What Is Dashi? The Umami-Rich Broth at the Heart of Washoku
Washoku, traditional Japanese cuisine, has drawn worldwide attention—enough to be registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
At the core of washoku is dashi.
To better understand Japan’s food culture and washoku, let’s take a look at the roles and types of dashi you should know, along with classic washoku dishes that use it.
Dashi: Bringing Out and Balancing Ingredients’ Flavors
Dashi is a soup that contains “umami components” extracted by simmering ingredients.
Rather than enjoying the flavor of dashi itself like other soups, it’s used to enhance the flavor of other ingredients.
Umami is one type of taste known as a “basic taste,” alongside sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness.
The components that create umami are the three types below.
| Glutamic acid | A component found mainly in plant-based ingredients such as kombu (kelp) and Chinese cabbage |
|---|---|
| Guanylic acid | A component found in ingredients mainly from mushrooms |
| Inosinic acid | A component found in animal-based ingredients such as bonito and meats |
In fact, dishes that use dashi aren’t limited to washoku.
Western and Chinese cuisines also use broths such as bouillon, sometimes called Western-style dashi or Chinese-style dashi.
Compared with Western- and Chinese-style broths, Japanese-style dashi commonly used in washoku is known for its light flavor and refined aroma.
Japanese-style dashi is made by soaking ingredients such as kombu and bonito in water to extract their flavors.
There are many dashi ingredients, including kombu, bonito, dried shiitake, ago (flying fish), and niboshi (dried sardines), which are used differently depending on the dish.
Four Types of Dashi Commonly Used in Washoku
Among the many types of dashi, the four most commonly used in washoku are kombu dashi, katsuo dashi, awase dashi, and shiitake dashi.
To understand washoku, you need to know the characteristics of these four types of dashi.
1. Kombu Dashi: Bringing Out Ingredients’ Flavors
Kombu dashi, essential in washoku, highlights the flavor of the ingredients you cook.
Not only does kombu dashi have a refined, subtle umami, it’s also rich in glutamic acid, an umami component, so it can bring out the flavor of many different ingredients.
Kombu that grows thick along the coast of Hokkaido is often used for making dashi.
How to Make Kombu Dashi
There are two ways to make kombu dashi: simmering and cold-brewing.
The ingredients are the same for both methods: you need kombu equal to 1% of the water weight.
For example, for 1 liter of water, prepare 10 g of kombu.
The steps are as follows.
[Simmering]
- Put kombu measured for the amount of water into a pot, and soak it for about 30 minutes before heating
- Heat the pot over slightly-below-medium heat, and remove the kombu just before it boils
[Cold-brewing]
- Put kombu measured for the amount of water into a pitcher, cover, and place it in the refrigerator
- Soak it for at least 3 hours to overnight or longer
2. Katsuo Dashi: Refined and Clean-Tasting
Katsuo dashi is often used alongside kombu dashi.
Katsuo dashi contains a large amount of inosinic acid, an umami component.
Its rich aroma and refined, clean taste are its defining features.
The ingredient for katsuo dashi is katsuobushi, shaved from bonito that has been simmered and then dried.
The thickness of the shavings affects the flavor.
Thinly shaved katsuobushi extracts quickly, creating an aromatic, refined dashi.
It’s well-suited to dishes where you drink the broth itself, such as miso soup and clear soup.
Thickly shaved katsuobushi is extracted slowly over a longer time.
The aroma is milder than with thin shavings, but it makes a deeper dashi, so it’s well-suited to relatively strongly flavored dishes such as soba and udon dipping broth.
How to Make Katsuo Dashi
For katsuo dashi, you’ll need “katsuobushi: 30 g” and “water: 1 L.”
The steps are as follows.
- Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, and add the katsuobushi
- Let it sit for 1–2 minutes, until the katsuobushi sinks to the bottom of the pot
- Strain it through a colander lined with a cloth, etc.
3. Awase Dashi (Bonito and Kombu): Twice the Deliciousness in One
Awase dashi (bonito and kombu) creates a synergistic effect between katsuo and kombu.
Made by combining katsuobushi rich in inosinic acid with kombu rich in glutamic acid, this dashi is a foundation of washoku and is used in many Japanese dishes.
Awase dashi made with katsuobushi and kombu comes in two types: ichiban dashi and niban dashi.
Ichiban dashi is made by simmering kombu in water, removing it just before boiling, adding katsuobushi to the water, waiting until the flakes sink to the bottom, and then straining.
It’s a clear dashi, used for clear soups and dishes you want to finish with a light flavor.
Niban dashi is made by slowly simmering the leftover ingredients after making ichiban dashi.
Because it has a rich umami, it’s used for strongly seasoned washoku such as miso soup, nikujaga, and takikomi gohan.
How to Make Awase Dashi (Bonito and Kombu)
You only need three ingredients: “kombu: 10 g,” “katsuobushi flakes: 20 g,” and “water: 1 L.”
The steps are as follows.
- Lightly wipe off any dirt from the kombu with a firmly wrung-out damp cloth
- Put 1 L of water and the kombu into a pot, and let it sit for about 1 hour
- Heat the pot over low heat, and remove the kombu just before it boils
- Once it boils, turn off the heat and add the katsuobushi
- Let it sit for 1–2 minutes, until the katsuobushi sinks to the bottom of the pot
- Strain it through a colander lined with a cloth, etc.
4. Shiitake Dashi: A Distinct, Strong Flavor and Aroma
Shiitake dashi is the liquid from rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms.
By soaking sun-dried shiitake in water to draw out their flavor, you can make a delicious dashi.
Because shiitake dashi has a distinct, strong taste and aroma, it’s often used together with other types of dashi.
It’s used in many dishes such as clear soup, takikomi gohan, and simmered dishes.
How to Make Shiitake Dashi
To make shiitake dashi, just put the ingredients into a pitcher and refrigerate for at least 10 hours.
The three ingredients are “dried shiitake: 50 g,” “kombu: 10 g” or “katsuobushi: 30 g,” and “water: 1 L.”
Classic Washoku Dishes Made with Dashi
Among the many washoku dishes that often use dashi, here are some where you can especially taste the dashi itself or really feel what it does.
If you eat them while paying attention to the dashi, you might discover something new.
1. Oden
Oden is a type of simmered dish, and it’s also classified as a hot pot dish.
Season awase dashi (bonito and kombu) with soy sauce, miso, etc., then add a variety of ingredients called tane and simmer for a long time.
Common oden tane include satsuma-age, hanpen, yaki chikuwa, konnyaku, and daikon radish.
Piping-hot oden, with dashi thoroughly soaked into the ingredients, is a winter classic.
2. Nikujaga
Nikujaga is a classic washoku simmered dish.
It brings out the ingredients’ flavors using one of three types of dashi: katsuo dashi, kombu dashi, or awase dashi.
Meat, potatoes, onions, shirataki noodles, and more are stir-fried in oil, then sweet-simmered with dashi, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin.
The gentle flavors of potatoes and onions are boosted by the meat’s umami, creating a comforting taste you never get tired of.
3. Dashimaki Tamago
Dashimaki tamago is a dish made by mixing dashi into beaten eggs, then cooking it until set.
With each bite, fragrant dashi seeps out.
Niban dashi from awase dashi (bonito and kombu) is commonly used.
It’s seasoned with mirin and soy sauce, then cooked while rolling the egg mixture.
Dashimaki tamago, softly wrapped in the deliciousness of dashi, is a hugely popular egg dish for both adults and kids.
Summary
The foundation of washoku lies in dashi.
Dishes with well-made dashi are rich in both flavor and aroma, bringing out the best in each ingredient.
There are also products that let you make dashi easily, so it doesn’t take much effort.
Give washoku made with dashi a try.