Secret of Japanese Cooking "Dashi"

I have used the term "soup stock" many times in some recipes in this blog.   Some of you probably know that Japanese cooking requires preparation of making soup stock (or commonly called as "dashi").    There are 2 ingredients commonly used for making dashi, "konbu" and "katsuo bushi".    

Other types of Japanese dashi are made of dried sardines or other dried fish (various type).  Photo on the left shows various type of ingredients for dashi.

Konbu is dried seaweed, not those that can be used to make Japanese salad.  Konbu is used mainly to make dashi.　Konbu dashi is made by dipping the konbu in the water for about an hour.  Then use it to make the soup, 2 slices of 5 cm konbu for 4 cups of water.

Katsuo bushi is fine flakes of dried katsuo (bonito).    

The same way with katsuo bushi, you need a boiling water, dip 20-40 gram for a 4 cups of water and use strainer to take the katsuo bushi out after 3-5 minutes.

For a better taste you can use a combination of konbu and katsuo bushi to make your soup stock. It will give you a rich taste and flavor.    Making dashi is all about experiment and taste.    Some like it strong and others may like it mild.

Nowadays there are packed dashi powder available that are easy to use.   However it is important that you check the salt content of this powder because some may be more salty than others.   

I make my own dashi at home and it is not difficult to make once you get used to it.    What i can tell you about making dashi is that you can make it and store  it for about 2 days.    It will not go bad as long as you store them in the fridge.   Professional cook also recommends this method.

I also learnt so far that the best way to make dashi is not to combine too many unrelated

 ingredients.    Such as, when you are making chicken soup stock, you need not use konbu or 

katsuo bushi since you can just use chicken.   Japanese dashi tastes mild in general, therefore stronger flavor of chicken can surpass the taste of konbu/katsuo bushi.

Here are some photos of how the professional make katsuo bushi.  They are not easy to make at home, so i usually buy the ready to use katsuo bushi/bonito flakes.