Dashi (Japanese Soup Stock)
Dashi is the quiet backbone of Japanese cooking, and it is the stock behind a good bowl of miso soup. This version lets you choose your base, from kelp to dried sardines to bonito flakes, so you can tune the depth to taste. Homemade dashi is less salty and deeper in flavor than the powdered instant kind used in many cheap restaurants, and it takes little more effort than brewing tea.
Instructions
Choose your base from the ingredients listed. Kelp alone gives a mild stock, dried sardines or anchovies give a stronger one, and kelp with bonito flakes is another common pairing.
If you are using sardines or anchovies, pull off the heads and remove the intestines. Throw these away and keep only the bodies.
Put your chosen ingredients in a pot of water and bring it to a boil, the same way you would brew a pot of tea.
Strain the liquid through a filter, or lift the solids out with a scoop. The clear liquid that remains is your dashi, ready to use as the base for miso soup.
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