| As mentioned in the intrduction to this chapter dashi is
the basic stock for Japanese soup making. It usually contains bonito or dried tuna flakes which
gives the stock it's depth of flavour. As a vegetarian substitute for tuna flakes it is usual
to use dried shitake mushrooms instead. This will lead to a more subtle stock with a slight colouration from the brown mushrooms. These mushrooms can be found in all Asian stores already sliced and dried. Konbu seaweed is the other main ingredient and is basically a type of Kelp. More details can be found in the glossary. |
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| Ingredients 1 litre (4 cups) water 25g (1 oz) Konbu seaweed 15g (½ oz) dried shitake mushrooms |
First wipe the kombu with a dry cloth but do not wash as essential flavour is on the surface. Place the konbu and shitake mushrooms in a bowl and cover with a litre (4 cups) of cold water. Leave them to soak for at least one hour. |  |
| Place the ingredients in a large pan and slowly bring the dashi to a simmer. Do not rapid boil this stock as it's subtlety could be lost. When it starts to simmer allow it to do so as slowly as possible for about 15 minutes. Take the dashi off the heat and allow it to cool with the ingredients still
in the stock. Sieve and use in one of the soup or noodle recipes. If you don't have time it would be OK to just leave the ingredients steeping overnight in the cold water and using the stock the next day without cooking it. But I think cooking the stock leads to more complex and rounded flavours. |
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