We’re in the process of revisiting and reformatting the entire SUSHISAMBA recipe collection. It’s a lot of work but it’s been good to revisit the building blocks of our signature recipes. Yesterday I was thinking a lot more about dashi which is key for our miso soup – but an all-around vital ‘base’ Japanese cooking. There are two types: Ichiban dashi – which is stronger and most appropriate for soups and sauces. Then, there’s Niban dashi – which is a more subtle flavor. Because we’re using dashi daily for our miso soup – we use the Ichiban style:
DASHI

Ingredients:
yield: 2 liters

water, soft / filtered         2 liters
konbu                                  2 pieces
bonito flakes                      30 grs

Method: Add konbu to pot of water and bring to 140F for 40 minutes to exact the flavors and umami out of the kelp. Remove the kelp from the pot and add the bonito flakes. Bring the water to 170F and allow bonito flakes to sink to the bottom of the pot. Pass through a chinois with cheesecloth.

Chef’s Notes: Pass the broth through the cheesecloth SLOWLY to prevent cloudiness in the broth. Note: The vegetarian substitution for dashi is to use shiitake mushrooms instead of bonito flakes.