I shouldn't be quite that harsh on Sun Luck. They have a few other edible things too - seasoning packets, mostly - unlike, say, Kikkoman, which I mostly just won't buy. But the only thing of theirs I actively genuinely like enough not to look for better is their wok oil.
Um. Other brands. Right. Let's go to the kitchen! Obviously I don't make my own soy sauce; for that, Yamasa is the best by far. I make most of my own sauces so can't give much help otherwise. Shirakiku has been pretty reliable in a variety of areas (fresh udon, mirin, eda mame, furikake). I love U.F.O. noodle for quick bowl noodle. ^_^ This Takaokaya nori we have is pretty good. Nishiki for rice, I buy that in 20lb bags. Ebara (イバラ, not printed in English) for premade sukiyaki-ish sauce that I use for dipping goyza. ^_^ Bonito dashi stock ... is in kanji only so I can't read the brand. But it's made by Maruhachi Muramatsu of Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, has a bunch of English on it ("BONITO DASHI BAG" "NO MSG ADDED") so should be easy enough to find. Uncle Chen for Vietnamese chili paste, which I use a fairly small amount of in a lot of different things. My favourite instant miso so far is Hikari which is the only Romaji on the entire package ^_^ but Shinshy-ichi and Marukome are both also quite good. Oh, and S&B makes a pretty good curry sauce mix, look for とろけるカレーHOT.
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Um. Other brands. Right. Let's go to the kitchen! Obviously I don't make my own soy sauce; for that, Yamasa is the best by far. I make most of my own sauces so can't give much help otherwise. Shirakiku has been pretty reliable in a variety of areas (fresh udon, mirin, eda mame, furikake). I love U.F.O. noodle for quick bowl noodle. ^_^ This Takaokaya nori we have is pretty good. Nishiki for rice, I buy that in 20lb bags. Ebara (イバラ, not printed in English) for premade sukiyaki-ish sauce that I use for dipping goyza. ^_^ Bonito dashi stock ... is in kanji only so I can't read the brand. But it's made by Maruhachi Muramatsu of Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, has a bunch of English on it ("BONITO DASHI BAG" "NO MSG ADDED") so should be easy enough to find. Uncle Chen for Vietnamese chili paste, which I use a fairly small amount of in a lot of different things. My favourite instant miso so far is Hikari which is the only Romaji on the entire package ^_^ but Shinshy-ichi and Marukome are both also quite good. Oh, and S&B makes a pretty good curry sauce mix, look for とろけるカレーHOT.
That should be a good start. ^_^