Errr…Or maybe 4 or 5 steps! With another video! And with some waffling in between! And my friend the pimple that looks like another head! Sorry, I’ll stop with the exclamation marks now.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t make dashi as often as I used to, partly because I am a bad person but also because when I’m nearly hangry, every second counts and with dashi granules, I can make nekojiru in 4 minutes flat. Also, I am lazy and can’t always be bothered cleaning the wet bonito flakes out of the filter. Actually, more than either of those things I think it’s more that I just used to be in the habit and now I’ve fallen out of it; I used to make it every day.
The thing is, homemade dashi is about a million times faster to make than say, chicken or vegetable stock, and you’ve made that, right? Suffice to say, proper dashi makes everything Japanese taste better and making this video reminded me it only takes 3 easy steps. Just make someone else clean out the filter and you’ll be right. Also, please ignore the bit where I say something like 10cm equals 2 inches, it so doesn’t.
Want more videos? Here’s me making a hangrrr busting omelette.
What you’ll need to make Dashi
This video shows you how to make “ichiban” dashi which is the highest quality dashi and best for soups and anything in which you want the flavour of the dashi to be quite pronounced in but if you are frugal, you can reuse the flakes and kombu to make another lot of dashi that will be fine to use for something like nimono.
2 pots each big enough to hold the quantity of dashi you want
Water (I used 5 miso soup bowlsful because I wanted to make 6 bowls of miso)
A handful of bonito flakes
Some kombu (I used 3 pieces 10cm x 3cm or 4 inches x 1 inch)
A filter of some sort – I used a cloth coffee strainer but you can use a clean muslin cloth.
Leave a comment, make my day!
I love your videos :) what can I say, I never knew what kombu looked like and never even heard of bonito flakes. Lucky I’m not Japanese otherwise I would be a really crap Japanese person huh??
Lucky you make such a great Malaysian Aussie then ‘cos yes, you would be a crap Japanese person ;P
For me, it’s bread. The hardest part about making bread is the waiting, otherwise it’s dead simple. But if for some reason I’m feeling lazy, I just grab a loaf from the store.
In fact, this makes me think I should make bread today so I can have sandwiches at work this week. So perhaps I will start that up right now :).
Sasa, I really, really love your videos – you’re such a natural on camera!! And I learn soooo much – so I hope you’ll keep adding these – they’re just terrific! Any type of Asian, Japanese, Chinese or whatever store is nearly impossible to find where I live so Dashi probably won’t be something I’ll be able to make, but I trust you when you say it’s good!
I would have to agree w/Charles up there – probably bread; I know it’s easy-peasy but I’ve somehow convinced myself it’s too much of a time-suck. I so should make bread today . . .
luv yuh Sasa!
I’m so with you guys on the bread front! It’s always so satisfying and easy but somehow I manage to talk myself out of it…Cold weather will probably keep me inside though so fingers crossed my logical brain kicks in ;P
In terms of things that I regularly eat, I’d say fresh pasta. It’s not even difficult to make, and when it comes to long, easy-to-form varieties like linguine and pappardelle, it is either a) way better than storebought dried; or b) unavailable that way.
Another thing I would add is choux for cream puffs; I love the process of making the dough, and I love cream puffs, but I never, never make them. I also never eat them, because there are so few places that make them well.
I bought a little tub of dashi paste at my local Japanese shop, and it’s pretty darned good for a last-minute bowl of soba or miso or something. This fits in the category of “wow, you can make that?” for me. Thanks for the video.
A tub of dashi? Is it a paste? Sounds intriguing…
You are absolutely right, homemade dash is a breeze to prepare, compared to e.g. chicken stock… I just made a batch yesterday for my Kurigohan :)
A coffee strainer? I’m buying you a sieve…
Very brave doing the whole video thing, too. Impressive.
:-D I’m loving these videos Sasa! Btw, your kitchen is HUGE! Gosh my kitchen must be like 1/10,000 of the size of your kitchen!
Very cute smile at the end :-) Kawaiiiii.
I make it only with kombu, and sometimes other veggies, is there another alternative to bonito flakes? Shitake?
Kombu dashi is great too – I make that if I am cooking for vegetarians. I guess you could also do shiitake together but shiitake dashi is fine in its own right isn’t it. Let me know how they mix if you try!
Mmmm, I think I’d make another crap Japanese person too as I didn’t know what bonito flakes looked like let alone what you’d do with them :(
Japanese food is one of those things I love to eat but never made (does sushi count…)
Lovin’ the videos Sassa, keep ‘em coming OK
Great video, Sasa, I so need to try this now – that looked way easier than I ever thought it would be – I expected some really complicated difficult process. As you say this is way easier than chicken stock!
Sue
I’m also jealous about the size of your lovely kitchen. It also looks very clean unlike mine! If you come over, I’ll have to tidy up for sure. A wonderful video and it’s impressive how calm and professional you are, like you’ve been presenting for years. I hope we can expect more. I’d never heard of dashi before but it sounds wonderful. Stock is one of the things I shamefully buy rather than making my own even if the homemade stuff is so much better. I also tend to buy nuts ready ground when it wouldn’t take me long to grind them myself but that’d mean getting the mixer out, plus extra washing up which I hate.
Hi there! Just stumbled across your site (via the Wednesday Chef). I’m totally with you on the dashi. I always have the ingredients around to make it, but I usually for the instant stuff. Granted, it would be a lot easier if I had a spacious kitchen like yours!
Oh, I never make gyōza or shūmai, even though they’re really not that difficult. The super-cheap ones at the supermarket just seem like such a good deal!
Emma
Actually I often use kombu as the base, and then add carrots, or daikon, or whatever, and also shitake. It is good. Sometimes if I don’t have kombu I just use shitake (or a light vegetable stock), but you are right, shitake by themselves make a good stock.
I have been told that Kombu is good to boil beans (but in this case you have to boil it!) as it makes them less.. gassy! I am not sure if it works, did you hear about it?
Yeah, my obaachan does it and also heaps of osechi (oshougatsu food) has that combination.
Yeah, Sasa! That’s a great video. I love your under-the-eyelashes little glances. So cute. Keep them videos coming!
My kids adore miso soup, and now you have taught me how to make dashi! I hava a great Asian market near by, but I am always overwhelmed when I go there. It’s like a field trip for me. I have to go get me some kombu and bonito flakes (thanks for showing us what they look like).
*^_^* Maybe I’ll do some Japanese ingredients posts if people are interested.
Loved this Sasa! When are you getting your own TV show? ;)
Well, it’s just so hard y’know? I mean CBS and ABC are totally fighting over me and I dunno who to go with ;P
go nigella!
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