Aduki or Adzuki Bean: A small red bean with the best carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of the colored beans. Easy to digest and regarded as the best bean for human consumption. Adaptable to all ethnic cooking styles and seasonings.

Agar Agar: Vegetable gelatin. A sea vegetable growing near the ocean's surface and harvested in tidal nets. It is washed and dried for use as a jelling agent in fruit or vegetable deserts, jams, jellies, preserves, toppings and spreads.

Arame: A thick, broad leaf sea vegetable that is first cooked then thinly sliced and sun dried. Popular for its light flavor.

Bancha Tea or Green Tea: The young spring leaves of the Tea plant (Camelia sinensis) are picked, steamed and dried. The result is an aromatic tea that makes a soothing and healthful hot or cold beverage. Barley Malt Syrup: Sprouting Barley creates enzymes that convert grain starch to simple sugars which are concentrated to make this nutritious sweetener. For baking, sweetening desserts, and as a cereal topping. Beefsteak Leaf or Shiso: A tangy, tart condiment made of pickled dried beefsteak leaves. A beneficial food that cleanses the palate, goes well with grains and vegetable dishes and livens up a salad.

Bifun Rice Pasta: Thin, quick cooking wheat free pasta that can be used for most pasta recipes.

Bonito Flakes: The bonito is a small tuna that's dried hard-as-wood, then shaved into delicate little slivers. Adds hearty, delicious flavor to noodle broth or soups and is used as a flavorful, nutritious garnish. Brown Rice Vinegar: A delicate yet flavorful vinegar made by a complicated process that takes advantage of seasonal changes to add deep character to the finished product. One of the most delicious vinegars found anywhere in the world.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Is an international olive oil producer's distinction used for the first Pressing (there are three or four for each batch of olives and after the extra virgin press the pits are included back into the pressings) of pitted, tree ripened olive fruit. This grade of olive oil is highly prized and the most fruity tasting. It is commonly blended with lower grades and refined olive oils to enhance them. Eden brand olive oil is 100% extra virgin that is completely unrefined and only lightly filtered. See, smell and taste the difference! There is no finer, more aromatic or better tasting olive oil available under any other brand name.

Gomasio Sesame Salt: Sesame seeds are roasted to release their oil, then ground with a small amount of roasted sea salt, coating the salt with sesame oil. This yin oil and yang salt combination goes a long way toward balancing the harshness of plain salt.

Harusame or Mung Bean Noodle: A clear pasta made from mung beans. An excellent warm weather choice for noodle salads.

Hiziki or Hijiki: Sea grass that grows in sunny shallows. Used to enhance and flavor stews, corn, carrots and side dishes. A rich source of calcium and iron-packed with trace minerals.

Hot Pepper Sesame Oil: Red chili peppers are marinated in toasted sesame oil for a 'spicy hot' cooking oil that has a concentrated, firey flavor. A little goes a long way.

Jinenjo: A wild mountain yam highly regarded by the Japanese as an energizer and traditionally considered a libido strengthener. It contains 28 times more diastase enzyme than daikon radish and nourishes the kidney and liver.

Job's Tears: Also known as 'pearl barley' or 'hato mugi'. Long recognized as a potent health food in eastern health care systems, it goes well with grains and in soups and bean dishes.

Kamut: A delicious non-hybridized ancient relative of wheat that contains 20 to 40% more protein, is easier to assimilate and contains more minerals than 'modern' wheat.

Koji: Aspergillus oryzae mold spore that thrives at 98.6 degrees F and is used to reduce grain and bean starch and protein to easily assimilable simple sugars and amino acids. It's used in making traditional soy sauce, miso, amazake, mirin and sake.

Kombu: A tall, broad leaf sea vegetable that's harvested wild from cold arctic currents. A charmed flavor enhancer. Combined with a few bonito flakes it makes a broth or soup stock that will bring out subtle flavors from other ingredients. Add a piece to beans as they cook to soften them and make them more tasty.

Kudzu or Kuzu Root: A wild mountain root that yields a unique starch. Renowned as a stomach and intestine soother, energizer and health food. Used as a gravy thickener, in sauces, puddings and parfaits, and to make tempura batter crispier.

Kukicha Tea or Twig Tea: Twig cuttings of tea plants are aged and then slowly stir roasted in thick iron pans. They make a delicious healthful beverage when boiled and steeped. These lowly twigs make the perfect conclusion to a meal or a refreshing drink when served either hot or cool. Best choice for a blended summer drink of tea and juice.