
Master traditional dashi from kombu and dried shaved skipjack tuna. Learn the soak-only method, first and second dashi, with no heating required.
Explore basic dashi types, with kombu dashi as the default when not specified. See how shaved katsuobushi, made from dried tuna, adds flavor and affects cost and use.
Soak kombu and katsuobushi in water, refrigerate overnight, strain to obtain dashi stock, and keep it for a week or freeze for months; use as needed.
Learn how kombu niboshi dashi, made by soaking kombu with dried anchovies, yields a strong fish aroma with no fishy taste, ideal for miso soup.
Learn to make konbu niboshi dashi by soaking konbu and dried anchovies in water, optionally adding salt, then refrigerate overnight and use or freeze for long storage.
Master konbu and dried baby shrimp dashi by soaking ingredients overnight; this shrimp-forward stock requires no meat and boosts flavor in vegetable dishes.
Combine dry baby shrimp and salt in a jar, cover with water, soak overnight in the fridge, strain, and use konbu sakura ebi dashi within a week.
Learn how konbu shiitake dashi is made as a vegetarian liquid from soaking kombu in water, and balance its strong flavor by combining it with other dashis.
Make konbu shiitake dashi by soaking konbu and dried shiitake overnight, then straining; optional sugar, refrigerate up to a week, or freeze for months.
Learn to make a basic miso soup with tofu, dried seaweed, and scallions; rehydrate seaweed, simmer hardy vegetables, then dissolve miso off heat for a flavorful homemade broth.
Oden is a winter one-pot dish simmered in dashi with daikon, tofu, eggs, and fishcakes; diners customize ingredients and savor rich flavors.
Learn how to make tofu and shiitake nimono, a vegan simmered dish where tofu and shiitake soak in dashi broth with soy sauce, sake, sugar, and ginger.
Crispy noodles with shrimp and vegetables flavored with Sakata dashi and Ebby dashi; fry to a golden crust, then top with a thickened dashi soup enriched by egg.
Dashi is a staple ingredient in cooking Japanese food. It is the basic broth or stock in cooking many traditional and household Japanese food and it gives flavor to many soups, meat, vegetables and stews. The umami taste of food usually comes from dashi. Dashi along with sake, soy sauce, and mirin gives a backbone to Japanese cuisine.
Most Japanese food are simple and contains a few ingredients so it is important that each ingredient used is of the highest quality. Making a good dashi is one secret for making a successful Japanese dish.
Nowadays, we can conveniently make dashi using instant dashi in powdered or concentrated liquid form that we can buy at grocery stores. You can even find dashi bags or packets which you can prepare as if you are preparing tea were you need to drop the dashi bag in hot water. This type of instant dashi is the closest you can get to an authentic dashi and contains much lesser flavor enhancers such as salt and MSG like the other forms of instant dashi.
One thing some of you might not know is that making dashi from scratch is really easy. The only thing you need is the time to prepare it. Also, once you learn how to make dashi by yourself, I’m afraid you can not go back to using the instant dashi because there is a huge difference in taste. My Japanese husband described the food I prepared in which I've used homemade dashi this way: "the deliciousness of the food is so deep".