Dashi

Profile#

Dashi iis a broth that forms the basis of many Japanese dishes and is often responsible for the Umami, the good taste. It is made from seaweed and dried tuna (bonito). So far I don’t know anyone who has made it themselves, but many use a dashi instant powder. The production is absolutely simple and Dashi can be kept in the freezer for a long time.
From Dashi you can make the Tsuyu sauce, a perfect sauce for raw fish. This is used for example in my Shashimi recipe. So I had the idea to try it and I have to say that it is worth to do it. The two ingredients, Bonito flakes and Kombu seaweed are available in every better Asia market. As so often, of course, also at the one in Olching:

Ingredients#

• 30g bonito flakes
• 30g Kombu seaweed, known as Dasima (다시마) in Korea, Haidai (海帶 / 海带) in China
• 1l water to brew
• 250ml water to infuse

Let’s go#

Kombu seaweed is covered with a white layer of salt. It can be wiped off with a damp cloth. Be careful not to break the seaweed, otherwise it will be tedious to fish it out of the pot later on.

Place the seaweed in a pot filled with a liter of water.

Heat the pot slowly, being careful not to boil. The temperature should remain below boiling point for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, you can weigh out 30g of bonito flakes. As you can see in the picture, it is quite a lot.

Take the pot off the stove and let the seaweed steep in for another 2 minutes. Remove the seaweed from the water and then boil the broth once briefly.

Take the pot off the stove again and add 250ml of cold water. Sprinkle the bonito flakes over the broth.

Now we have to wait until the flakes in the pot have sunk. You can already place a kitchen paper in a kitchen colander because we have to drain the pot soon.

After about 30 minutes and stir once briefly after 20 minutes it is ready.

Drain the pot through the sieve, ready. The broth still warm tastes very mild and some will already know the taste, as it is found in many dishes.

I froze the dashi in 100ml portions. In addition, I have filled some ice cube trays. So you always have access to a really good Dashi, which you can use for example for Yakisoba, Miso soup or for the Tsuyu sauce.