Trays & VAT
Trays & VAT
Kitchen trays and vats are among the most functional and underappreciated tools in a Japanese kitchen. They appear at every stage of the cooking process — as staging areas for prepped ingredients, as draining surfaces for fried foods, as marinating vessels for meat and fish, as cooling trays for freshly cooked items — and having the right size and material for each task makes the whole process of cooking run more smoothly.
Japanese stainless steel vats, known as vatto, are a staple of both professional and home kitchens in Japan. They come in a wide range of sizes with matching lids, and their versatility is remarkable — the same tray can marinate chicken overnight, hold batter for tempura, cool a batch of gyoza after steaming and serve as a prep surface for portioning sushi rice. Unlike plastic containers, stainless steel does not absorb odours, does not stain and can go from refrigerator to work surface without any concern.
Wooden trays, particularly those made from hinoki cypress or paulownia wood, are prized for both their practical and aesthetic qualities. They absorb excess moisture from freshly washed vegetables, keep tofu cool after unwrapping and bring a warm, natural visual quality to food preparation. Enamel-coated trays from makers like Noda Horo are another option, offering the clean, non-reactive surface of enamel in a lightweight, attractive format.
For deep frying work, draining trays with wire racks allow oil to run off freshly fried items cleanly, keeping the texture crisp and preventing the base from becoming soggy. These are particularly useful for tempura, tonkatsu and karaage, where the difference between draining for thirty seconds and skipping that step is immediately visible in the final texture.
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