Kombu & Shiitake Dashi (Kelp & Shiitake stock/broth)

Recipe by Fiona Uyema, author of Japanese Food Made Easy and founder of Fused by Fiona Uyema Ltd. You can find her at @fionauyema and @fusedbyfionauyema

Dashi is a type of cooking stock used as a base for soups and other dishes in Japanese cuisine. It is surprisingly easy to make compared to stocks here in the West. The secret to a good Japanese stock/broth is to use ingredients filled with umami – ‘the fifth taste’.

Makes 1 litre

Ingredients:

• 1 litre water
• 20g dried kombu (kelp)  – a piece about the size of a postcard
• 3 dried shiitake mushrooms

Instructions:

1. Put 1 litre of cold water in a large saucepan.
2. Add the kombu and shiitake mushrooms to the water and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes. If you have time leave to soak for a few hours or overnight (in this case, place in the fridge). This will fill the water with the goodness and umami from both the seaweed and the mushrooms.
3. Heat the water until it comes to the boil and then remove the kombu and mushrooms immediately.
4. This can be stored in the fridge for about 3 days, or you can freeze it.

Tip:

This is an ideal dashi for vegetarians.