Few cuisines reward curious travellers like Japanese food. From regional specialities to everyday staples, the country offers a depth of flavour that’s hard to fully appreciate without tasting your way through it. In Japan, fresh, locally sourced food is highly prized. Tokyo’s cuisine culture has been competing with the Kansai area for hundreds of years.
Food is also a great way to learn about a new culture. Tasting everything from ramen, udon, sushi, and sashimi to grilled meats and vegetables is a never-ending exploration when it comes to learning about Japanese cuisine.
For Japanese food lovers looking to bring those flavours home, Kelly Loves is well worth discovering. Read more to find out how Kelly Loves are bringing the flavours of Japan straight to your doorstep.
How Japan’s Flavours Unfold with Kelly Loves
Who is Kelly?
Kelly Loves was founded by Kelly Choi, who is also the founder of Sushi Daily, the European leader of Sushi kiosks. The rationale behind Kelly Loves is that Kelly is curating her favourite Japanese & Korean products for you to order and bring home.
Kelly is Korean, lived for decades in Japan and then moved to Paris where she became an entrepreneur.
What are the typical flavours of Japan?
Image credit: Serious Eats
Japanese cuisine is now firmly woven into food culture across the UK and Europe, but its flavour identity remains distinct. Built around umami, balance and seasonality, the core taste profile leans on dashi, soy, miso, rice vinegar, citrus and a careful interplay of savoury and sweet. The result is a cuisine with remarkable variety yet a clearly recognisable character.
Savoury & Umami
Image credit: Kikkoman
Japanese cuisine has almost any taste, yet the classic flavours are still the most popular. When looking for flavour elements for Japanese cuisine, a savoury basis is especially important, whether it’s a strong umami taste of Miso or Soy or the flavours of the sea, all of which are often featured in all types of Japanese cuisines.
These bases are particularly significant when it comes to dishes like udon and ramen noodles, which can be bought with a liquid flavour or a powder to finish the meal.
Sour
Sour notes run through Japanese cooking in subtle but distinctive ways. Rice vinegar gives sushi rice its signature tang, ponzu adds citrus-soy brightness to grilled fish and hot pots, and umeboshi (pickled plum) brings a sharp, salty acidity often paired with rice. Yuzu and sudachi citrus also lend a fragrant sourness across both savoury and sweet dishes.
Sweet
Image credit: Vicky Ng
Sweet dishes, referred to as “wagashi” in Japan, are just as important to Japanese cuisine as the savoury foods they accompany. One of the most famous Japanese treats is mochi, a kind of rice cake. Traditional wagashi flavours include sweet red bean (anko), matcha, roasted soybean flour (kinako), chestnut, sakura and yuzu. More modern variations include strawberry daifuku, with seasonal fruit fillings appearing in summer wagashi. Cinnamon shows up in regional specialities such as Kyoto’s yatsuhashi.
Japanese Flavours by Kelly Loves
For Kelly bringing true, authentic tastes of Japan is essential. Authentic means that the recipe has not been ‘modified,’ as is common, to ensure that the tastes stay the same as if you were eating this product in Japan.
Discover the many flavours of Japan that Kelly is bringing to you.
Ramen & Udon Pot Noodles
Providing a healthier alternative for instant ramen, Kelly Loves offers a range of delicious rich broth-based Japanese pot noodles that are Low-Fat and MSG & GMO free.
All you need to add is hot water!
Katsuo Udon Noodles
Authentic Katsuo Broth, delicious vegetables, a healthy portion of Udon noodles, topped with Bonito flakes.
Seafood Ramen Noodles
In a delightful seafood broth, this ramen dish has a variety of seafood and veggies, including prawns, squid, oysters, and shrimp.
Kimchi Ramen Noodles
Kelly adds her Korean heritage for this option and blends Korea’s all-time favourite meal with ramen noodles! Bringing the best of flavours together to create the perfect, light and easy-to-make grab-and-go meal.
Noodle Variety Pack
When 1 flavour is just not enough.
Miso
Miso soup is estimated to be consumed daily by more than three-quarters of the Japanese population. The dish’s origins trace back to ancient China, where fermented soybean pastes were used to preserve protein and seasoning through long winters.
Miso was introduced to Japan by Buddhist missionaries 1,300 years ago and is a fermented soybean paste. Miso was born out of the practice of using salt, grains, and soybeans to preserve food throughout the summer months, and this method was taken as the foundation for the development of miso.
Tofu Miso Soup
Contains a healthy serving of high quality and delicious miso paste (not powder!) and a generous garnish for a full flavour soup.
Ramune
Japanese soda type “Ramune,” which has lately gained a following outside of Japan, is gaining in popularity. There are a number of milder fruit flavours that may be used with ramune, such as melon.
Many people enjoy Japanese gummy candies, which may be flavoured with any number of fruits. Coffee, almond, hazelnut, and mint are all flavours of Pocky, a little cookie enrobed in a sweet cream or chocolate coating.
Ramune
An authentic sparkling Japanese take on lemonade.
Lychee Ramune
Ramune with a hint of Lychee to bring a seasonal touch to the drink.
Wasabi
Image credit: Beth Mcdonald
Wild wasabi was used in Japan long before it was cultivated, with references reaching back to the Asuka and Nara periods. Cultivation took root in Shizuoka in the late 1500s, and according to popular legend Tokugawa Ieyasu became so fond of the local wasabi that he restricted its export beyond the region. When the idea of adding wasabi to hand-formed sushi spread to Edo, it spawned a sushi craze that quickly spread to the general public.
People in the Edo period of Japan enjoyed wasabi because they knew it reduced the fishy smell of food and inhibited the growth of bacteria.
Wasabi Peas
Green peas lightly dusted in Wasabi
Wasabi Crispy Nori Snacks
Deliciously roasted and lightly salted seaweed thins gently coated with Wasabi to give them a little bit of a kick.
Japanese Rice Crackers (Senbei)
Senbei is a typical Japanese round rice cracker. Senbei may vary greatly in flavour depending on the variety. Senbei makers have been incredibly inventive in inventing a variety of flavours for this iconic Japanese delicacy.
Senbei may be found practically everywhere in Japan. Supermarkets, convenience stores, food booths, and artisan shops are all available. Often referred to as Japanese rice crackers outside of Japan, this Japanese snack has recipes that stretch back more than a century!
Rice & Peanut Crackers
Rice crackers and crispy coated peanuts, combined with gentle spices come together in a delicious snackable mix.
Brown Rice Puffs
Sweet and crispy brown rice puffs. Made with brown rice for a healthier and lighter snack giving you the feeling of being fuller for longer and packed full of fibre and fat-free.
Nori
Image credit: Markus Winkler
Originally, nori was served and eaten as a paste. The sheet form of nori was invented in the region of Asakusa during the Edo Period, when the method of creating paper became mastered in Japan, opening up a world of possibilities for Nori.
Nori is now a popular Japanese finger food and snack all over the world.
Crispy Nori Snacks
These deliciously roasted and lightly salted seaweed thins are full of flavour, and nutrients and free from preservatives and additives.
Seaweed Rice Crisps
Delicate Rice Crisps coated in a delicious layer of Seaweed to create the ultimate light and healthy grab and go snack.
Yuzu
Image credit: Taiheiyo Ambient
Though it is seldom eaten as a fruit, yuzu is a frequent element in Japanese cuisine, where the fragrant zest and juice are prepared similarly to how lemons are used in other cuisines. The taste of yuzu is tangy and aromatic, similar to grapefruit, with undertones of mandarin orange.
Yuzu Iced Green Tea
Kelly’s Yuzu green tea is a refreshing and light spin on the classic iced tea, but with a Japanese twist.
Kelly’s Sushi Making Kit & Soy Sauce
Image credit: Luigi Pozzoli
You can’t talk flavours of Japan without mentioning Sushi & Soy Sauce! Make your own sushi rolls at home! You’ll have everything you need to prepare amazing sushi at home with Kelly’s home sushi kits, using the same materials and equipment that Sushi Daily chefs use.
Throw in Kelly’s Sweet Soy Sauce and you’re all set! With a mild sweetness, Kelly’s soy sauce is ideal for a wide range of dishes, including stir-fries, rice, meats, and sushi.
Sushi Starter Kit
The perfect sushi starter kit to get you ‘rolling’. The kit contains everything you need to create your first sushi rolls or maki – Just add your choice of fish or vegetables.
Ultimate Sushi Kit
The ultimate kit contains everything you need to create a whole range of exciting and flavour-packed sushi rolls and maki.
Complete Sushi Kit
For those looking to level up their sushi making skills. Just add your choice of fish or vegetables and get creative.
Sweet Soy Sauce
A traditional and naturally fermented soy sauce with a subtle sweetness.
