Smoked Dashi

[Shel_B]

Ovr the past months, I've been enjoying my homemade dashi a couple of times per week. Last week I got the idea to poach a piece of salmon in the dashi, and that was OK. Today, for lunch, I seasoned the salmon with some alderwood smoked salt, let it sit a bit, wiped off some of the excess, and poached the salmon which I had with rice and veggies. I decided to save the dashi poachimg broth, and had a little before storing the balance., OMG, that subtle smoke flavor and slight hint of saltiness really kicked that dashi upstairs. This is something I want to experiment with. It appears to have some great possibilities. Has anyone here tried something similar? Am I an innovative and creative genius or, once again, late to the party?

[liuzhou]

So, you didn't smoke the dashi. You just added some smoked salt? 

[Shel_B]

15 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

So, you didn't smoke the dashi. You just added some smoked salt? 

I seasoned the salmon with some alderwood smoked salt, let it sit a bit, wiped off some of the excess, and poached the salmon in the dashi. That was the only smoke added to the broth.

[liuzhou]

So. It isn't smoked dashi

 

 

[Shel_B]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

So. It isn't smoked dashi

 

 

So what's your point? It's smoke-flavored, smoke enhanced, smokey ... dashi ... . so sorry if the description in the title upset or confused you. The description in the body of the post was quite clear about what was done.

Edited 10 hours ago by Shel_B (log)

[liuzhou]

What wasn't clear is why? Dashi is known to be a light but umami rich broth. 

 

Do you think the Japanese wouldn't have included smoked salt if it improved it?

[KennethT]

I'm no expert on Japanese cuisine.  Hopefully members like @Duvel will chime in... but in my layman's study, it is quite common to give dashi a smoky flavor by infusing katsuobushi flakes into the dashi briefly.  Miso soup uses this technique.  So it is not an uncommon thing for dashi to have a smoky flavor - but traditionally is done by infusing dried, smoked fish flakes.

[Shel_B]

I use kasuobushi, the salted salmon added an additional and subtle layer of smokiness. And a different flavor of smoke as well. It was accidental and I'd like to experiment more with adding additional smokiness to my dashi ... see where the concept takes me.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Shel_B (log)

[Shel_B]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

What wasn't clear is why? Dashi is known to be a light but umami rich broth. 

 

Do you think the Japanese wouldn't have included smoked salt if it improved it?

I like to experiment, try new things. The whole thing came about almost accidentally. I wanted to cook some salmon, was tired of baking, broiling, pan searing ... the dashi was in the pot ... 1 + 1 and I thought why not poach in dashi, see what happens. This time, the second time I poached salmon in dashi, I decided to salt it first. Didn't see the Diamond Crystal, but the smoked salt was handy, so I grabbed it ... why not, I thought (Actually I thought WTF ..}  But isn't cooking about experimenting? Don't you at least sometimes stray from tradition? In anycase, I'm cooking for me, and I liked it and shall cotinue experimenting with the  concept.

Edited 6 hours ago by Shel_B (log)

[weinoo]

Any number of components of dashi may be smoked...see here....https://okume.us/pages/dashi-materials

 

So I don't know if the "innovative and creative genius" applies here.

 

[pastameshugana]

5 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Do you think the Japanese wouldn't have included smoked salt if it improved it?

 

I must respectfully say this sounds like a pretty narrow-minded take. It sounds as if you are suggesting that anything (in this case food-related) that a culture produces should be left in it's most pure form. Surely you don't mean that? 

 

Every culture has things that are wonderful in and of and by themselves, yet to think that we should not add anything to them or change them would leave our culinary world (to say nothing of the other facets of it) woefully boring. 

 

I, for one, am thankful that spices, techniques, and ingredients that were not 'indigenous' to my culture have been adopted and adulterated into the mind-boggling variety of foods that are available in our shrinking world.

[Duvel]

17 hours ago, Shel_B said:

Ovr the past months, I've been enjoying my homemade dashi a couple of times per week. Last week I got the idea to poach a piece of salmon in the dashi, and that was OK. Today, for lunch, I seasoned the salmon with some alderwood smoked salt, let it sit a bit, wiped off some of the excess, and poached the salmon which I had with rice and veggies. I decided to save the dashi poachimg broth, and had a little before storing the balance., OMG, that subtle smoke flavor and slight hint of saltiness really kicked that dashi upstairs. This is something I want to experiment with. It appears to have some great possibilities. Has anyone here tried something similar? Am I an innovative and creative genius or, once again, late to the party?

If you are making dashi from scratch severely times per week, I assume you buy your katsuobushi blocks at a reputable source and slice it yourself. Have you noticed the the katsuobushi blocks itself has a smokey scent ? Because the very definition of katsuobushi is that the skipjack has to be cooked, smoked and fermented. So, it’s not a revelation that the two flavors go well together. Maybe your block was not of a decent quality. If you want a pronounced smoke flavor, look for arabushi designation. Get a proper one, preferably and you are set in the smokyness department (unless you are looking for that overpowering artificial smoke flavor found in certain commercial preparations).

That salt does wonders for an umami-rich preparation shouldn’t be a surprise either. So, if you’ve discovered something new for yourself - good for you 👍

 

 

[Shel_B]

57 minutes ago, Duvel said:

If you are making dashi from scratch severely times per week, I assume you buy your katsuobushi blocks at a reputable source and slice it yourself. Have you noticed the the katsuobushi blocks itself has a smokey scent ? Because the very definition of katsuobushi is that the skipjack has to be cooked, smoked and fermented. So, it’s not a revelation that the two flavors go well together. Maybe your block was not of a decent quality. If you want a pronounced smoke flavor, look for arabushi designation. Get a proper one, preferably and you are set in the smokyness department (unless you are looking for that overpowering artificial smoke flavor found in certain commercial preparations).

That salt does wonders for an umami-rich preparation shouldn’t be a surprise either. So, if you’ve discovered something new for yourself - good for you 👍

 

Sad to admit, I've not used blocks because neither of the nearby Japanese markets carry them, or at least they weren't available the times I looked, and because the only blocks that I was familiar with were large and very expensive. I've since learned that smaller, more budget-friendly blocks are available. I may have to go into San Francisco's Japan Town to get good quality blocks. I'm hesitant to buy online until I become more faiiar with quality and what to look for. Maybe you have some thoughts about buying online?

 

I've been buying bagged and shaved katsuobushi, and have definitely noticed qualitative differences, and some are smokier than others. I've been trying different brands and have noticed that price isn't an indicator of anything. Same thing with the kombu, although I'm narrowing down that ingredient to a couple of brands and styles. It seems that kombu from certain areas are more highly regarded than from other locations. Any kombu suggestions?

 

Thanks for your help and support.

[liuzhou]

I apologize if I came across as high-minded or as suggesting that changing a recipe was wrong. Not my intention or inner attitude. I merely meant that adding a trace amount of smoked salt doesn't magically turn a dish into anything that can be described as a smoked dish.

Edited 1 hour ago by liuzhou (log)