Recipe notes
Conservation:
Store dashi in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. It will keep for 2 to 3 days maximum.
It can also be frozen in ice cube trays for easy portioning.
Variations and tips:
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Add a little sake and mirin for a more balanced dashi.
- For 100% vegetarian dashi (shojin dashi), replace the katsuobushi with more dried shiitake or dried mushroom shavings.
- Reuse the kombu to make niban dashi (a second, lighter extraction), or cut into small pieces to add to a salad.
Dashi: the fundamental broth of Japanese cuisine
Dashi is an essential basic broth in Japanese cuisine. Unlike Western broths, which often take a long time to prepare, dashi is quick to make and rich in umami, the fifth flavor that adds depth and roundness to dishes.
There are several types of dashi, but the most common is made with kombu and katsuobushi. This broth is the cornerstone of many Japanese dishes, including :
- Miso soup, where it serves as a base before adding miso paste ingredients such as tofu and seaweeds.
- Ramen and udon, where it enriches the noodle broth.
- Tamagoyaki (Japanese omelettes), which get all their lightness and flavor from a drizzle of dashi in the egg mixture.
- Sauces and seasonings, such as ponzu sauce or dashi vinaigrette.
Katsuobushi: an emblematic Japanese ingredient
Katsuobushi is made from bonito (a fish closely related to tuna), which is boiled, smoked, fermented and dried until extremely hard. It is then grated into fine shavings, which release an intense, smoky flavor.
Katsuobushi can be found in many preparations:
- Sprinkle on hot dishes like okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes) or takoyaki (octopus dumplings), where the shavings seem to "dance" under the effect of the heat.
- Infused in hot water to make dashi, bringing incomparable depth of flavor.
- Mix with soy sauce to enhance white rice or vegetables such as spinach or green beans.
Why is dashi so important?
Dashi is the heart of umami in Japanese cuisine. Thanks to the combination of kombu's natural glutamate and katsuobushi's nucleotides, it creates a synergy that enhances all the other ingredients in a dish. That's why a simple dashi broth can transform a recipe into a veritable explosion of flavors.
