5 BEST DASHI SUBSTITUTES and alternatives to use in your Japanese dishes

Dashi is what gives the amazing “Umami” flavor to Japanese dishes and is a class of soup and cooking stock used in Japanese cuisine. This liquid flavoring is essential in giving the right taste to the miso soup, noodle broth, clear broth and other kinds of liquid broth that requires simmering.

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In my post, I also have a traditional dashi recipe you can make, but in this video, I want to focus on the other part with 5 dashi flavor substitutes you probably never thought of.

In this video:
00:00 Intro
00:23 What flavor do you get from dashi?
01:23 White meat fish
02:01 Shellfish like prawns & shrimp
02:31 Vegetarian dashi substitute
02:47 Chicken broth
03:14 Powdered or cubed broth

A lot of Asian cuisines use dashi to underscore their flavor as part of the umami. The takoyaki and okonomiyaki are just among the grilled foods that use dashi to form its tasty batter which is made of flour.

You can actually make the dashi at home with simple ingredients and it is also the most common form of dashi. Have you ever tried dashi? Leave a comment if you have or haven't, I'm very curious to see if you know the umami flavor already.

But what if you don't have Dashi or don't have the ingredients to make it? Here are 5 flavor substitutes to get the Umami you would normally get from Dashi, and you can probably get them around the corner too!

The first is white meat fish
Going by Japanese tradition, the washoku or Japanese cooking, they had originally intended for the dashi to be made from fish or seafood broth.
Fumet is what you call a fish stock and at the basic level it is comparable to the dashi as the seafood taste is rooted deep within it.
If you’re going to make a dashi replacement, then you will need mild, non-oily, white-meat fishes, such as the tilefish, bass, halibut, snapper and cod.
Do not use tuna or mackerel as these types of fish have stronger fish flavor and might dominate the overall flavor of the dish that you’re preparing.

The second is shellfish. For this dashi substitute recipe, you will need to use shellfish scraps instead of fish, but prawns and shrimp create a better taste for this type of dashi than other shellfish, so you may want to put preference on the shrimp. You can make a broth from diced shellfish cubes and the garlic should be minced, these include the 2 cloves of garlic, 3 stalks of celery, 2 cups of carrots and 2 cups of onions.

Next is a vegetable substitute when perhaps your a vegetarian. then the vegetable seaweed and mushrooms (kombu and shiitake) dashi alternative would be a great option to try using dried shiitake mushrooms you can buy in bulk

Another easy one is a chicken broth
Chicken broth is easier to make as chicken meat is widely available and all the other ingredients needed to make it is very accessible too with 4 stalks celery, (with leaves), trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces, 4 medium carrots, 1 medium onion 6 cloves of garlic, some fresh parsley and thyme and some kosher salt for the sea like taste

And number 5 is the easiest with POWDERED OR CUBED BROTH
Cubed and powdered broths are probably the easiest way to make dashi stock and while you may use chicken, fish or shrimp flavors, you should never use pork or beef cube or powdered broth as they will not only accentuate the taste of your dish, but instead overpower it.

[Assassine]

I barely have any authentic japanese ingredients available where I live and I won't buy minimal amounts for exorbitant prices, so knowing that I can make dashi with shrimps is such a useful thing to know!

[Rosie-eekk]

I have a miso soup recipe of my own, so I have used dashi a lot and know the flavor well. But I ran out and can't buy it where I moved to. T~T Thank you for the alternatives!

[natalieputnam]

I have not tried it before but I want to make miso for the first time

[AidanCaDrago]

Thank you so much. I am struggling to find Dashi for New Year's soba. 🍜🍤

[SCSilk]

I bought a giant bag of bonito flakes which I’ve been using to make broth for instant ramen. I just learned I can make furikake with the leftover flakes so I’m going to try that next.

[nats_desu]

..what is the ratio of water if I will use broth cubes for dashi?..

[allenbelarmino]

Can I use shrimp bouillon rather than raw shrimp ?

[melodyxbliss]

Can i make tamagoyaki and use the chicken broth instead of dashi?

[todiet]

Looks delicious!!! Im trying this tonight! I just liked and subscribed to your page! I also just made a chicken noodle soup video, i hope you have a chance to look at it and show some love back. You're amazing!