J-Popconline and WakuWaku collaborated on the event Taste of Japan, held on Twitch. Because of this, we have made a small interview with Erik from WakuWaku about the store.
We are an online Japanese supermarket, meaning that our customers have a direct and simple access to authentic Japanese goods through the website. We expand on an ongoing basis with goods from all of Asia and both Korean and Chinese goods are by now also well represented in our selection.
In organisational terms, we are quite the small business. It's the same people who take care of all your orders and inquiries, so there's not far between word and action for us.
Behind us we have a broad network of suppliers and general expertise within import – especially from Japan. For many years, the company has delivered goods to restaurants, so it's not completely wrong to say that WakuWaku pose the opportunity to get the completely right restaurant flavour into your own kitchen. :)
Vi love the authentic, Asian flavours and it is our ambition that a Japanese dish can be made from beginning to end with ingredients and things from our selection. Because of this, initiatives such as J-Popcon are an incredible opportunity for us to be able to enlighten and demystify the culinary and cultural Japan.
It can be overwhelming to begin to learn a lot of new terminology and specialised ingredients – and we completely understand that! That's why we have put together different package solutions, which have to make it easy to order the right stuff home for a specific dish or for a thorough tasting of sake, Japanese beer, or Ramune soda. Like this, all non-fresh ingredients for popular dishes such as sushi, okonomiyaki, and three different kinds of ramen can be put into your basket as one.
Do you want to know more about Japanese recepies, cultural aspects, or specialties such as miso, yuzu, umeboshi, dashi, or furikake, you can always look on our blog: wakuwaku:dk/blog.
When it comes to flavour, the flavour preferences are different than we are used to in Denmark probably – and this exactly makes it so interesting to try! Especially when different textures can be so important, even more so than flavour.
With Asian cakes, there is a much bigger tendency towards milder, sweeter flavours and soft, spongy textures, because many of these cake types should be enjoyed together with tea, which has a big cultural significance. On the other hand, snacks can be everything from spicy chili to full of umami, since both seaweed, sesame, salty-sour flavours are very popular. It is not always possible to apply the same yardstick to all tendencies, though.
One of the strengths of the Asian cuisine in terms of candy and snacks, in our opinion, is its ingenuity! Here, you find completely unique and amazing flavours, where most maybe would not be associated with candy in Denmark - taro, ube, sesame, seaweed, ume (Japanese plum), calamansi (Korean citrus fruit), sakura, anko (sweet red bean), and many, many more.
A popular concept we also see among Asian snacks is interpretations of different dishes in a completely new format. KitKat with strawberry cheesecake flavour, Umaibo corn puffs with teriyaki burger flavour, and Samyang instant noodles with the flavour of pasta carbonara are all takes of this funny concept that you can get on the website.
As a customer, you should have access to a complete experience and that's why we have a large selection of sake and spirits besides Japanese basics such as rice, noodles, and soy. All of this and much more you can experience during Copenhagen Sake Festival, where we offer delicious tastings and guidance.
Nice tools and beautiful service are a part of the kitchen, which is why we offer authentic knives, rice cookers, bamboo steamers, rolling pins, hot pots, and hangiri sushi bowls of cedar wood (that smells amazing!).
On top of that, we always accept wishes for specific goods that we should get on our website or look further into for you – the inbox is always open. ;)
Unfortunately, we have to mention that we – like so many others – have been challenged by corona in terms of purchasing goods. Limitied access to containers and delayed deliveries from Asia is a reality that we have to address.
At any time, we want to support Japanese cultural events in Denmark. In the end, we are a bunch of fiery souls in a smaller comminty, who just like con-goers also wish to share our enthusiasm for Japan and get a good experience. J-Popcon har through many years managed to create some absolutely amazing frames for fans and interested in Japanese culture, which is of big value for us to support and be a part of.
