Dashi
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| Dried Kombu |
This element is a prominent and staple part of Japanese cuisine and some say, " the essence". In this class we have made dashi multiple times throughout this course. Dashi is like a chicken stock in which it is the base for something bigger or can be consumed on its own. Dashi is a broth made from dried kombu that has been simmered and removed and the water is brought to a boil and then bonito flakes are added, off heat. Carefully straining the liquid, this broth should be clear and flavorful. Such as a simple product it is, it could make or break your dish, hence it is key to taste your dashi before incorporating it. With this being the basis to many popular dishes, dashi still stands to be an important part of Japanese Cuisine. It has become the "mother" stock in Japanese cuisine. This dish did not become its own thing until the seventh century.
We learned that there are different types of dashi, this is mainly based off of the products used to make the final dashi. Ichiban being the typical dashi we used in class combining kombu and katsuobushi ( Bonito Flakes). Dashi can also be made from dried iriko, dried shiitake, kombu, and bonito. Sure it has good flavor, but it is mostly popular due to its ability to enhance other things. Kombu being a main component to this stock it grows in abundance in Hokkaido. The Umami flavor of the dashi helps replace the flavor of animal products, which goes along with the vegetarian ways of Buddhism. Dashi has many health benefits from the ingredients used. Kombu is high in iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc, Vitamins B, C, D, and E. This helps prevent poor digestion, mental health, and high blood pressure.
In the global world there are other items that are used like dashi, in the sense of being a base for sauces and soups. In France, there is bouillon which can either be beef, chicken, or vegetable flavor. In China there is tang which is produced by simmering ingredients such as beef, bones, and ginger to produce a base with a balance of meat and fat flavor. In Thailand the use of chicken stock is a basis for sauces and soups. In Mexico they use a soup stock called caldo. which is made from simmering whole chicken with vegetables. Even still none of these stocks are able to replicate the flavor that comes from dashi, the umami.
The science of dashi comes from the amount of glutamate that are in the ingredients used. Dashi is known for its clear and prominent umami flavor. Umami, the fifth basic taste was added onto the taste scale in the 1900's and in this dish the taste is mainly due to the high amounts of glutamate in seaweed. In comparison kombu dashi is said to have less glutamate and umami flavor than ichiban dashi. This is due to the combination of glutamate and inosinate which causes a stronger umami flavor within ichiban dashi. Due to umami's discovery many things changed and this flavor became known all throughout Japanese cuisine.
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| Hokkaido Donabe with a fish dashi based broth |
Simple Dashi recipe
Y: 1 liter
Ingredients Amount
Kombu [dried] 30 g
Water 1.5 g
Bonito [dried] 30 g
METHOD:
1. Soak kombu in water for 30 minutes, simmer
2. Remove the kombu and bring to a boil
3. Turn off heat and add a bonito
Work cited:
“Dashi.” Takasago International Corporation, https://www.takasago.com/en/rd/times/archive/vol5.html.
“Dashi and Umami – The Essence of Japanese Cuisine.” Umami Information Center, https://www.umamiinfo.com/japaneseumami/whatisdashi/.
“Dashi: The Original Source of Umami.” SPICEography, 12 Feb. 2020, https://www.spiceography.com/dashi/.
“A Guide to Dashi, the Soul of Japanese Food.” MICHELIN Guide, 6 July 2018, https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/features/a-guide-to-dashi-the-soul-of-japanese-food-1.
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