam through its snout and is easy to lift by its ear-shaped handles. Use it for perfect stovetop steaming, splatter-free microwave cooking or even refrigerator storage in place of plastic wrap. It's more compact and flexible than metal pot lids and fits any vessel less than 8.5 inches in diameter, with the silicone locking in moisture for effective steaming; smartly designed holes in the pig snout act as vents to avoid built-up pressure. When you're done using it, you can throw the lid in a kitchen drawer for storage without worrying about finding a spot on the shelf.

• Diameter: 8.5 inches
• Materials: Silicone
• Use: Microwave-safe

K-Mama is a rich, mildly spicy and savory-sweet sauce that will add instant Korean flavor to almost any dish. Featuring a base of the Korean red pepper paste gochujang, K-Mama's Original Sauce has a mild, lingering chili heat balanced by brown sugar, umami-rich soy sauce and the fermented soybean paste used to make gochujang. Aromatic sesame oil gives the sauce a silky richness. The company also makes a Gluten-Free Sauce that's slightly tangier, brighter and lighter-bodied, but with all of the same complexity.

Minnesota resident and Korean American K.C. Kye developed K-Mama Sauce out of nostalgia for his mother's homemade Korean cooking. The award-winning condiment is ideal for making bibimbap, a classic Korean rice dish, as well as marinating meat, drizzling over rice or noodle dishes or using as a flavor base for stir-fry.

Taste the one-of-a-kind flavor of New Mexico's world-famous chilies at any time of the year with this shelf-stable Hatch Green Chile Powder. Available in Hot or Mild versions, Desert Provisions' product has a wonderful grassy, vegetal flavor like a green jalapeño but is more savory and earthy; the chili peppers' grassy, herbaceous aromas adds to the complexity. The Hot powder has a bold medium-hot warmth, while the Mild is still spicy but not overwhelming. A vital ingredient in Southwestern cuisine, New Mexico chili peppers are so iconic that they're in fact trademarked: Only peppers grown in Hatch Valley, New Mexico, can bear the name “Hatch chili,” and thousands of chili-lovers worldwide flock to the area for the annual Hatch Chili Festival, which takes place around Labor Day weekend at the end of the chili harvest. Desert Provisions, a purveyor of Southwestern specialties, carefully sources its Hatch-certified peppers from a fourth-generation New Mexico farm.

• Net Weight: 2 ounces
• Ingredients: New Mexico green chile
• Place of Origin: New Mexico

Knapp's Cast Iron Wax is incredibly easy to apply and makes seasoning your cast-iron cookware a breeze. Liquid cooking oils will get the job done but tend to make a mess, and it's hard to control how much oil you add at a time. Knapp's food-safe blend of grapeseed oil, canola oil and beeswax is solid at room temperature, so you have perfect control. Simply scoop up what you need and apply a thin, even layer to cast-iron cookware—just be careful not to over-apply, or your pan will become sticky.

This acid-sharp, bright-hot Bee Local Hot Honey is great drizzled over everything from rich cheese and grilled meats to roasted vegetables, fried chicken or even Greek yogurt. Its acidity helps balance the intense sweetness of the Oregon honey. The heat is provided by Scorpion pepper, which has a sharp, floral, fruity quality that pairs nicely with the honey. A little goes a long way.

I partnered with Vermont company J.K. Adams to design this Milk Street Exclusive eBoard, with two key features designed for home cooks. One, a magnetic spot to hold a chef’s knife. With young kids, I don’t like knives just lying around. A knife-shaped groove in the board keeps blades lying flat, held in place with magnets, and you can turn the sharp edge safely inward, out of harm's way. Second, I wanted a spot to put my phone so I could see it while cooking — I often use the step-by-step photos and videos at the Milk Street website, and this would be the perfect spot, right on the cutting board itself. I could also take phone calls over speakerphone in a pinch. (The slot is also long enough to hold a tablet.) For the material, we decided on a dark walnut wood with a gorgeous grain, durable enough to withstand denting without blunting or dulling your blades. The color will deepen beautifully with use. — Christopher Kimball

A deep marigold yellow, this mild, Sonoko Sakai’s Japanese-style curry powder lingers on the palate with notes of warm spices such as cardamom, black pepper and cayenne. Each small batch is made by hand—blending 16 different sustainably-sourced spices (and no artificial additives) to achieve the perfect harmony of tastes. If you stop and savor its deeply-layered aroma, you can nearly identify every ingredient due to the freshness of each spice and seasoning. The sweetness of clove and cinnamon are given a grounded base by the mustard, black pepper and cumin, with earthy and herbal notes shining through with tumeric and coriander. What truly sets this curry powder apart from others, though, is the hint of rich umami brought by infusing the powder with kombu and mushrooms.

Acclaimed cook and food writer Sonoko Sakai developed and fine-tuned this balanced blend over the course of many months, keeping in mind versatility and concentrated flavor. This curry powder is perfect for making traditional curry bricks—the Japanese curry equivalent to bouillon cubes—or adding an aromatic kick to any recipe. Incorporate into a rub for meat, bloom with other aromatics when sauteeing, or perhaps stir into a soup such as our Black Eyed Pea and Tomato Stew. Combine with butter or ketchup to craft a condiment with a kick, or add to entrees like Ed Lee’s Coconut Curry Braised Fish or our Japanese-Style Beef Curry—substituting the curry powder in place of the garam masala.