NY101: Dashi 2 ways

 

Since our kids and grandkids are not coming back for New Year's, we decided to forego our usual sushi bar and tempura bar fare and go for a much simpler shabu shabu for new years. Perhaps this will become our new smaller tradition of sitting around the table eating Japanese style hot pot. Japanese food is much more subtle than other Asian hot pots, so the broth is just a kelp (kombu) stock. I had the katsuobushi (skipjack tuna, or bonito, that is dried, fermented, smoked and shaved) so I made dashi instead, which is kelp stock plus katsuobushi. I also needed a little more than 6 cups so I made a secondary broth with the leftovers. Both recipes are below. 

Japanese food is subtle. It is meant to add enough funk to highlight the fresh ingredients in your dish, but not overpower or over salt anything, so do not add salt to this broth. Americans and Japanese Americans tend to over salt and over season Japanese food.

Dashi 1

Ingredients:

• 20 g. dried kombu 
• 8 c water
• 1 1/2 oz. dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)

Directions:

1. Lightly wipe kombu with a damp napkin to take off impurities. Do not scrub off the white stuff which is white mannitol powder which adds the umami funk.
2. Pour water into a pot and add the kombu. Let soak for 30 minutes-1 hour, then place the pot on the stove over medium heat (you do not want to boil the kombu. According to some chefs, 140° F is ideal. 
3. Just before the stock starts boiling, remove the kombu and hold in a side bowl for dashi 2.
4. Add the katsuobushi flakes and bring to a boil.
5. Once boiling, turn off the heat and wait for 5 minutes until the bonito flakes sink.
6. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer. I like to use a fine mesh strainer with paper towels lining it so I can reuse the katsuobushi for dashi 2. 
7. The trick is to make a clear stock and in this round, you do not squeeze the bonito. This gives you about 7 1/2 cups of dashi). Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for a couple of days, or frozen for up to 2 months.

Dashi 2

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• Reserved kombu from dashi 1
• Reserved katsuobushi from dashi 1
• 2 handfuls of dried shiitake
• 1 c new katsuobushi

Directions:

1. Place the reserved kelp and reserved katsuobushi in a pot of water (6 cups). Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat.
2. One pot reaches gentle boil, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes. 
3. Add the new katsuobushi and turn off the heat. Let it stand for 5 minutes, then strain through moist paper towel-lined strainer.
4. The shiitake and the katsuobushi hold a lot of the liquid, so I create a package with the paper towel and use a tongs to squeeze out the liquid over the sieve. 

The two batches make as much as the picture above. (There is a full jar behind the kombu, so 2 3/4  quart jars or 3/4 of a gallon.)