“Did you order [dashimaki-tamago] & [karaage] & [ramen]? Whenever I went to the Japanese restaurant with a few British friends, they always asked this. These 3 dishes use some special Japanese spice. It’s a very popular seasoning in Japan. We call it “DASHI.”
Dashi is a basic soup. It is used in various dishes. Whether it’s boiling vegetables, stir-frying eggs, grilling meat, or noodles, this is the best seasoning to use. I would like to introduce this mysterious soup dashi.
There are various blends of dashi. The most basic is dried bonito or kelp. In addition, we use various dried seafood, shellfish,and vegetables. Dashi is a food culture that is made mainly from fish and shellfish from the surrounding sea and contains the wisdom of Japan.
Dashi culture is different in the East and West of Japan.
In the Edo period, in East Japan, it was made from stewed fish and the color was dark. In West Japan, Osaka got kelp from Hokkaido before East Japan. Therefore, it seems that Osaka started to use Kelp dashi often. The color was light. After that, “matching dashi” was made, which uses both bonito and kelp.
Also, “dashi” that suits you depends on the ingredients.
Asari (shellfish) goes well with pasta, kombu broth and omelet rolls. And “shiitake” mushrooms are used for “somen” noodle soup. Small fish is used for ramen.
In this way, dashi is a culture that has a long history and has taken root in the Japanese land and people. You can’t know about Japanese food without dashi. Please enjoy dashimaki-tamago, karaage, and ramen. You can touch the old heart of Japan.
I’m working at a research facility in a snowy country and taking care of foreigner researchers. I want to be able to propose a comfortable Japanese life to foreign researchers and have more fun conversations. It’s my dream.
