5 Daily Meals You Can Cook Using Japanese Dashi

By Rajlakshmi Dastidar

Updated:Feb 22, 2026

The unsung hero that can turn your regular meal bowls into something incredibly tasty and comfortable is Japanese dashi. Its clean, umami-rich foundation, which is made from basic ingredients like kombu and bonito flakes, goes well with rice, noodles, vegetables, and even proteins like tofu and chicken. It’s easy to incorporate dashi into your regular meals without using complicated methods. You can try 5 of these recipes.

5 Daily Meals You Can Cook Using Japanese Dashi

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

You have undoubtedly had rice if you have ever eaten Japanese cuisine, and even if you were unaware of it, you have most likely also experienced dashi. The unsung umami backbone of Japanese cooking, this simple seaweed-based stock shapes everything from soups to noodle broths for ramen, udon, and soba. It infiltrates sushi rice and even yakitori glazes. However, dashi is strangely underappreciated, often viewed as complicated or best left to chefs rather than the straightforward, necessary ingredient that it is, while soy sauce, miso, and teriyaki are kitchen staples around the world. This is due to the fact that Japanese cooks are known for their unwavering dedication to honing their dashi, which can take years or even a lifetime. The important thing is to understand that this applies to the professional preparation of the majority of Japanese cuisine, if not all of it. It is advisde home cooks approach this art with a different set of goals and expectations. Because dashi is quite simple on a very basic level, even though there is undoubtedly a universe of depth and delicacy to explore.

What Is Japanese Dashi?

An exceptionally adaptable stock that gives a substantial yet delicate taste to a broad range of savoury recipes. Japanese dashi can be used to make tare dipping sauce, ramen broth, and miso soup. Furthermore, it can be just as helpful in Western preparations, even though it is clearly essential to other distinctively Japanese meals like chawanmushi, a savoury egg custard, and nimono, which are simmered dishes. Although dried fish is used in the most popular type of dashi, vegan versions are also quite good and a great substitute for veggie stock.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons