What ingredients or dishes lived up to the hype for you?
I finally was able to find leeks at the grocery store for a reasonable price, since nearly every store near me has them in the "organic super food" section at $5 a stalk.
I turned it into some incredibly delicious Leek and Potato (And onion, I didn't read the recipe closely) soup.
I think I cursed myself, because now I'm going to be wanting leeks even more
Dashi powder. It’s the missing ingredient that made my homecooked japanese dishes taste just not good enough.
Kimchi on my second time. I realized I just had bad kimchi when I tried it years ago. Now I can afford authentic and fresh kimchi, I put it on lots of stuff.