“Dashi is the heart of Japanese foods. You need “Dashi’ not only for clear soup or miso soup but also any kinds of stews with fish or meat or vegetables, and many other side dishes and sauces. This is the one you taste ‘Umami’ from. Recently there are various Dashi packs available, but if you want to get the best Dashi, I recommend making your own. I usually use kelp (konbu) and bonito.
Ingredients
1 piece of kelp (5cmX5xm, 4g)
5-8g of bonito *About 1 grab
400ml of water
Instruction
1. In a pot, add water and kelp and leave them for at least 30 mins.
2. Turn on the stove with a low heat.
3. Right before it gets boiled, turn off the stove and remove the kelp. When you see small bubbles on the surface, that’s the moment you turn off the stove. Do not get boiled.
4. Turn on the heat again, and when it is boiled, add bonito flakes then turn off the stove.Leave it for 2 mins.
5. Strain the soup. (Do not push or squeeze bonito.)
This Japanese website shows visually well how to make it and I believe this is how most Japanese do when they make Dashi from scratch.