E-Kagen

I’m picky about my Asian markets, and this is the one I end up going to most frequently in Brighton. In tandem with my biweekly organic japanese vegetable box from nama-​yasai, this supermarket tends to have everything I need to round out my Japanese pantry. There’s little in the way of goods from other Asian countries, so while the cuisines often share ingredients in common — soy sauce, sesame oil — just note there’s not much Chinese fare on offer, and just a scant smattering of Korean seasonings that are popular in Japan.
Among the items they have in stock that you will likely find it difficult to find elsewhere (and I say this because I tried to find them elsewhere) are:
— Katakuriko, or potato starch, commonly used similarly to how corn starch is used in other cusines and of course gluten free!
— Konyakku, a block of yam cake seasoned with seaweed (like shirataki noodles, which they also stock, but the solid block form can be harder to find)
— Mountain vegetables, used in stews and one pot meals
— Chikuwa, or grilled hollow cylindrical squid cakes
— Frozen sushi grade fish
— Japanese style cake mix and pancake mix, which are different from one another, and used by a ton of recipes on cookpad website
They also carry fresh Japanese foods made in house, of which the harder-​to-​find offerings would be takoyaki (fried octopus/​squid inside spherical dough), onigiri (rice balls with a filling in the center), and mochi/​daifuku (a type of dessert made from sweet rice pounded into a dough and a sweet filling in the center).
And while I mean no offense to E-​Kagen, here are things I don’t recommend you get there, or which you can’t get there:
— Umeboshi (japanese pickled plums), because they’re not the tastiest and overpriced for the small quantity… see if you can get the jarred Clearspring ones from Infinity foods instead.
— Umeboshi purree, because it’s common in Japanese recipes to request chopped Umeboshi to be added to something, especially a dressing, and it’s cheaper and faster to use this item instead… E-​Kagen doesn’t carry it, so you’ll need to go to hiSbe for it.
— Shiso-​ume seasoning, commonly used with rice… E-​Kagen doesn’t carry it, but neither does anybody in Brighton. Le sigh.
— The selection of fresh japanese vegetables is limited (this is true of anywhere in Brighton) and you will probably need to go to Japan Centre in London for what you seek, or order a vegetable box like I do.
Credit card minimum is 10 pounds, and they charge extra for packets of condiments if you are buying any of their ready made food (e.g. packets of soy sauce and wasabi carry a charge).
The staff is always very friendly and you can ask them if you’re looking for something specific, though sometimes the answer is that they don’t have it!