At iRASSHAi, located at 40 Rue du Louvre in Paris’s 1st arrondissement, you can buy Japanese kitchen essentials in bulk so you can get exactly the amount you need and not waste a single crumb!
Find out below how to cook, store, and enjoy your favorite bulk ingredients.
Milky Queen brown rice
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Thanks to its nutritional benefits, brown rice is becoming increasingly popular today. It consists of the grain and its outer layer, the bran. Less fluffy than white rice, it’s best to soak it overnight before cooking. If you want to gradually incorporate it into your diet, you can start by mixing it with white rice in your recipes. With a higher gluten content—making it stickier—it’s easy to eat and rich in fiber. Delicious both cold and hot, this rice is perfect for making onigiri, sushi, or as a side dish for fish, meat, and vegetable dishes.
Instructions:
It is recommended that you soak it overnight before cooking. After that, you can rinse the rice and cook it. Use twice as much water as rice.
Black rice
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Harvested by Nanohana in Toyama Prefecture, this black rice is naturally colored and has exceptional nutritional properties. It consists of the grain and its outer layer, the bran. Less soft than white rice, it is recommended to soak it overnight before cooking. If you’d like to gradually incorporate it into your diet, you can start by mixing it with white rice in your dishes (which will also give your dish a pretty pink color). It stands out for its unique, slightly sweet flavor with nutty notes. Its texture is firm and slightly sticky, giving it a particularly pleasant mouthfeel.
It is perfect for a variety of dishes. It can be served as a side dish with main courses, in salads, in stir-fried rice dishes, or even used to create unique desserts. It pairs perfectly with fish or shellfish dishes.
Instructions:
For unpolished brown rice, it is recommended that you soak it overnight before cooking. After soaking, rinse the rice and cook it. Use twice as much water as the volume of rice.
Red rice
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Red rice has a subtly earthy flavor that can be reminiscent of hazelnuts, with a firm, slightly crunchy texture. This unrefined whole-grain rice is an excellent alternative to traditional white rice, as it adds color and offers numerous nutritional benefits. It is often enjoyed mixed with white rice but is also delicious on its own with fish or roasted vegetables.
Sticky rice
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Harvested by Nanohana in Toyama Prefecture, this round, sticky rice has a mild, slightly sweet flavor. Its sticky, chewy texture is perfect for making sushi, curries, and mochi. Once cooked, you can shape the sticky rice into various forms.
The dried glutinous rice dough is called mochi.
Pronounced “Motchi”
It is usually sold plain, but it is also available mixed with grains or herbs.
In Japan, mochi is eaten as a snack, quickly heated in the microwave or browned in a frying pan.
It is typically sold in a cube shape (Kiri Mochi—traditionally in eastern and northern Japan) or as a ball (Maru Mochi—in the south)
Love at first sight
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This rice is grown in Miyaki Prefecture. Its name, “hitomebore,” literally means “love at first sight,” as it is highly prized for its mild flavor and soft texture. It is delicious both hot and cold and makes a perfect base for bento boxes.
Haenuki, Yamagata
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"Haenuki" rice is a variety grown in Yamagata Prefecture. For over 20 years, this rice has received the highest rating in the annual Japanese rice rankings issued by the Japan Grain Inspection Association. The grains are large and have a slightly sticky texture. They can be enjoyed hot or cold in sushi, onigiri, or rice bowls.
Instructions:
Allow about 75 g of uncooked rice per person.
Rinse the rice several times, gently rubbing it between your hands until the water runs clear. Drain it, then place it in your rice cooker and add 1.2 parts water to 1 part dry rice. Keep warm for 10 minutes, then add the sushi vinegar and fluff the rice well by gently mixing it.
Itakomachi
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Renowned for its authentic flavor and delicate texture, Itakomachi rice has a rich, savory taste, with firm, slightly sticky grains and a delicate, pleasant mouthfeel. Its versatility and authentic flavor make it an ideal choice for preparing many Japanese dishes, such as sushi, donburi, onigiri, and many others.
Roasted golden sesame oil
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This oil is made from carefully selected sesame seeds that have been roasted at high temperatures. It is a rich, dark oil with a deep brown color and an intense, full-bodied flavor of toasted nuts. It is perfect for cooking gyoza, dressing a tomato salad, or making ceviche. It is also rich in nutrients, including essential fatty acids and antioxidants.
Pure rice vinegar, sold in bulk
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Made by fermenting rice, kome su—as it is known in Japanese—has a mildly sweet and tangy flavor. It is used in sushi rice, to season salads, or to make pickled vegetables (tsukemono). It has preservative properties and can aid in digestion.
Gluten-free soy sauce (bulk)
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Tamarisoysauce is unique in that it is made exclusively from soybeans. It is therefore gluten-free, unlike most soy sauces, which are made from a mixture of soybeans and wheat. It is therefore suitable for a gluten-free diet. It tastes slightly less salty than traditional soy sauce, but it can be used in the same way.
Bulk soy sauce
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Found in every Japanese kitchen, soy sauce (shoyu) is made by fermenting soybeans, wheat, water, and salt. It is used for seasoning and for its umami flavor, which is the fifth taste after sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Umami is often described as a savory and delicious taste that adds depth to dishes. It accompanies sushi, sashimi, noodles, stir-fries, marinades, and soups, or is used as a condiment or dipping sauce. It is rich in plant-based protein, essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, and low in fat and calories.
Mirin in bulk
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Traditional mirin is made from glutinous rice, water, alcohol, and sugar. The rice is steamed, then mixed with rice wine or distilled alcohol. Next, koji (a type of mold) is added to facilitate the conversion to sugar. After months of fermentation, the mirin is filtered and bottled.
In cooking, it is used to tenderize meat and fish and helps them retain their shape during cooking. It also adds shine and sweetness to dishes by coating the food.
Bulk cooking sake
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A true Swiss Army knife of Japanese cuisine, cooking sake has a higher alcohol content and is saltier than mirin. Often used together in Japanese recipes, they complement each other perfectly, and their mildness and sweetness create a very pleasant balance with soy sauce.
