Vegetarian Dashi Soup Stock

Also: dashi broth, hondashi

Dashi is a kind of soup and cooking stock essential to Japanese cuisine. It forms the base for miso soup, along with a wide assortment of other soup and noodle dishes.

Usually made with bonito flakes, a dried and smoked fish product, our version uses kombu and shiitake mushroom to create a wonderful substitute.

Try to use the best quality dried mushrooms you can find. Fresh will not work in this recipe. Omit the kombu if you cannot find it...

1 cup vegetable stock
3 cups hot water
3" x 5" piece of kombu seaweed
8 medium sized dried shiitake mushrooms, quartered

Place mushrooms and kombu in water and vegetable stock and let sit for 20 minutes. Place on stove on high heat. Just before the stock boils, remove from heat. Remove kombu. Let stand 20 minutes and then remove shiitakes (reserve for another use).

Makes 4 cups