Is Dashi a Good Replacement for Miso Soup? Yeah, indeed!

If you want to prepare miso soup but don’t have any dashi powder, you should know that there are dashi replacements you may use in your miso soup or other Japanese meals. Nevertheless, since they do not provide the same nuanced taste sensation as dashi, some of these replacements are best classified as alternatives rather than like for like equivalents.

What exactly is Dashi?

Dashi, or liquid seasoning, is responsible for the umami taste of Japanese meals such as katsudon, miso soup, and the batter of okonomiyaki and takoyaki.

Dashi is a typical broth basis for stews, noodle soups, and hotpots, as well as a flavoring and in sauces.

While many of us purchase instant dashi powders or granules, there are few alternatives if you want to cook a Japanese cuisine and are out of dashi unless you have a well-stocked specialized shop nearby or have received an internet order.

In Japanese cuisine, there are five distinct forms of dashi that may be used alone or in conjunction with two or more others. It is important to be aware of them since the sort of dashi you need to replace influences which substitutions are best.

1. flakes of skipjack tuna) and dried kelp (kombu). Awase dashi is the all-purpose dashi; in fact, awase means mixture or mixed in Japanese, and it is perfect for a variety of dishes, including miso soup. This dashi is prepared with katsuobushi (fermented and dried bonito).
2. It is often used in soups, noodle soups, and vegetable dishes and has as its foundation skipjack tuna flakes. Katsuobushi (dried and fermented bonito) is used in Katsuodashi.
3. anchovies. This is the strongest fishy dashi, and it is used for simmering foods, noodle soups, miso soup, and other meals where the stronger taste does not overshadow the other flavors. Niboshi, also known as iriko dashi, is produced from dried sardines.
4. Kombu dashi is made from dried kelp and is frequently the simplest sort of dashi to prepare at home. It complements foods with delicate tastes.
5. Shiitake dashi is a dried shiitake mushroom broth that may be used in noodle soups, simmered or stir-fried foods, and Chinese-style cuisines.

The final two forms of dashi are both vegan and are often combined for improved taste.

Substitutes for Dashi

I’ve classified the dashi powder alternatives below based on handmade dashi, which will need Japanese or East Asian components such as rice wine, bonito flakes, and kombu, as well as some of the more generic equivalents you may already have in your cupboard.

If you use dashi often, picking a replacement will be easy, but if you are new to Japanese cuisine, you may want to sample several varieties of dashi first so you know what tastes you need when choosing a substitute.

1st Alternate: Handmade Awase Dashi

A 4 by 4 piece of kombu (dried kelp) combined with four cups of water and a cup of bonito flakes yields awase dashi.

When the kombu has been soaked and cooked, add some cold water and the bonito flakes to the pan. Crank increase the heat and, after the liquid begins to boil, remove from the heat and leave aside to enable the bonito flakes to settle to the bottom of the pan. After straining, the dashi may be consumed immediately, refrigerated, or frozen.

The strained components may also be utilized to produce another batch of dashi.

Alternative 2: Make Your Own Fish Stock (Fumet)

Fumet is suitable for a variety of traditional Japanese cuisines.

As the foundation of a white fish dashi substitute, use a non-oily and mild white fish such as cod, bass, snapper, or halibut. If you fillet your own fish, save the head and bones, or ask for scraps at your local fish market when you purchase your fish.

The fish must be properly cleansed under cold running water since any traces of blood will render the drink unpalatable.

Sauté finely sliced onion, celery, and leek in a pan with minced garlic, fennel, tarragon, and parsley. Bring the bay leaves, white fish, and fish scraps to a boil. Cook for another couple of minutes after adding a splash of white wine.

Bring enough water to a boil in a stockpot to cover all of the above ingredients, then transfer everything from the skillet into the water pan. Let one or two teaspoons of soy sauce, one tablespoon of sugar, and one teaspoon of mirin (rice wine) to boil for an hour.

After the liquid has been strained, it may be used immediately, chilled and refrigerated, or cooled and frozen for later use.

Replacement 3: Make Your Own Shellfish Stock

You may prepare a stock identical to the one described above, but using shrimp or prawns instead of white fish. Just replace the fennel, tarragon, and parsley with fresh thyme, the leek with carrots, and season with salt and black pepper.

4th option: homemade Kombu Dashi and Shiitake Dashi (Vegan)

You can prepare a vegetarian and vegan-friendly dashi using a sachet of kombu (dried seaweed) and dried shiitake mushrooms.

Make the kombu according to the package directions in a stockpot and set aside for 30 minutes. Concurrently, reconstitute the shiitake mushrooms according to the package directions.

After 30 minutes, turn on the heat, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes before adding the liquid from your reconstituted shiitake mushrooms.

You may either use the mushrooms in your cuisine or freeze them in a plastic zip bag to use for dashi a couple more times. The kombu may also be reused.

5th Substitute: Soy Sauce

Soy sauce, like dashi, provides umami, and in fact, Japanese recipes may include both soy sauce and dashi, so if you don’t have dashi, simply add extra soy sauce.

Soy sauce, in addition to being strong in sodium, can darken a light colored dish, even if you use a light soy sauce.

Substitute 6: Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

While some people choose to avoid MSG (monosodium glutamate) in certain cuisine, MSG does increase umami. MSG is also more readily available in bigger supermarket shops than Japanese ingredients.

MSG is commonly created from soybeans nowadays, but when it was first isolated at the beginning of the twentieth century, it came from the same seaweed that was used to make kombu. This indicates that dashi already includes the glutamate that generates the fifth flavor, umami.

7th Substitute: Chicken Broth

You may also use chicken broth instead of dashi, however it won’t have the same marine taste.

If you must use chicken broth, choose one that is low in aromatics. Some broths, such beef, have too strong a taste to be used as a dashi alternative.

To summarize

If you have the materials and some extra time, the finest quick dashi replacement is handmade awase dashi, which is suitable for many Japanese meals. You might also prepare fish or shellfish stock, as well as kombu or shiitake dashi.

However, dashi replacements include soy sauce, MSG, and even chicken broth, albeit they cannot provide the same level of taste diversity as dashi.