Dashi powder? Use sparingly, if at all
posted on 16 Aug 2007 by maki ::
19 comments
I was recently sent a book about Japanese cooking for review. I wasn’t too impressed by the book for a variety of reasons, but one thing that really bothered me was that it used dashi stock powder for practically every recipe. (What made it worse is that the book’s title proclaimed the recipes therein to be “Healthy”.)
Dashi stock powder is akin to soup stock cubes in Western cooking. Like soup stock cubes, they are a very convenient way to add a concentrated dose of umami to a dish. I do have a box of the stuff in my kitchen which I use on occasion.
But keep in mind that dashi stock powder contains quite a lot of MSG. The good or bad of MSG may be a debatable subject, but when it comes to food additives I always like to be on the cautious side. Besides, with the right ingredients making dashi stock from real ingredients, even a vegan version, doesn’t take that much time - and tastes a whole lot better too. This is different from the time and effort, not to mention the mess, needed to make a good chicken stock, for example. On my list of Japanese pantry essentials, I have put MSG or Ajinomoto as something that’s optional, and I regard dashi powder in the same light.
In Japan, more and more households are turning away from dashi stock powder for health reasons, especially in families with small children. I don’t see any reason for people new to Japanese cooking to start out on the wrong leg by relying on an iffy convenience product.
[Edit:] I just realized I’ve addressed the same subject previously, but I think it bears repeating. Any book that proclaims that it’s ‘healthy’ while using MSG or dashi powder for every recipe, obviously isn’t up on the healthy-eating trends in Japan at least…
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Dashi Stock Powder
I agree with you that it’s best to go for the real homemade thing whenever possible. But there are Dashi powders that are MSG-free, have decent ingredients and aren’t too bad taste-wise.
Thanks for the tip
Hmmm…good to know. It’s hard to know who to trust when you see the word “healthy.”
Dashi Powder
I totally agree with your post. It took me a long while to work up to making other stocks (and a relatively easy recipe for Chinese chicken stock is what got me started on that). But I’ve never had a problem making dashi from scratch. I have dashi powder in the cupboard, but I never use it, because the instructions on how to use it aren’t clear. It’s much easier to get water, konbu and bonito flakes and just do it for real.
It's time for the paranoid MSG urban legend to die
“I always like to be on the cautious side”: This would have made sense 15 years ago, but how much proof do we need that MSG is harmless? It’s been studied to death. It’s simple reality-based science. Doubts about MSG are akin to doubts about the theory of evolution at this point.
“In Japan, more and more households are turning away from dashi stock powder”: I don’t think it’s accruate to say that there is any widespread concern about MSG in Japan. There are many cooks who make dashi from scratch, but they do it for the same reason that people everywhere make things from scratch: because they like to cook and they enjoy the taste of scratch cooking. But it’s a dying skill: who wants to make dashi on a two-burner konro when you have other dishes to make?
I dis agree with the
I dis agree with the previous comment. There is a concern about food additives and artificial flavourings in Japan. I have lived here for about 10 years and read some Japanese, and my husband is Japanese. I first learned of this when my daughter developped an allergic skin rash. I was advised to eliminate food additives including ajinomoto and dashi powder, as well as processed foods like sausages. It has been very effective. Most Japanese food magazines do not use dashi power in their recipes.
all the hogwash...
It’s sad how everything is turning into big business pushing down products on us folks.
MSG is not natural and those claiming it’s in nature might not understand what ‘nature’ means. Ads by Ajinomoto claims that their products is made to taste LIKE the real thing.Power of words.
Real dashi stock is sea weed…kombu…hijiki …in my humble opinion.
is it not the truth that MSG
is it not the truth that MSG is a compound that the japanese first isolated from konbu? is it also true that to make good dashi one puts konbu in hot water? in doing so, is it true that MSG from the konbu is transferred to the water?
is MSG as an additive any way unhealthy as compared to MSG extracted from konbu?
MSG is highly concentrated
MSG is a very highly concentrated form of umami, and I believe it is no longer made from kombu (the Ajinomoto site says it is made from soybeans now).
I realize from the comments here and on other posts here (and on other sites) that the choice of whether or not to use MSG is a personal one. I prefer not to use it…and someone else’s preferences may differ.
The main reason I would rather not use it though is that it’s so relatively easy to make a proper dashi from natural ingredients. The taste difference more than makes up for the few extra minutes it take to make dashi. It’s a worthwhile payoff for me.
out of curiosity...
Maki, you say that you have dashi powder in your pantry and you use it occasionally… In what situations do you bust out the hondashi rather than make your own? Just wondering…
dashi powder
Meg, I use dashi powder sometimes for a dish where it’s not the primary or only flavor - as a sort of ‘hidden flavor’ or flavor booster. I make dashi from kombu and katsuobushi etc when I’m making a soup, but if it’s like a big pot of stewed vegetables or something sometimes I’ll use the hondashi. Though recently I’ve been using powdered anago (sea eel) instead of hondashi…something my mom send to me from Japan (mom I love you) and it’s pretty good! I wonder if they will start selling stuff like that now more widely….I hope so!
DASHI POWDER
I have a question.
I found a recipe in which dashi broth is one of the ingredients; however, I could find only dashi powder (grains..)in the Asian store of my city in a big bag. It seems that it is used to make dash soup or something. My question may seem stupid but I just want to make sure since I am new in japanese cousine, can I use this powder with boiled water to make that dashi broth of the recipe?
Thanks
Ruth
yes you can
Hi Ruth, yes you can. It’s just like instant soup cubes or granules used in Western cooking. (A lot of recipes do call for the instant granules because they are so convenient.)
Re: Dashi powder? Use sparingly, if at all
A year late, but I bought Dashi Powder, (Yamaki Dashi No Moto) and it's a box of 5 packets of 0.35oz each.
Nowhere it says how much water I'm supposed to use for each packet.
I've never had (seen) dashi stock, so I'm not sure how it's supposed to look/taste.
Any idea of the ratio water/powder?
Re: Dashi powder? Use sparingly, if at all
Hi Willow. The amount of dashi really depends on how you are using it. Recipes that call for it specify how much to use. As a general rule, try about 1/2 tsp. per 1 cup of water to start with and add more if needed. (It's easier to add more than take it out!)
dashi stock vs dashi powder
I have a recipe calling for 1/2 tsp of dashi powder. How much dashi stock should I substitute. I will also be making this 4 serving recipe for about 50 servings.
Re: dashi stock vs dashi powder
See how much water or liquid is called for in your recipe, and just substitute dashi stock for that. If your recipe calls for 4 servings, divide by 4 then multiply by 50 to get to 50 servings.
Re: Dashi powder? Use sparingly, if at all
I've learnt an important lesson about commercial dashi today - the sodium content. 3800mg for every 100ml? And 1 serving is 37.5ml with 1430mg of sodium? No way! At first, I did not want to chuck it straight into the bin after using it for soup. When I realised that it's expiring soon, why not? Health is more important..
The 2/3 full bottle is now in the bin and I'm very happy about it :)
Dashi powder is STRONG
I have used Bonito dashi powder several times for recipes...my experience is.....if you are a westerner...use VERY little.....the word "pinch" comes to mind....use a small, small amount...the reason being...although it might add to the recipe and taste delicious while you are eating it, if you use too much, it will have an aftertaste that can haunt you for up to 3 days, depending on how much you put in..you can avoid the problem by using Kikkoman "Hon-Tsuyu" sauce...it is a pre-made version of Soy Sauce, Mirin (a sweet cooking sake) sugar, and sake....however the store bought sauce seems to have a lot of the flavor of strong dashi powder without the "aftertaste"....it's up to you...if you like the "fishy" flavor of the store bought sauce...you are all set...but I recommend using VERY little dashi powder.if you are making it from scratch.it will taste better to a westerner, and if you don't overdo it, there will be no aftertaste....the trick is using less than you think you need...if you think you haven't used enough....you probably have used more than enough...trust me, I have messed this up enough to know, that less is more...
Re: Dashi powder is STRONG
Dashi powder is just like soup stock granules or cubes (Knorr, Maggi etc.) - so very concentrated and salty. So you do need to use it in moderation.
I have seen konbu dashi powder (based on konbu seaweed only, no fish) at more grocery stores (outside of Japan of course) these days, so that might be worth looking into for people who don't like the fishy taste of katsuobushi or dried fish.
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