Contrary to common belief, “preparing dashi” is surprisingly easy - it only takes about 5 minutes to complete the entire process. Since this 5 minute process makes meals tastier and more nutritious, why not try it yourself? It is so delicious that you will enjoy preparing dashi.
How to Prepare Katsuo Dashi
1. Fill a pot with 1,000 ml (or 4 US-size cups) of water and bring to a boil. Turn off the stove. Add 30 g of kezuribushi (shaved katsuobushi) to the water.
2. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Place a kitchen cloth or a sheet of paper towel in a strainer. Slowly poor the water into the strainer then let it stand for 1 minute.
4. Pour dashi into a freezer bag and store it in the freezer. When cooking, the frozen dashi can be cracked into small pieces with an ice pick. For convenient portion sizes, the dashi can be frozen in ice cube trays first. Then the frozen cubes can be transferred to the freezer bag for storage.* The frozen dashi will keep in the freezer for at least 1 month.