Healthy And Tasty Dashi –Japanese Stock-
This simple, easy to follow, short taking time – only more or less 15 minutes-, homemade recipe of Dashi – Japanese Stock- is giving you tasty stock with only three ingredients such as bonito flakes, kombu and water that you can use to make many kinds of Japanese Food.
You can make this tasty stock with only using shaved bonito flakes, kombu (Japanese dried seaweed), and some water. Dashi is quite important for many Japanese meals. Once you can make Dashi on your own at home, then you can make your own Japanese Food as delicious as the one that you usually have at Japanese Restaurants.
There are two well-known Kombu, one is Ma-Kombu and the other one is Rishiri Kombu. They are well-known for their best quality for Kombu.
Since it is not that difficult to make your own Dashi at home, it is not really recommended to buy instant dashi powder at stores because it contains lots of MSG laden and it is not as tasty and healthy as the Dashi that you can make easily at home.
The end result of your homemade Dashi will have a good, beautiful light brown color and it is very clear. To have the best end result of your homemade Dashi, there are things that you need to pay attention to.
Firstly, it is strongly recommended that the best quality of dry shaved bonito flakes must be bought.
Secondly, it is important that a well-dried, thick and a nice aroma of Kombu (Japanese dried seaweed) be chosen, especially Hokkaido Rishiri Kombu.
Next, the exterior of Kombu (Japanese dried seaweed) is wiped and the dirt is removed with a kitchen towel or paper towel. IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to remove the white powder on the exterior because the white powder produces meaty, broth and savory flavor.
After that, IT IS ALSO STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to squeeze the bonito flakes. Squeezing Bonito flakes will make a very not nice fishy smell.
Last but not least, it is advisable that you make Dashi in the right quantity meaning that you just make as much as you need it or in tiny amount and try to make it as fresh as possible.
If you just make a tiny amount of Dashi, then you can keep the Dashi in the fridge or freeze it in an ice tray for maximum 3 days.
One delicious Japane Food using Healthy Tasty Dashi is Oden. Oden is a Japanese stew with hard-boiled eggs, daikon, dashi soup and fish cakes.
To make delicious Oden, you need to have the ingredients such as 3 cups of Dashi, ½ cup of water, 2 softened and tie into knots of Kombu strips, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 12 oz of Japanese oden fish cakes and fish balls, and 6 oz of chopped into wedges of daikon.
Some other ingredients are also needed such as 2 oz of chopped into pieces or wedges of konnyaku, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 1 tablespoon of cooking sake, Japanese Togarashi, and Japanese mustard for serving. With these many ingredients, you are now ready to make Oden.
First of all, the fish cakes and fish balls are cleaned up with running water. The excess oil from the fish cakes and fish balls is removed. They are dried-out and pat-dried with paper towels and they are put aside.
Next, the Dashi, water, Kombu strips are boiled in a soup pot. The daikon is put into the soup pot and they are stewed on low heat until they are well-cooked.
After that, the hard boiled eggs, konnyaku and fish cakes are put into the soup pot. The soy sauce, mirin and sake are also put into the soup pot. The heat is turned to low and they are simmered for15 minutes.
Finally, your Homemade Oden is ready and you serve it warm with Japanese mustard and Togarashi. Enjoy!!
HOW MANY CALORIES OF HEALTHY TASTY DASHI PER SERVING?
You will have 3 cups of Healthy Tasty Dashi and every cup has only 32 calories.
CUISINE : JAPANESE (SOUP)
KEYWORD : DASHI
PREP TIME : 5 MINUTES
COOK TIME : 10 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME : 15 MINUTES
SERVING SIZE : 3 CUPS
CALORIES : 32 CALORIES PER CUP
INGREDIENTS :
- 1 piece of 6×6-inch of Kombu (Japanese dried seaweed)
- 1 oz of shaved dried bonito flakes
- 4 cups of water
INSTRUCTIONS :
- The exterior of the Japanese dried seaweed or Kombu is wiped with a kitchen towel or paper towel to remove the dirt. It is strictly forbidden to remove the white powder on the Kombu. Prepare a stock pot. The water and Kombu are put into the stock pot together. It is let steeped for 30 minutes.
- The stock pot is placed over medium heat and it is brought to a boil. The Kombu is removed as soon as possible. The shaved dried bonito flakes are put into the stockpot and they are stirred just once to mix in. Quickly after the liquid boils again, the heat is reduced to low and it is simmered for 5 minutes. Any scum that appears on the exterior is removed.
- The heat is turned off and the liquid is let steeped for 15 minutes. It is strained through a fine sieve or strainer or cheesecloth. It is strictly forbidden to squeeze the bonito flakes because by squeezing the bonito flakes the Dashi will become cloudy, not very clear and make a very not nice fishy smell. The bonito flakes are thrown away after you finish using them.
- Your Homemade Healthy Tasty Dsahi is ready and you can put it in the fridge for maximum 3 days or you can also freeze the Healthy Tasty Dashi in an ice tray.