There are all kinds of spices sold in Kyoto, most of them used to make traditional Japanese food. But did you know that Kyoto is also famous for its chili powders? And that Japanese pepper, that green powder that packs such a punch that you need to be very careful with it, is also something Kyoto is famous for?
If not, be sure to take a look below at what kinds of delicious things you can get in Kyoto:
What would Japanese cuisine be without its refined dashi, the soup stock that is the backbone of Japanese food culture? That’s hard to imagine, but what about your cooking? If you want to add the kick of dashi to your soups, be sure to visit Kyoto Odashi Uneno!
When it comes to chili powder in cute packets, you can’t beat Ochanoko-Saisai. They also sell all kinds of Japanese crackers, but with a little twist: their crackers are made with their chili powder mixes, thus they are hot enough to make a maiko go “Hiihii.” This shop is conveniently located in Nishiki Market which probably already is in your itinerary!
This shop is actually famous for their sansho-jako, which are whitebait flavored with dashi stock and Japanese pepper. However, taking this back home to your country might prove difficult, so this bottle of Kyo-dashi might be a better choice. This soy-based dashi sauce is all-purpose, so it can be used to add a bit of a dashi-kick even to your pasta.
Shichimiya Honpo has been in the spice business for centuries, and as you can probably guess from their name, they are most well known for their Shichimi seven spice chili mix. It has just the right balance of hotness and the other spices, but that’s not all: you can choose how hot you want your shichimi to be! So there’s shichimi for every taste here, not to mention that you can buy cool wooden bamboo shakers full of shichimi goodness.
Yaosan sells something quite special: yuzumiso, which is miso that contains the Japanese citrus fruit yuzu, making it really fragrant. If you buy it in these cute yuzu-shaped pottery boxes, they last 40 days after opening, so the yuzumiso is also a pretty nice souvenir.
A soy sauce speciality shop with a long history located close to the Imperial Palace? Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? And it is. There are all kinds of soy sauces for sale at Sawai-Shoyu Honten, but their sashimi soy sauce deserves a special mention. After trying this sauce, you will no longer be satisfied with normal soy sauce for sushi and sashimi.
As you can see, this shop is very authentic, but it’s not only a shop. They even make soy sauce here! So right when you enter this traditional Kyoto house, you’re hit with the pleasant smell of soy sauce.
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Sampo[ Sharing Kyoto Staff ] |
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