About Ingredients

We try our best to use local, seasonal ingredients whenever possible.
When something isn’t available nearby, we may use ingredients from outside the area.
Sometimes we receive fresh organic vegetables from local farmers.

Requesting Ingredients

We keep a variety of staple ingredients on hand (you’ll find a full list below), but if you’d like to cook something that needs an extra ingredient, feel free to let us know.

• Please write your request on a piece of paper and put it on the fridge.
• The owner usually goes shopping around 10:00 in the morning and 15:00 in the afternoon, and will do their best to pick up what’s needed.
• You’re also welcome to come along on shopping trips if you’d like!

While we aim to fulfill everyone’s requests, there are times when an ingredient might not be available in town or is very expensive, so we may not always be able to buy it.

If there’s a specific ingredient you really want to use in your cooking, we’re sorry, but you may need to purchase it yourself.
We truly appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Ingredients That Are Hard to Find or Expensive Locally

The following items tend to be quite pricey or difficult to get in our town. We do our best, but availability is limited:

• Butter
  We buy only a few boxes per day (200g per box). Please use it mindfully.

• Cheese
  We always have processed cheese on hand.
  The owner’s brother is a cheesemaker, so sometimes we get cheeses from him—please feel free to use those when available!

• Fruit
  Apples, peaches, strawberries, grapes, melons, etc., are often very expensive.
  Occasionally, we can prepare some when they’re in season.
  Bananas are always available.
  We also keep canned fruits like peaches and pineapple.

• Legumes
  Chickpeas, lentils, and similar beans are available in small amounts, but we may not have large quantities on hand.

• Chocolate
  A small amount is kept in stock for occasional use.

• Nuts
  We don’t usually keep nuts on hand—they’re quite expensive here.

• Avocado
  Not typically available due to cost.

• Peanut Butter
  We don’t usually stock it.
  Occasionally, a small amount of sweetened peanut butter is available.

• Tahini
  While we don’t keep tahini, sesame seeds are easy to find—we encourage you to try making your own!

• Mayonnaise
  We don’t keep store-bought mayonnaise, because we make it fresh each time we need it.

• Fish
  We rarely use fish, as odors can be disruptive in the shared space.

• Other Items
  Bacon and lasagna sheets are not regularly stocked.

Staple Ingredients (Usually Available)

Below is a list of ingredients we generally keep in the kitchen.
Occasionally something might run out—please let us know if you notice anything missing!

🌾 Grains & Carbohydrates

• Rice & Grains
  White rice (brown rice is milled daily), brown rice, glutinous rice, rice flakes, mochi
• Flours
  Bread flour, cake flour, rice flour (not ideal for rice bread), kinako (soybean flour), shiratamako, dango flour, buckwheat flour, breadcrumbs, tempura flakes (tenkasu)
• Noodles
  Dried pasta, soba, udon, somen, cellophane noodles (harusame)
• Starches
  Potato starch (katakuriko)

🥦 Vegetables

• Roots & Tubers
  Potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, burdock root (gobo)
• Leafy Greens
  Cabbage, Chinese cabbage, garlic chives, scallions, leeks, mizuna, shiso, bean sprouts (moyashi)
• Mushrooms
  Shiitake, maitake, shimeji, enoki
• Other Fresh Vegetables
  Tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkin, bell peppers, broccoli

🫘 Beans & Soy Products

• Dried lentils, chickpeas, soybeans, red beans (azuki)
• Natto, tofu (hard & soft), thick-fried tofu (atsuage), fried tofu (aburaage), soy milk

🍖 Meat

• Chicken
• Pork
• Japanese sausages

🍌 Fruit

• Bananas
• Canned fruit: pineapple, mandarins, peaches.

🥫 Canned & Shelf-Stable Foods

• Tomatoes, corn, tuna, coconut milk (canned)
• Pineapple, mandarins, peaches (canned)
• Spring roll wrappers, rice paper

🧊 Refrigerated Staples

• Konnyaku
• Tofu (already listed under soy, but stored here)
• Occasionally: fresh cheese or dairy items

🌿 Seaweed & Dried Goods

• Dried shiitake mushrooms, kombu
• Iriko (dried baby sardines), katsuobushi
• Nori, aosa (dried green algae), wakame, hijiki

🧂 Seasonings & Condiments

• Sauces & Pastes
  • Soy sauce, miso, mirin, sake, umeboshi
  • Fish sauce, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, Tabasco
  • Japanese curry flake, doubanjiang (Chinese fermented chili bean paste), gochujang (Korean fermented chili paste), tamarind paste, Thai green curry paste (Contains shrimp)
• Oils
  Rice bran oil, olive oil, sesame oil
• Vinegars
  Rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar
• Salt & Sugar
  Sea salt, rock salt, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar
• Spices
  • Whole (can be ground): cumin, coriander, mustard seeds (black/white), cinnamon, cloves, fenugreek, cardamom, nutmeg, fennel, chili, star anise, black pepper
  • Ground: cumin, coriander, turmeric, chili powder, paprika, white pepper, chinese five-spice powder
• Herbs & Aromatics
  Indian bay leaf, laurel, dried parsley, dried basil, rosemary, lemongrass, curry leaves, kasuri methi, oregano, kaffir lime leaves
• Condiments
  Roasted sesame seeds (black & white), shichimi (Japanese seven-spice), ichimi (Japanese chili flakes), mustard, wasabi

🍪 Baking & Dessert Ingredients

• Chocolate (small amount)
• Honey, dry yeast, baking soda, baking powder, kansui (alkaline powder for ramen noodles)
• Gelatin, agar (kanten)
• Vanilla extract, vanilla oil, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, matcha, moringa powder

☕ Drinks

• Tea
  Black tea (Ceylon), hojicha, green tea, papaya tea
• Coffee
  Coffee beans (ground as needed)
• Alcohol
  Red wine (availability varies), beer, umeshu (plum wine)