use less but use higher quality goods!

These are the famous Kyoto rice crackers, again presented to me by Hiro's mother. They are really beautiful so usually I gaze at them for a whole 4 seconds before I gobble them all up. They come in mini snack-sized serving packs.

She often introduces me to Japanese foods and encourages me to use slightly more expensive oils, sauces, and spices because we use so little of it at a time. Quality is essential, she stresses.

Since then I buy soy sauce made from whole soy beans, not the inferior kind made from crushed bits of soy. Apparently the taste is just 'that' much better. Just to give you an example of the difference in price. The bargain soy sauce comes at 1 dollar a 1L bottle. The premium stuff is around 6 dollars for the same amount!