10 Useful Kitchen Goods Sold at Japan’s 100 Yen Stores

1. Rice Roll Shaker (Daiso)

Nori-maki (rice rolls) are surprisingly difficult to make, but with this device, anyone can create incredibly pretty nori-maki!
All you have to do is put rice into the device and shake it back and forth. With just 20 to 30 shakes, the rice will turn into a beautiful cylinder shape! Once it does, you’re ready to wrap it with seaweed. Insert the seaweed sheet into the device’s slit and shake it back and forth again. The seaweed will magically wrap itself around the rice, resulting in a perfect nori-maki! Despite being so easy to make, it turns out really beautiful, so everyone in the family is sure to enjoy using it.
If you want to make kappa-maki (cucumber rice rolls) that look like what you find at sushi restaurants, first add in a bit of vinegared rice, then insert cucumbers that have been cut into sticks. Add in more vinegared rice before rolling the device, cut the kappa-maki into easy-to-eat portions, and plate everything up. Tada, beautiful kappa-maki!

Kappa-maki

2. Microwavable Cooker for Ramen Noodles (Daiso)

With this cooker, you’ll be able to cook packaged ramen in a microwave instead of a pot! You don’t have to deal with as much clean up, since all you have to do is heat the ramen up in the microwave.
To use the cooker, open the lid and put the ramen brick into the bowl. Add water and simply heat it in the microwave! You can add the same amount of water as what’s written on the ramen packet, and you’ll need to follow the time duration written in the instruction manual that came with the device. By the way, you can add hot water instead to shorten the cooking time! If the packaged ramen comes with a soup packet, just add it in after you heat the ramen up using the cooker.
If the packaged ramen doesn’t come with toppings, you can also add your own toppings! Some recommendations are ham, boiled spinach, and boiled eggs. You can buy packaged ramen at supermarkets or convenience stores, so if you buy this device along with a few packets of ramen, you can easily cook ramen at home!

3. Lemon Spray (Daiso)

This innovative device makes a big impact just with its appearance! Slice off the top of a lemon and screw this device into it, and you’ll be able to spray lemon juice from it! Apart from spraying the juice on meat and fish dishes, you can spray it directly into black tea or sparkling water to get lemon tea or lemon soda. You can buy bottled lemon juice, but there’s just something exceptional about the fresh scent of actual lemons.
It also comes with a stand for resting the lemon on, so if you leave it out on the table at a party, it’s sure to be the center of attention!

4. Peeler-shaped Butter Knife (Seria)

This butter knife can easily cut thin slices of hardened butter that you just took out from the fridge. These slices of butter will quickly melt on toast, making this device great for busy mornings! Lay the butter knife flat side down on the butter and pull down to cut thin slices of butter, much like peeling the skin off vegetables. Also, since the slices of butter are so thin, this butter knife is great for those looking to reduce salt or caloric intake!

5. Microwavable Cooker for Pasta (Seria)

With this device, even if you’re living by yourself or in a sharehouse, as long as you have a microwave, you can easily make a single portion of pasta!
Open the lid and add in small portions of pasta, water, and salt, then heat everything up in the microwave. It’s done when the water evaporates! As long as your microwave works on 500w or 600w, you can use this device. It was designed with gripping sections to make it safe to carry after the pasta’s done cooking. Depending on the size of the microwave, this device might not fit inside, so please double check the size of your microwave before purchasing it.

6. Easy Honey Spoon (Daiso)

Lots of people start their mornings by putting honey into their drinks or yogurt. This spoon lets you properly do so without dribbling it all over the place.
The head of the spoon is in a V-shape, so if you dip it into a jar of honey and pull it out while twirling the spoon, the honey will not get everywhere.

7. Cap Reseal (Daiso)

Once you open stuff that comes in a bag like wheat flour, bread crumbs, or sugar, you’ll have to seal it up again. If you attach this device to the bag, this becomes very easy to do! Tasks like covering prepared ingredients with flour become effortless, as you can just quickly take out what you need with it. The clear cap can also measure out a tablespoon!

8. Egg Timer (Daiso)

People like their egg yolks at different consistencies. Even within the same family, some like it runny while others prefer it hard, so it’s difficult to determine when to take out the eggs from the pot. This device was made to solve that problem!
You’ll see “SOFT”, “MEDIUM”, and “HARD” written on the timer. If you put the timer together with the eggs into the pot, as everything boils, the pink color will gradually turn into white, making it easy for you to see when to pull the eggs out! If you like it runny, pull it out when the “SOFT” area turns white; if you prefer it slightly harder, “MEDIUM”; and finally, if you like your egg yolk really hard, wait until the “HARD” area turns white before pulling out the eggs. If you suddenly cool down the timer with water after you’ve just finished using it, it can crack, so please leave it aside until it naturally cools down.

9. Drink Box Clip (Daiso)

This box clip comes with an adorable Hello Kitty attachment! All you have to do is attach it to the top of the drink box. Slide the top to seal it; there’s no need to keep taking it on and off!
The smell of milk easily attaches itself to other food products, so if you use this clip, you can preserve the taste of your other foods. The actual clip part is transparent, letting you clearly see the expiry date of the drink. There are also clips without any characters attached to it, as well as opaque types.

10. Peeler Glove (Daiso)

When you remove the skin off vegetables, you’ll normally use a knife or peeler, correct? This is a better solution that’ll let you peel off the skin with a glove! It can take off the skin from potatoes, taro, and great burdock, and even the scales off fish! It comes in two versions, one for each hand. Make sure to take a close look at the labeling before buying if you’re the type who finds it easier to use both gloves at the same time, as they’ll clearly be marked “右手用” (right hand) and “左手用” (left hand).
The surfaces of the thick rubber gloves are covered with bumpy protrusions, and to prettily peel off the skin, simply rub the surface of the vegetable or other ingredient onto the glove repeatedly. Unlike a peeler, there’s no possibility of accidentally cutting your hands, so you can even get your kids to help you out using this!

With these 100-yen goods, any inconveniences that you may have regularly encountered when cooking will disappear! They are sure to make amazing souvenirs, so why not make use of this article and look around to discover even more innovative 100-yen items?