Delicious Living

Dashi (Traditional Japanese Cooking Stock)

More About:

Dashi (Traditional Japanese Cooking Stock)
December, 2006

Makes 4 cups / This smoky, flavorful stock serves as a base for many Japanese dishes. Ingredient tips: Look for kombu (a dried sea vegetable) and bonito fish flakes in the market's international-foods section. A 1-ounce bag of bonito flakes contains about 8 cups loosely packed flakes. Ready-to-use dashi is also available at Asian grocery stores in liquid or powder form; or you can substitute low-sodium vegetable stock or broth.

1 4x4-inch sheet kombu
4 1/2 cups cold water
4 cups large, loosely packed bonito fish flakes


1. Place kombu in a medium saucepan. (Do not wash or wipe off the whitish powder; it abounds with flavor.) Add water and bring almost to a boil. Immediately remove kombu to prevent liquid from becoming bitter.
2. Add bonito flakes and heat on high. When liquid returns to a boil, immediately turn off heat and let flakes rest in liquid for 2 minutes. Pour stock through a fine-mesh sieve. Avoid pressing on the flakes to prevent stock from turning cloudy and bitter.
3. Refrigerate dashi, covered, for up to two days.


PER SERVING (1 cup): 43 cal, 0% fat cal, 0g fat, 0g sat fat, 8mg chol, 8g protein, 1g carb, 0g fiber, 60mg sodium

Discuss this article 0

Post new comment
Sign In or register to use your New Hope 360 ID
(optional)

Connect with DL

In marketing natural products in the food service industry, we have gone out of our way to define natural as we all did years ago in the natural products industry. No artificial flavors, colors, minimally processed, no preservatives and now, non-GMO.  I vote to maintain natural as a certification that our industry supports and defines.

on Apr. 25, 2012