Dashi, soy sauce, mirin ratios

[prasantrin]

1 cup in japanese measurement means how many mililitres?? and how do you store leftover dashi?? do u prepare dashi at the minimum 600ml of water??

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What do the instructions on the box/jar/whatever say?

[torakris]

1 cup in japanese measurement means how many mililitres?? and how do you store leftover dashi?? do u prepare dashi at the minimum 600ml of water??

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A Japanese cup is 200ml. Try freezing it if you won't be using it within a day or two, though I probably wouldn't even bother if it was instant.

What are you making?

You can always cut your measurements down, I normally add just enough of the granules needed to make the liquid amount called for in the recipe.

[Lucil]

maybe niku jaga or gyudon... but making for maybe 2 persons at most...

[Hiroyuki]

Some people suggests using an ice cube tray to store dashi in a freezer.

As for instant dashi, like Kristin said, simply add an appropriate amount of it according to the amount of water.

Thus,

for 200 ml, add 1/3 teaspoon of instant dashi

for 300 ml, add 1/2 teaspoon, and so on.

[Lucil]

thanks ... to prepare dashi for cooking means just to add dashi powder to water only right?? do i need to boil the water??

[torakris]

thanks ... to prepare dashi for cooking means just to add dashi powder to water only right?? do i need to boil the water??

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Depending on the brand/type it might dissolve better in hot water but I usually don't bother. If I am making a dish that will be simmered I just sprinkle it into the pan after adding the water. If the dish isn't going to be cooked I either use warm water or mix it really well...

[Hiroyuki]

Instructions on the package of Hon Dashi (product of Ajinomoto):

1 heaped teaspoon of it (4 g) to 600 ml (3cups) of mizu (cold water) or oyu (hot water).

[Peter the eater]

I have a dashi/soy/mirin question . . . so I think this is the right place!

Here's what my trio looks like:

The mirin says 8% alcohol and it tastes rather sweet (but I think, if I had to, I could drink it as is ) and the soy is low sodium but it tastes just fine to me.

I don't know yet what I'll cook with these ingredients but I do have a question about the dashi. Today was the first time I've ever purchased the stuff and since it's sold bulk style with no description or instructions, I'm wondering if this looks the same as the powdered dashi you have talked about. It came from a mom-and-pop Asian grocery store that was really a Mandarin store with a few extra things from the south and east, and I couldn't get any more info from them. A few bits on the tongue tastes very good, and it reminds me of kombu from Japanese restaurants. The only thing in my house that looks like this is the yeast pellets in a jar in the fridge, which is why I had to taste.

So is it reasonable to treat this dashi like I would any other bouillon cube or powdered stock?

[Hiroyuki]

I don't think I'm qualified to answer your question, but the stuff looks OK to me. I think I'll post some photos of my instant dashi later.

Mirin: Mirin usually has an alcohol content of 14%. Probably your "mirin" is "mirin-fu chomiryo" (mirin-like seasoning). Some mirin-fu chomiryo contain some salt. Have you checked out the ingredient label?

[Peter the eater]

I don't think I'm qualified to answer your question, but the stuff looks OK to me.  I think I'll post some photos of my instant dashi later.

Mirin:  Mirin usually has an alcohol content of 14%.  Probably your "mirin" is "mirin-fu chomiryo" (mirin-like seasoning).  Some mirin-fu chomiryo contain some salt.  Have you checked out the ingredient label?

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I've got MANJO AJI-MIRIN (SWEET COOKING RICE SEASONING) and the ingredients: glucose syrup, water, alcohol, rice, corn syrup, salt.

It's a KIKKOMAN product of Japan.

35 calories per tablespoon!

Let me rephrase my question: Is this dashi like a dry soup mix that I can add water to as I please, no big deal?

[nakji]

The only thing in my house that looks like this is the yeast pellets in a jar in the fridge, which is why I had to taste.

That's exactly the stuff I have sitting in my pantry. I think it looks like yeast too! Except that seems to be a really big bag of it.......

Add it to warm water, using about 1 tsp for 200ml or so, and use it like stock.

Whachagonna make?

[Hiroyuki]

You're right. No big deal. 1 heaped teaspoon of it per 600 ml (if it's a product of Japan). Note that all instant dashi contain some MSG.

[Peter the eater]

The only thing in my house that looks like this is the yeast pellets in a jar in the fridge, which is why I had to taste.

That's exactly the stuff I have sitting in my pantry. I think it looks like yeast too! Except that seems to be a really big bag of it.......

Add it to warm water, using about 1 tsp for 200ml or so, and use it like stock.

Whachagonna make?

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Thanks Nakji, yes I think that bag of dashi will be with me for a while.

Wednesday is my fishmonger day - I take my 3 year old twins to playgroup in Dartmouth until 11am, then we drive through Bedford where my buddy said he'd have a small monkfish for me. They had only 1 unbutchered . . . and it was bigger than me! Or at least it was close - I was a little scared of it's seven tools!

Seriously, I asked for a more manageable one. Next week I'm assured a 5 to 20 pounder. We'll see.

[Peter the eater]

You're right.  No big deal.   1 heaped teaspoon of it per 600 ml (if it's a product of Japan).  Note that all instant dashi contain some MSG.

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Thanks Hiroyuki. I quite like MSG - no allergies - I grew up with marmite. As you may know, it's a tar-like spread full of rich umami flavor. Very popular in the Commonwealth.

[Hiroyuki]

As for mirin vs. mirin fu, don't be disappointed. Mirin fu is as good as mirin, and you won't tell the difference when you taste the resulting dish. Serious chefs may tell you otherwise, though.

[Hiroyuki]

I posted a close-up photo of my Hon Dashi here.

[helenjp]

Yeah, mirin-fuu / aji-mirin is fine for most soups and nimono, especially cooked kanto-style, because the strong taste of the soy sauce makes the difference between real and fake mirin rather academic.

However, because it's salted (originally to get around liquor laws), go lightly on the salt and soy sauce in your recipes until you've done a taste test.

Hondashi and other brands of "additive-free" instant dashi both contain yeast extracts, but Hondashi also contains some straight MSG (and sugar, surprisingly!).

Yeast extracts can't help but contain some MSG anyway, but I find the taste less aggressive and uniform than straight aji-no-moto (MSG).

[nakji]

I take my 3 year old twins to playgroup in Dartmouth until 11am,

This sentence made me unaccountably homesick for a moment.

Good luck with the monkfish. I've never tried it, but I hope to one day. I'm not sure if you can get it in Japan

Here's a question for the punters: My go-to soy and mirin are Kikkoman Soy (green label) and Mizkan "hon te ri" mirin , (hon te ri?) Dashi is the box Hiroyuki posted over here

I always mean to make my own dashi, and I will get around to it one of these days, but from a flavour perspective, is it worth upgrading my mirin and shoyu to more expensive brands? Cost isn't a huge issue, since I don't really go through that much of it compared to most Japanese households. And if so, have you got any brand recommendations?

[Peter the eater]

I take my 3 year old twins to playgroup in Dartmouth until 11am,

This sentence made me unaccountably homesick for a moment.

Good luck with the monkfish. I've never tried it, but I hope to one day. I'm not sure if you can get it in Japan

I thought that line might stir up an emotion for you!

Check out Hiroyuki's anko tsurushi giri post #4.

[Hiroyuki]

I take my 3 year old twins to playgroup in Dartmouth until 11am,

This sentence made me unaccountably homesick for a moment.

Good luck with the monkfish. I've never tried it, but I hope to one day. I'm not sure if you can get it in Japan

I thought that line might stir up an emotion for you!

Check out Hiroyuki's anko tsurushi giri post #4.

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See this video on YouTube to see how Michiba, Iron Chef Japanese, does the tsurushi giri.

[melonpan]

I often make nikomi (simmered) hamburg these days because that's what my daughter craves for.

The ingredients of the sauce are:

4tbsp ketchup

4 tbsp tonkatsu (or chunou) sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp sake

My daughter really likes the sauce and the nikomi hamburg.

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so ive never made these before. do you take plain ground beef and fry before hand and then simmer in the sauce after the patties have cooked?

thank you in advance!

[Hiroyuki]

so ive never made these before.  do you take plain ground beef and fry before hand and then simmer in the sauce after the patties have cooked?

thank you in advance!

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Not plain ground beef but a mixture of ground beef and pork as I described here.

And, yes, simmer in the sauce after cooking both sides of the patties.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Hiroyuki (log)

[melonpan]

so ive never made these before.  do you take plain ground beef and fry before hand and then simmer in the sauce after the patties have cooked?

thank you in advance!

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Not plain ground beef but a mixture of ground beef and pork as I described here.

And, yes, simmer in the sauce after cooking both sides of the patties.

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thanks so much for all the follow up with this as well as with the hamburg patties.

i ended up making a double batch of both the patties and the sauce. froze half of the cooked mini patties for later.

i have to say this sauce is DANG good. two thumbs up from the snobby korean husband. nikomi hamburg is going to be a standard here. thanks!

[nakji]

i ended up making a double batch of both the patties and the sauce. froze half of the cooked mini patties for later.

i have to say this sauce is DANG good. two thumbs up from the snobby korean husband. nikomi hamburg is going to be a standard here. thanks!

Oh yeah, I've made that recipe many times - it's the only thing that I keep ketchup around the house for. My husband and I often end up with spoons at the pan, trying to scoop up all the extra sauce. Now that fall is here, I have to put this dish back into rotation.

They hold up great for bento the next day, too.

[Hiroyuki]

OK, OK. You should feel grateful for that simple sauce recipe I made myself. Search around, and you will find most other recipes are simply stupid, requiring all sorts of ingredients (canned tomatoes, consomme, etc., etc.) that I don't think are necessary. Now you know the power of soy sauce and mirin combined!