Bonito and Kombu Dashi Recipe
From 'Japanese Home Cooking' by Sonoko Sakai
Bonito and Kombu Dashi
By Sonoko Sakai
This combination of bonito flakes and kombu makes the most popular and flavorful all-purpose dashi. The idea is to extract the flavors by steeping the ingredients for the first round of dashi, which is called ichiban dashi, or "number 1 dashi." The amount of bonito flakes I use for this recipe depends on how I will use the dashi. For everyday dashi, I make a medium-strength dashi using 3 cups (20 g) bonito flakes. When I make noodle soups, I want a stronger dashi, so I use 4 cups (30 g) bonito flakes. This dashi is enjoyed for its fragrance and is so flavorful on its own that you can drink it straight, like soup.
5 cups (1.2 L) filtered water
1 piece kombu, about 3 x 3 inches (7.5 x 7.5 cm)
3 to 4 cups (20 to 30 g) bonito (dried skipjack tuna) flakes
Combine the water and kombu in a medium saucepan. Heat over low heat until bubbles begin to form around the kombu, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the piece of kombu before the water comes to a boil. Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat. Add the bonito flakes. Let stand for 2 minutes, without stirring, to steep the bonito flakes.
To strain the dashi, pour the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth or a paper towel. Do not press the bonito flakes while straining, as it will cloud the dashi. Use immediately, or cool completely and refrigerate for up to 4 or 5 days or freeze up to 1 month.
Yield: about 4 cups (960 ml)
Note: You can reuse the bonito flakes and kombu to make one more pot of dashi. Add the bonito and kombu to 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes until the volume is reduced by half.
From Japanese Home Cooking by Sonoko Sakai. © 2019 Sonoko Sakai. Photographs © 2019 by Rick Poon. Reprinted in arrangement with Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO.