Dashi is the stock that forms the cornerstone of Japanese cooking – and it’s one of the easiest stocks to make. Although the most common dashi is made with thinly shaved dried bonito (katsuo-bushi), vegetarian dashi made from shiitake is also traditional and popular among devout Buddhists who avoid all animal products.
It was while enjoying a bowl of dashi in 1908 that Kikunae Ikeda identified umami, the fifth taste (along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter). Umami refers to the primary flavour of savouriness and comes from the glutamic acid found in some foods (including kelp and mushrooms). Whether as commercial monosodium glutamate (MSG) or naturally occurring, it emphasises the flavour of other ingredients (as does salt), which is why dashi is used in so many Japanese dishes.
There are two main types of dashi, often referred to as primary dashi and secondary dashi. Primary dashi (below) has a brighter, fuller flavour and is traditionally used in clear soups and dipping sauces.
You can buy instant dashi granules or concentrate, but they don’t give the same delicate flavour as freshly made dashi, so let’s make our own. Use some to make dashi soy sauce to accompany sushi, turn the rest into secondary dashi, or freeze it to make the best agedashi tofu later.
Makes about 1 litre
Share page on:
