What Is Dashi Packet?
Dashi packet is a small bag from which you can make delicious soup stock. Because the bag contains powdered soup stock material such as bonito and kombu, you can make a professional taste of the soup stock with just this bag and water without making it from scratch.
Anyways, what exactly is DASHI?
There are different types of dashi products in Japan depending on the raw material and the shape.
Please check this page for details of Japanese dashi
What Is Japanese Dashi and How Is It Used?
What Is Dashi Packet Made Out of?
Many manufacturers in Japan sell dashi packets, and ingredients are different for each manufacturer. Normally, dried bonito, dried mackerel, dried sardine, dried kombu, and dried shiitake mushrooms are often packed in the small dashi packet. Of course, the taste of soup stock depends on the ingredients. So, it’s a good idea to check the ingredients list on the package and choose the packet you like.
Some simply contain only these dashi ingredients, others have various seasonings added including salt, sugar, and powdered soy sauce. Please use properly according to the purpose and your taste.
What’s the Difference Between Dashi Packet and Dashi Powder/Granules?
Dashi packet: It is a type of product that is boiled in water for a few minutes and then taken out.
Dashi powder/granules: It is a type of product that is used by dissolving it in water or hot water, so there is no need to boil it.
Dashi powder/granules is relatively inexpensive compared with dashi packet. Also, it’s very convenient because it does not need to be boiled. However, I think that the soup stock made from dashi packet has a delicate and elegant taste that cannot be produced with granules.
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Why Should You Use Dashi Packet?
1. Ease-of-use
You can easily bring out a full-fledged taste by using dashi packet.
Boiling the ingredients directly in a pot, for example, dried bonito shavings allows you to get authentic and delicious soup stock. But, straining the soup stock after removing the ingredient must be hassle, right? Some people may think is there a way to make the work easier?
In case of dashi packet, all you have to do is removing the packet after making the dashi because the ingredients are packed in the small bag from the beginning. No need to strain the soup, and you can get delicious soup stock just by boiling it.
In other words, dashi packet contains not only “deliciousness” comes from the real raw materials but also “convenience” like dashi granules.
2. Achieve Low-salt Diet
Many people are trying to reduce salt for prevention of lifestyle-related diseases. However, cooking with just reduced salt feels somewhat unsatisfactory. At that time, umami taste contained in dashi helps them a lot.
It is said that dishes with umami are easy to feel “delicious”.
In fact, there is an experimental result that many people found that a dish with 20-30% less salt but added umami taste is more delicious than the one without umami taste.
Hence, for people who tend to eat only strong-tasting dishes, why don’t you enjoy cooking with dashi packet so that you can eat low-salt dishes without difficulty.
How Do You Use a Dashi Packet?
1. Make Dashi with Water
It’s extremely easy to get the dashi stock with the dashi packet: all you have to do is putting the specified water and the packet in the pot, and boiling for the specified time (about 5 minutes).
2. Use the Dashi in Cooking
After that, how do you use it in cooking?
Of course, it can be used for all dishes that require dashi stock.
For example, miso soup, simmered dish, soup for noodle dish (mentsuyu), deep-fried dashi tofu, Japanese mixed rice (takikomigohan), okonomiyaki, etc.
Please check this page for details of recipes using dashi packet.
4 Ways To Enjoy Dashi Packet Recipes
How Do You Store Dashi Made From Dashi Packet?
1. Refrigerated Storage
Be sure to store the dashi you made in the refrigerator. Basically, please use up within the day.
2. Freeze Storage
For those who want to keep it longer than it is in the refrigerator, freezing is recommended. The flavor must deteriorate, but it lasts for about a month.
When storing frozen, freeze the dashi in blocks in the same way as making block ice with an ice maker. In that way, it is convenient because you can melt only the number of people you use.
