How to Make Dried Bonito and Kelp Dashi

When looking up Japanese recipes you may get a little intimidated by the word “dashi” on the ingredients list but worry no longer because we’re going to break it down for you. Dashi is the essential soup stock for a large number of Japanese dishes such as ramen, miso soup, sauces, hot pots and even the flour base of some grilled foods such as takoyaki and okonomiyaki. But why is dashi so important? If you read about Japanese cooking, you may come across the term, “umami” or the fifth flavor (as in the fifth after the four other flavors: salty, sweet, sour, and bitter). This word was coined after the discovery of the flavor in kelp dashi by Professor Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University in 1908. Unfortunately, though dashi is critical for achieving this distinctly Japanese flavor, if you’re not in Asia, as of writing this you’re still probably not going to easily find the premade version of it in most western grocery stores so you may need to make dashi in your kitchen. The good news is homemade dashi is the way to go as it tastes better with a more subtle flavor. Another bonus is that it’s actually super easy! Here’s a quick and simple dashi recipe we recommend.