Koushindo: The Spice Shop Every Home Cook in Jiyugaoka Should Know

Salut! It's been a while since my last post.

It's Yoko, your food blogger.

Last weekend was a shopping day in Jiyugaoka!!
I went to Koushindo, about a five-minute walk from Jiyugaoka Station.

It's a famous shop, and I bet some of you make a stop there every time you visit Jiyugaoka.

Koushindo

Koushindo is Japan's first specialty shop that blends mixed spices to order.

Once you start cooking from scratch with spices, for biryani or Indian curry, you often find that the spice you want isn't at the supermarket!

Koushindo carries dozens of kinds, including ones you can't get at supermarkets, like mace and whole nutmeg, so you can pretty much find whatever you need.

There is a dedicated mill in the shop, and they'll grind the spices you choose on the spot.

They also sell Koushindo's original blends, such as a spice mix for sangria.

One thing to know: even when the shop is open, the owner is sometimes sitting on the bench across the street, and when he steps outside the door can be locked.

If you don't see him, go shop somewhere else for a bit and come back a little later.

What I bought at Koushindo

As soon as you step inside, you are wrapped in the lovely scent of spices...!

The walls have several tiers of shelves, with all kinds of spices lined up neatly in glass jars.

I scanned them slowly from one end to the other...

This time I bought spices for biryani, which I'm obsessed with right now!

Mace, cloves, cardamom, and bay leaves*
*Not Indian bay leaves; these are regular laurel.

If you're not sure what to buy, you can ask the owner, but there really are so many spices that it helps to cook a bit and build up some knowledge first.

Single spices are sold by weight. I bought the smallest amount, 50 g I think:

Cloves: ¥600
Cardamom: ¥850
Bay leaves: ¥500
Mace: ¥900

The total was ¥2,850!

In case mace is unfamiliar: it comes from the same plant as nutmeg. Mace is the covering around the seed, and nutmeg is the kernel inside the cracked seed.

Whole spices give a gentler aroma than ground ones, and I've been grinning to myself these days thinking how much easier this will make my biryani.

See you next time. Au revoir!