is a family of

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

s used in Japanese cuisine. ''Dashi'' forms the base for miso soup, clear broth soup, noodle broth soup, and many simmering liquids to accentuate the savory flavor known as umami. ''Dashi'' is also mixed into the flour base of some grilled foods like okonomiyaki and

takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bod ...

Preparation

The most common form of ''dashi'' is a simple broth made by heating water containing '' kombu'' (edible kelp) and '' kezurikatsuo'' (shavings of ''

katsuobushi is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'', sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes. ''Katsuobushi'' or similarly prepared fish is also known as . Shaved ''katsuobushi'' and dried ke ...

'' – preserved, fermented

skipjack tuna The skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'') is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the balaya (Sri Lanka), bakulan/kayu (North Borneo), tongkol/aya (Malay Peninsula/Indonesia), aku (Hawaii), cakal ...

bonito Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists of ...

) to near-boiling, then straining the resultant liquid; dried anchovies or sardines may be substituted. The element of umami, one of the five basic tastes, is introduced into ''dashi'' from the use of katsuobushi and kombu. Katsuobushi is especially high in sodium inosinate and kombu is especially high in

glutamic acid Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; the ionic form is known as glutamate) is an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can synt ...

s; both combined create a synergy of umami. Granulated or liquid instant ''dashi'' largely replaced the homemade product in the second half of the 20th century. Homemade ''dashi'' is less popular today, even in Japan. Compared to the taste of homemade dashi, instant ''dashi'' tends to have a stronger, less subtle flavor, due to the use of chemical flavor enhancers— glutamates and ribonucleotides.

Variations

Other kinds of ''dashi'' are made by soaking kelp, niboshi, or

shiitake The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine. Ta ...

in water for many hours or by heating them in near-boiling water and straining the resulting broth. * ''Kombu dashi'' is made by soaking or gently simmering kelp in water; soaking is traditional and fit for making baby food while simmering is a more modern practice. Kombu dashi becomes bitter and unpalatable when boiled. * ''Niboshi dashi'' is made by pinching off the heads and entrails of small dried sardines, to prevent bitterness, and soaking the rest in water. Sometimes the heads are used as not everyone finds them to be bitter, and the fish are occasionally toasted to evaporate any volatile unpleasant fishy odors. * ''Shiitake dashi'' is made by soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in water. Dried shiitake is preferred over fresh due to a stronger presence of savory or umami flavors.

History

In 1908, the unusual and strong flavor of kelp ''dashi'' was identified by Kikunae Ikeda as '' umami'', the "fifth flavor", attributed to human taste receptors responding to

Preparation

Variations

History

See also

References

Further reading