YouTuber Kimono Mom launches Umami Sauce in Singapore, also available in handrolls till end June

You may not know her, but you most certainly would have seen her pop up on your social media feed — a petite kimono-wearing mother with her cheeky toddler, whipping up Japanese recipes from their home in Tokyo. 

With a staggering six million followers across all her social media platforms, Moe or Kimono Mom, which most might know her as, is unsurprisingly down-to-earth when we met the 33-year-old in-person when she was in Singapore in late-May. 

Her precocious doppelganger Sutan, 5, who features prominently in many of her videos, was also in town, as was Moe’s husband, but Moe jokes that Sutan spends most of her time at the pool when they’re overseas at such engagements.

Moe, who prefers to go by her first name, held several events in Singapore to launch her Umami Sauce brand in Singapore — two meet-and-greet sessions at the Garden Vibes event by Little Farms and Iroha Mart, as well as a sit-down lunch and dinner at handroll bar Rappu. 

The sauce, simply known as Kimono Mom’s Umami Sauce, is the culmination of 3.5 years of work by Moe and her team, including a year of looking for a suitable soy-sauce maker that could carry out what she envisioned. 

Meeting Moe 

For those who may not be familiar with Moe, she first shot to fame when she began uploading videos on YouTube some four years ago, about her life as a mother living in Tokyo. 

As time went along, she began sharing cooking videos, sometimes on her own, sometimes featuring her daughter, Sutan. 

It’s hard to pin down exactly what makes Moe’s videos so endearing, but perhaps it’s a combination of Moe’s gentle and encouraging disposition, Sutan’s antics and the overall mother-daughter dynamic. 

I, myself, began following the duo online after I first came across a video of Moe patiently watching on as a young Sutan tried cracking eggs for a dish, with the caption “Don’t rush. They can do it.”

In a social media world where videos tend to gravitate towards quick click-baity hooks and short, snappy reels, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the one-minute video, silently rooting for Sutan to succeed in her egg-cracking endeavour.

Sutan has since grown into a spunky five-year-old who is more than able to crack eggs deftly and Moe, herself, has taken on some new endeavours of her own, with her latest being the Umami Sauce.

Starting on the sauce 

If you follow Moe’s YouTube channel, even before the dynamic duo catapulted to social media fame, Moe had religiously been shooting and uploading cooking videos of her whipping up simple Japanese dishes every week. 

Moe noticed that her followers, which currently span across 192 countries, were unable to find the Japanese ingredients she used — such as kombu and dashi — and were only able to get soy sauce.

She knew that there was a similar sauce in the Japanese market then — mentsuyu (a noodle soup base usually made from sake, mirin, soy sauce, kombu, and dried bonito flakes) — but she also realised that Japan’s sauces tended to not cater for different dietary preferences. 

Moe wanted to create a vegan, gluten-free, alcohol-free sauce that would enable people, in particular, her millions of followers, to be able to cook Japanese food easily in their own homes. 

The former geisha (Japanese performing artiste), who started training as a maiko (junior geisha) at the age of 16, told us that her training taught her everything about being independent, living as an adult and taking responsibility. 

Moe said that one thing stuck with her after all these years and it was the idea that “you have to take responsibility for yourself”. And so she did, taking it upon herself to make the sauce happen. 

It wasn’t easy at first, as companies doubted her credibility. Many longstanding Japanese companies tend to be more traditional and were not comfortable with working with an “influencer”.

Eventually after a year of efforts, Japanese soy sauce company Shibanuma, which has been in the business for more than 300 years, took to her idea and the rest, they say, is history. 

In August 2023, she launched the sauce officially on Amazon to much fanfare. 

Moe said she received a lot of comments from fans in Singapore asking for her to come visit. 

Singapore is her second stop on her 2024 “world tour” after her pitstops in the U.S. This is also her second visit here — she last came to Singapore a year ago to better gauge how she could market her sauce here. 

Turns out the Kimono Mom needn’t have worried — the fan response to all her events here were overwhelmingly positive. 

Though she’s since left our shores, Kimono Mom’s sauce can still be purchased locally at Little Farms and Iroha Mart at Plaza Singapura, for now. Though last we checked, it seems to sell out quite quickly after each restock.

Another way that fervent fans of Kimono Mom can try her sauce is by making a reservation at handroll bar Rappu at Duxton Road. 

Tasting Kimono Mom’s Umami Sauce at Rappu

Moe had initially planned to serve up Umami-Sauce-flavoured handrolls at Rappu for a one-day-only event on May 26, but the response was so overwhelming (all lunch and dinner slots were sold out) that Rappu decided to extend the menu for a whole month.

For S$42, you’ll be able to try six rolls featuring Moe’s Umami Sauce, in three different ways, till June 30. These include:

• Hotate (scallop) with an Umami tare (dipping sauce) glaze
• Negitoro (minced tuna) with an Umami tare glaze 
• Salmon with Umami mayo
• Engawa (flounder fin) with Umami mayo 
• Wagyu with an Umami teriyaki glaze 
• Aburi tamago (torched egg) with an Umami teriyaki glaze 

As with all Rappu handroll sets, Kimono Mom’s set of six handrolls also come with a dedicated sake pairing flight (S$23) or a kombucha flight (S$16) for the non-drinkers. 

Having tried Rappu’s original set of handrolls on a personal visit prior, I liked that the team at Rappu and Moe herself didn’t just slap the sauce onto Rappu’s current offerings for this collaboration. Instead, they carefully considered how the Umami Sauce would complement the various rolls.

We understand that a tamago (egg) handroll was also included as it is Sutan’s favourite — a touch that we’re sure Kimono Mom’s fans will appreciate.

If you can’t quite get enough of the sauce, there’s also additional Umami Sauce served in a dish, on the side. 

And hey, if you’re left wanting more, there’s always the option to purchase it in-person at Iroha Mart or Little Farms, while stocks last. 

We’ll leave you with a little tip from Moe herself on how to use the Umami Sauce, a la Singaporean style: “If you like it spicy, chop the spicy chilli and soak it in the Umami Sauce.” 

Keen on more places to explore? Check out the new Godmama outlet at Parkway Parade and the latest Cocobella Lifebar with its dairy-free treats. 

Rappu is on the GrabFood delivery service and offers free delivery (up to S$3 off) with GrabUnlimited. 

Do explore the GrabFood Dine-in service for awesome deals.

You can also book a ride to Rappu for some handrolls with Kimono Mom’s Umami Sauce.