Dashi is the basic Japanese broth, made in minutes from dried seafood and seaweed, usually kombu and katsuobushi. It rarely becomes a dish on its own: miso soup, noodle sauce, simmered dishes and chawanmushi are built on it.

What is dashi made from?

Most often from kombu (dried kelp) and katsuobushi (dried fermented bonito tuna shavings); less often niboshi, small dried fish, or dried shiitake mushrooms are added. Each ingredient has its own flavor character, so they are often combined in pairs.

How does dashi differ from an ordinary broth?

Dashi is made in minutes, not hours, and without meat or bones: its ingredients have already concentrated their flavor through drying rather than long simmering. A European broth, by contrast, gains its flavor precisely from long simmering of meat — the principles of preparation are different.

What are ichiban dashi and niban dashi?

Ichiban dashi, the first infusion, is the most aromatic and clear broth made from fresh kombu and katsuobushi, for soups where the flavor of the dashi itself matters. Niban dashi, the second infusion, is made from the same ingredients again and for longer — the result is a coarser broth for simmered dishes and sauces.

Katsuobushi is dried and fermented bonito tuna, which is shaved into thin flakes before use. It is one of the two most common ingredients for dashi alongside kombu, and it is katsuobushi that gives the broth inosinate — a substance that enhances umami.

What does umami have to do with it?

The richness of dashi rests largely on umami: kombu gives glutamate and katsuobushi gives inosinate, and together these substances create a stronger effect than either alone. That is why the combination of kombu with katsuobushi became the most common way to make dashi.

Dashi: the Japanese broth that almost all Japanese cuisine is built on

Dashi is the basic Japanese broth, made in just minutes from a very small set of ingredients: kombu, katsuobushi, sometimes small dried fish or shiitake. It is not a soup in itself but a base: miso soup, noodle sauce, simmered dishes and chawanmushi all stand on dashi. What sets it apart from a European broth is exactly those minutes instead of hours of simmering, and the fact that meat plays no part in dashi at all.

Almost everyone who has taken an interest in Japanese cuisine has heard the word "dashi," but few know that it is made quite differently from the broth they are used to. Let's look at what dashi is actually made from, how ichiban dashi differs from niban dashi, and why each ingredient in this broth has its own role. Separately, we'll cover what umami has to do with it and why granulated dashi is not a betrayal of tradition.

A base, not a soup: what dashi really is

Dashi itself rarely becomes a dish on its own: it is the base on which miso soup, noodle sauce, simmered dishes and chawanmushi, a steamed egg custard, are built. It is made surprisingly quickly and from a very small set of dried ingredients — with no meat and no long simmering.

How dashi differs from a European broth

The main difference is in time and composition: a European broth is simmered for hours from meat and bones, while dashi is made in minutes from dried seafood and seaweed, and meat plays no part in it at all. Long simmering is not needed for dashi and is even harmful: its ingredients have already concentrated their flavor through drying rather than boiling, so they are kept in boiling water only very briefly.

出 — значение: to come out, to take out, to let out, to appear — онъёми: シュツ、スイ — кунъёми: で.る、-で、だ.す、-だ.す、い.でる、い.だす — 5 штрих(ов). 出 — "to come out, to take out": the first character in the word 出汁 itself, literally "the broth that came out" — what came out of the ingredient into the water. The second character, 汁 (shiru) "broth," is the same one as in the word misoshiru: literally "broth made from miso." The same character appears in 出口 (deguchi) "exit" and 外出 (gaishutsu) "going out of the house."

Write 出 along the guides — the character of "coming out," which in 出汁 points to the broth that came out of the ingredient into the water.

Kombu, katsuobushi, niboshi: each ingredient has its own character

Dashi is made from a small set of dried ingredients, and each one contributes its own recognizable note to the flavor:

昆布 (kombu) — dried kelp, the base of the most common dashi, gives a mild flavor and glutamate.
鰹節 (katsuobushi) — dried and fermented bonito tuna, which is shaved into thin flakes before use.
煮干し (niboshi) — small dried fish, usually anchovies, gives a sharper, more fishy dashi.
干し椎茸 (hoshi-shiitake) — dried shiitake mushrooms, the only one of the four ingredients not of animal origin.

Why dashi is not made from a single ingredient

Each of these ingredients on its own gives a fairly recognizable, one-sided flavor, so they are most often combined in pairs. Kombu with katsuobushi is the most common combination for everyday cooking, while niboshi or shiitake are added when a sharper or more plant-based note is wanted.

Ichiban dashi and niban dashi: the same ingredients twice

一番だし (ichiban dashi, first infusion) is the most aromatic and clear dashi, made from fresh kombu and katsuobushi for soups where the flavor of the broth itself should come first. The kombu for it is not boiled but removed from the water just before it comes to a boil; the katsuobushi is added and the pot is taken off the heat almost immediately and strained.

A second infusion from the same ingredients

二番だし (niban dashi, second infusion) is made from the same kombu and katsuobushi that already gave their main flavor to the ichiban dashi — they are covered with water again and this time simmered longer. The result is a coarser, stronger broth, used not on its own but as a base for simmered dishes and sauces with added soy sauce and miso.

Granules and packets: dashi in modern cooking

Today granulated and packet dashi is a normal part of Japanese cooking, not a sign of tradition in decline: it is used both at home and in restaurants when there is no time to make broth from scratch. The flavor of such products is noticeably simpler than that of freshly made dashi, but the very idea of a quick concentrated broth based on kombu and katsuobushi remains the same.

Dashi and the taste of umami

The richness of dashi rests largely on umami: glutamate from kombu and inosinate from katsuobushi together produce a stronger effect than either substance alone. That is exactly why the combination of kombu with katsuobushi became the most common way to make dashi in Japanese homes.

FAQ

What is dashi?: Dashi is the basic Japanese broth, made in minutes from dried seafood and seaweed, usually kombu and katsuobushi. It rarely becomes a dish on its own: miso soup, noodle sauce, simmered dishes and chawanmushi are built on it.
What is dashi made from?: Most often from kombu (dried kelp) and katsuobushi (dried fermented bonito tuna shavings); less often niboshi, small dried fish, or dried shiitake mushrooms are added. Each ingredient has its own flavor character, so they are often combined in pairs.
How does dashi differ from an ordinary broth?: Dashi is made in minutes, not hours, and without meat or bones: its ingredients have already concentrated their flavor through drying rather than long simmering. A European broth, by contrast, gains its flavor precisely from long simmering of meat — the principles of preparation are different.
What are ichiban dashi and niban dashi?: Ichiban dashi, the first infusion, is the most aromatic and clear broth made from fresh kombu and katsuobushi, for soups where the flavor of the dashi itself matters. Niban dashi, the second infusion, is made from the same ingredients again and for longer — the result is a coarser broth for simmered dishes and sauces.
What is katsuobushi?: Katsuobushi is dried and fermented bonito tuna, which is shaved into thin flakes before use. It is one of the two most common ingredients for dashi alongside kombu, and it is katsuobushi that gives the broth inosinate — a substance that enhances umami.
What does umami have to do with it?: The richness of dashi rests largely on umami: kombu gives glutamate and katsuobushi gives inosinate, and together these substances create a stronger effect than either alone. That is why the combination of kombu with katsuobushi became the most common way to make dashi.

Sources

Updated: 2026-09-21