Dashi broth, the Japanese base

The dashi

Dashi is a Japanese broth that is the backbone of many Japanese dishes. It is very important and indispensable. Unlike soups in other cuisines, which are typically made by boiling an assortment of meats, vegetables, herbs, and spices for several hours, dashi usually contains only one or two ingredients and takes only a few minutes to prepare. However, dashi gives Japanese food its unique, umami-rich, salty flavor. Vegetarian dashi can also be made, and we’ll see how.

Ingredients to make dashi

Kombu (dried seaweed)

Katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)

Niboshi (dried sardines)

It is an alternative to Katsuobushi, only if you want a more intensely flavoured dashi, or a combination of both (like kombu + katsuobushi)

Vegetarian dashi

Kombu (dried seaweed)

Shiitake (dried shiitake mushrooms)

All the dry ingredients used to make Japanese soup stock are rich in natural glutamates and add a rich flavor to the stock. Dashi creates a tasty umami flavor from all these ingredients and there is no need to add anything else.

The most common use for Japanese soup stock is to make a bowl of delicious miso soup, the Japanese soul soup. If you want to make a bowl of authentic Japanese miso soup, I highly recommend using dashi instead of substituting other stocks like vegetable or chicken.

Dashi is also used as a broth base in Japanese hot pot dishes such as Shabu Shabu, Oden, Nikujaga, and noodle soups (e.g. udon, soba, and ramen).

You can also use it as a seasoning liquid for Tamagoyaki, Takikomi Gohan and Takoyaki for example or add it to sauces to bring out the depth of flavor in dishes. Because it is a clear broth rich in umami with a subtle aroma, dashi is really versatile and you can literally use it in any dish that requires the addition of liquid.

How to prepare dashi in just a few steps, doses to obtain 1 liter of dashi

o 1 liter of water

o 15 grams of kombu seaweed

o 15 grams of katsuobushi

1. Pour 1 liter of water into a tall pot and add the kombu seaweed, having first rubbed it with a cloth to remove excessive impurities or salt, leaving it to soak for at least 30 minutes. Then turn on the heat and cook for 15 minutes but without bringing it to the boil.


At this point, for those who want vegetarian/vegan dashi, it is sufficient to stop at this point, the kombu-based broth is very light and delicate.

2. At this point, remove the kombu seaweed from the broth and add the katsuobushi. Once it boils, turn off the heat and leave to infuse for at least 5/7 minutes.

3. Now filter everything and what you will get is the real Japanese dashi broth.

If you want a dashi with a different and more intense flavor you can use niboshi (dried sardines), here are the steps

o 1 liter of water

o 20 grams of niboshi

1. Soak the niboshi in water in a saucepan for 20 minutes.

2. Bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes

3. Now filter everything and what you will get is another type of dashi obtained from niboshi.

Vegetarian and vegan dashi

If the vegetarian/vegan version based on kombu is too light for your tastes, you can opt for shiitake dashi, made by soaking 5/6 dried shiitakes in 1 litre of water for at least one night in the fridge and then filtering everything.

You can also create a blend of kombu dashi and shiitake dashi if you want a middle ground between the two flavors.
Shiitake dashi is much more flavorful and rich in umami thanks to the intense flavor that only Shiitakes can release.

If making awase dashi (mixed dashi), gradually add the shiitake dashi to the kombu dashi, as shiitake dashi is very strong. Use only dried shiitake mushrooms, as fresh ones will not produce a good result.

In Domechan you will find all these ingredients to make all these types of dashi, Kombu dashi, Shiitake dashi, Niboshi dashi and traditional dashi.