Traditional Dashi
Traditional dashi used to make miso soup
Dashi is to Japanese cooking what butter is to French. A cornerstone of Japanese cooking, dashi is found in almost all soups, simmered dishes, salad dressings and marinades. Most people don’t make homemade dashi anymore due to the myriad of instant dashi powders at the store, but making it yourself is fresh, fast and simple.
Dried bonito flakes
You need a piece of konbu, a couple of handfuls of katsuo-bushi (bonito fish flakes) and water. Steep the konbu in simmering water for 10 minutes then add the pale pink katsuo-bushi and steep for another seven minutes. After the steeping, strain out the konbu and katsuo-bushi and you’re left with a pure, savoury stock that tastes sweet, smokey, and just a little bit like the sea.
Dashi is the base stock of miso soup: stir a little bit of miso paste, add some nori and tofu and you have home made miso soup, perfect for rainy days.
A little homage to A Table For Two's excellent Beeramisu photos
Subscribe via RSS
Follow me on Twitter
I always wondered how dashi was made!! This looks a million times better than anything store bought that I’ve seen.
Thanks! It was a lot faster than I thought it would be and tasty too.
looks great, very cool glasses too. nice photo.
Thanks Max!
love it. the simplest of concoctions can have the biggest impact.
Dan,
It’s funny how three things can come together to taste so good!
No kombu? I thought steeping some kombu in water that was just under a boil was part of making dashi.
Andy,
I mention konbu in the second paragraph. There’s a photo of a piece of konbu in the second photo too :)
Oops! Guess I was reading too fast.
You and your husband do nice picture composition, by the way. The way the dashi is well lit in a fairly dark frame really makes it pop.
Have you considered double walled glasses? That creates a nice floating effect.
Andy,
Actually we have considered doubled walled glasses! I’ve wanted them for espresso for the longest time; maybe we’ll get some soon.
love the glass and the presentation. :)
Thanks Jen!
I too love the glass.. any chance it’s still available someplace?
Paul,
It’s from Crate & Barrel. I think they still have it.
Thanks
Love the soup in that glass too. That’d make a nice appetizer: imagine a mouthful or two or noodles in there. Mmm
That’s a good idea: noodle shooters!
How long can we keep the dashi stock in the fridge? If we want it for later use.
The dashi will lose it’s flavour if you keep it for too long, I wouldn’t recommend over 3 days.