Nihon in the Kitchen: Recipe 6 - Dashi

Recipe 6 - Dashi

---

6 inches konbu (kelp)
large handful of bonito flakes
4 cups water

Put konbu into pot with 4 cups of water. Allow to sit for a couple hours (preferably 2 hours, but 30 minutes will work as well). After letting the konbu sit, bring the water to a boil with the konbu still inside. When water begins to boil, remove konbu from pot and add bonito flakes in. Continue to boil for around 1 minute, then turn the heat off. Wait for the bonito to sink to the bottom of the pot (should take around 10 minutes). Strain the bonito, leaving only the golden colored dashi soup base.

---

In the sixth installment of Nihon in the Kitchen, Moto shows the "it" ingredient of Japanese cooking, dashi. Much of Japanese cooking begins with the dashi soup base, so we're going to show you how easy it is to make your own. Use your homemade dashi to make miso soup or even with your favorite simmered vegetables for that added flavor.

Stay tuned for future recipes! Feel free to share Japanese ingredients you'd like us to talk about!