Top 19 Best Japanese Frying Pans in 2021 - Tried and True!

Here's the ranking of the Japanese frying pans we tested, ordered from best to worst. Keep in mind that some prices may be converted from the original Japanese prices to US dollars for your convenience!

And why they didn't quite make it.

Wahei Freiz's Double Marble Deep Frying Pan has a coating made of a mixture of ceramic and fluorine resin. The eggs we tested stuck a bit to the surface after 1000 uses. 

The weight of it is just right and the handle is easy to grip, but since the pan is deep and the edges don't fold out nicely, it may be a bit difficult to flip and stir your ingredients. The angle of the handle may also cause some pain in the wrist since it forces you to hold it rather high up. 

Nitori's IH Frying Pan hides its screws well and the entire pan is coated all the way to its edges, making it a simple yet easy-to-use frying pan. 

On the other hand, it only rated averagely in terms of the coating. It scored rather well when testing it with our eggs but there was one spot where the eggs stuck to the surface. Also, it's a bit too light for effective flipping and stirring of ingredients and the shallowness of it will cause your fried rice to fly all over the place. 

Kyocera's Cerafort Frying Pan is made of a mixture of fluorine resin and ceramic, giving it a good defense against food sticking to it and also good heat distribution. Even so, we found our eggs stuck to the surface in a couple of different places. 

The body is a bit on the heavy side but the handle is coated with a polyurethane resin, giving it a kind of a rubber feel to it that's easy to grip. On the other hand, the edges of the pan are a bit too perpendicular, making it difficult to flip and stir your ingredients. 

The outside of the pan is also coated in durable ceramic, making it all around easy-to-clean and long-lasting.

TopValu's Home Coordy Super Hard-Coated Frying Pan is made from a fluorine resin and only a small portion of egg stuck to the pan after 1000 uses. The pan itself is rather durable for the price but we didn't feel like we'd be able to keep it looking new. 

The handle fits nicely in the hand, but the high position of it makes the pan seem ultra-light, which might take some getting used to at first. The shallowness of it might also cause your fried rice to fly out all over the place as well. 

Iris Ohyama's Kitchen Chef Diamond-Coated Frying Pan is coated with artificial diamonds and a fluorine resin. However, we found our eggs sticking to the surface after 1000 uses. 

The weight of the body is just right and the handle fits well in the hand. The pan heats up nicely and we found it easy to flip and stir our ingredients. Heat distribution and ease of use rated averagely but the coating didn't meet our expectations at all. 

Hokuriku Aluminum's IH High-Cast Frying Pan is coated with a Teflon and platinum composite and fluorine resin. People say that a Teflon coating is more durable than if it were only coated with the fluorine resin but when we tested this frying pan, we found that our eggs stuck to the surface quite easily. 

The heavy weight of the pan makes it difficult to flip and stir your ingredients. And although it's not deep, the edges are a bit too perpendicular, making it even more difficult to flip food in the pan. 

DAISO's Fluorine-Coated Frying Pan goes for around $4.00. We found the coating to be better than we originally anticipated but the eggs we tested stuck to the surface after 1000 uses. 

The pan itself is rather thin and light-weight, so your fried rice might tend to jump out all over the place if you're not careful. Also, the edges of the pan aren't coated like the rest of it so we noticed it was difficult to keep it clean. 

The bottom of the pan has a groove you might cut yourself on while it's still new and sharp. This particular pan has all the minimum requirements for good cooking equipment so we recommend it for those of you looking for a cheap option. 

Cooksmark's Marble Frying Pan has a ceramic polymer coating but is not so resistant to scratches and damage and we found that the eggs we tested stuck to the surface after 1000 uses. 

We liked the weight of the body but the deep design made it difficult to flip and stir ingredients. We actually didn't find any merit other than the weight. It takes a while to heat up so you won't be able to get your fried rice just right and you won't be able to use a metal spatula with it. 

We purchased the top best-selling Japanese frying pans from Japanese websites like Amazon and Yahoo! Shopping and put them to the test!

We tested each product for the following three criteria.

① Coating
② Heat Distribution

③ Ease of Use

First, we examined each frying pan's coating. 

We attached steel wool to the top of a filled water bottle and rubbed the surface of the pan with it 1000 times. We didn't apply pressure; we just used the weight of the bottle itself. 

After that, we attempted to cook a thin omelet without any oil to see how much of it stuck to the surface of the pan. We then compared the condition of the surface of that pan to a brand new one and rated each on its resistance to scratching. 

All the brand new pans were able to stay nice and clean without having any egg stick to them, but after the test with the steel wool, we were able to see the difference in quality. As a result of that test, we found that the frying pans made of either titanium or anodized aluminum tended to be the most resistant to scratches and damage. 

The pan that received our highest score in that category, T-Fal's IH Hard Titanium Plus Frying Pan, is made of an aluminum bottom and titanium top with a middle layer of titanium particle composite. Not only did the eggs we tested fail to stick to the surface, but there were also no visible changes at all. 

If you plan on purchasing a frying pan based on the coating, we recommend choosing one made from a mixture of metals or one with numerous layers in the coating. 

Next, we tested each one for how well heat gets distributed around the pan. 

We heated each pan on a gas stove for one minute and checked their level of heat distribution using a thermal camera filter. 

In this examination, we rated the heat distribution on the bottom of each pan and found that there wasn't too much of a difference between the products tested. However, pans with a thicker bottom tended to distribute heat more evenly whereas those with a thinner bottom distributed the heat more quickly. 

Heating frying pans with thicker bottoms will take a little bit more time, but you gastronomers out there will want to steer clear of any pan that's too thin. 

Lastly, we tested each frying pan for how easy is is to use and maintain. 

While making fried rice, we took the ingredients, cooking process, and cooking time all into account and rated each one for how easy it was to cook with. 

You might think that the lighter a frying pan is, the easier it would be to operate. But in fact, if it's too light, it'll be difficult to control and flip your ingredients, causing food to spill over the edge. We found that the best weight for a frying pan is between 1.3 and 1.5 pounds. 

Also, we found that the curve of the pan from the bottom to the edge was also a factor and those that are more perpendicular were more difficult to use. 

Frying pans with more open edges help to arc the ingredients and make not only fried rice but things like pancakes a lot easier to flip. 

Before purchasing a frying pan, we would like you to consider the following points. We also included some information about how to store and take care of your pan to get the best out of it.

Most frying pans are manufactured with a coating that prevents food from sticking to the surface. You see a lot of frying pans coated with either Teflon or a fluorine resin, making them much more resistant to scratches and damage. 

There are a lot of other types of coatings, like artificial diamond particles or titanium particle composites. Take a look at our findings to see just which one's durability is superior to the rest. 

Frying pans run in a number of sizes, ranging from 4 to 12 inches, so choose the one that best suits your cooking needs and household size. 

We also found that the weight of your frying pan will have a large effect on how easy it is to use. Being able to deftly flip and stir your ingredients is important, so try not to purchase a pan that's too heavy.

Even those of you who tend not to make dishes that require constant flipping and stirring will notice the importance of a lightweight pan when washing it, as you'll be able to do so easily while holding it with just one hand.

Most frying pans are made of either aluminum, iron, or stainless steel.

Among those choices, aluminum pans have the best thermal conductivity and are available at a range of different prices, so you'll be able to choose one that best suits your budget. And if you can find one with a decent coating, you'll be able to cook easily with it as well as wash it with little to no stress at all. 

On the other hand, for those of you out there who take cooking seriously, you'll want to choose a frying pan that best suits your recipe needs. 

You'll be able to use just about any frying pan on a gas stove but, for those of you with an IH cooking heater, you'll need to purchase a frying pan specifically designed for it. 

Basically, you'll be able to use any frying pan meant for IH cooking heaters even with a gas stove, but those frying pans tend to be heavier than gas stove ones and take longer to heat up.

As long as you don't plan on moving or continuously purchasing new ones, we recommend buying one designed specifically for the heat source in your kitchen. 

It would be sad if after going through all the trouble of buying a frying pan with a superior coating, you find that food is gradually becoming stuck on it over time. However, there are things you can do to make your frying pan last longer!

First, make sure you're being careful with your heat. If the temperature of the pan gets too high, it will damage the coating over time. Steer clear of using too high a heat when cooking and avoid heating it when it's empty.

If you're using a gas stove, turn the heat on so that the flame is just barely touching the bottom of your pan. Also, try and avoid cooling the pan suddenly right after you finish using it.

Be careful not to scratch the surface! Some frying pans allow for use with metal spatulas and some don't so we recommend using a spatula made of either wood or heat-resistant silicon. We also recommend cleaning it with a soft sponge as opposed to something harder like steel wool.

Each frying pan is different when it comes to what to watch out for so be sure to check the package and read through the instruction booklet carefully to get the most out of it and its coating.

Frying pans with detachable handles can easily be stacked like bowls and stored away but ones without can be a bit more tricky. We recommend partitioning off a part of your drawer or cupboard like in the picture above.

Even if your drawer or cupboard doesn't have its own partitioning, you can easily purchase something like a case or shelf to stick in there, making storage a lot easier.

Also, for those of you with space in your kitchen and who love to show off their cookware, we recommend hanging them either on the wall or above your workspace. 

If you want to make tamagoyaki, the Japanese rolled omelet served in sushi restaurants and used in bento lunches, you'll be able to make them even without a special rectangular frying pan. Let's talk about how to do that.

After it's rolled up, place it at the far side of the pan and pour your remaining egg mixture into the near side. Repeat the process from before and you're done! We recommend anyone who loves their rolled omelet to give it a try.

While in the market for a new frying pan, why not check out other stove-top essentials? Heighten your presence in the kitchen and increase your cooking repertoire!

Also, check out our list for the best spatulas so you can buy one that matches your newly purchased frying pan both in style and in utility!

This time around, we examined the best Japanese frying pans to buy online!

During our examination, we were surprised to see all the different kinds of frying pans and the coatings that they had. We hope that you use this article as a reference before purchasing your next frying pan!

Author: Kano Ichiyama/Translation: Andrew J. Tinkler/Photos: Koichi Miura, Yuuki Inagaki

Ranking Day: 2019/09/13

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