Dashi this, dashi that… if you are interested in Japanese cooking, dashi is one of those keywords that pops up in nearly every recipe. In this Japan Centre feature post, I am going to explain exactly what dashi is, how it can be used to enhance your cooking and most importantly, how to make your own dashi!

What is Dashi?

Dashi is a flavouring stock used in Japanese cuisine, giving that quintessential Japanese flavour to your favourite foods. It all starts with something called “umami”, which when translated from Japanese to English, “savoury” is probably the closest word. Umami was discovered as one of the five senses to accompany sweet, sour, bitter and salty and is a more friendly name for the taste of glutamates. Our tongues are quite partial to umami flavours which is why strong, intensly flavoured foods, especially when paired together can give an even more intense flavour. Ever tried cheese and marmite, or parmesan on tomato sauce? Oh yes, those are certainly foods that taste even better when you combine them together!