You can find bags of katsuobushi flakes at most Asian/Japanese supermarkets. In addition to making dashi, it’s also used in other dishes, including: You can mix the okaka into the rice or use it as a filling for onigiri rice balls. Okaka (おかか) is katsuobushi cooked with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sesame seeds.

Dashi is the backbone of many Japanese dishes. While you can make dashi with just katsuobushi, many recipes call for combining katsuobushi and kombu dashi for an umami-rich broth. Dashi is made by infusing umami-rich sources, such as kombu, shiitake mushrooms, dried iriko/niboshi, or katsuobushi in water. The Japanese use these flakes to make dashi. The umami flavor is more meaty than fishy, and the aroma is smoky. While it resembles wispy pieces of paper, it has an almost explosive, intense smoky flavor. If you live in a humid environment, store the bags in the freezer. If the packages did not come in a resealable bag, immediately transfer them to an airtight container. To keep your katsuobushi fresh for longer, expel air from the bag, reseal, and store in a cool, dry, dark location. Katsuobushi is extremely sensitive to humidity, so properly store opened bags otherwise, they will oxidize, and the color will become dull. However, you can choose the shortcut and buy good quality shaved katsuobushi without shaving it yourself. It’s shaved using a tool called katsuobushi kezuriki (鰹節削り器), similar to a wood plane. Traditionally, you would shave a katsuobushi into thin flakes on demand while cooking. Thinnest shavings, suitable as a garnish for salads and tofu.More dark meat, which produces a rich and robust dashi.The more dark meat, the stronger the flavor.All-purpose for making soups, sauces, and dressings.It has a strong smoky aroma with a slightly acidic flavor.The most common type of katsuobushi that does not undergo fermentation.Much more complex and elegant in flavor and expensive compared to karebushi.Refers to katsuobushi that repeats the drying and fermentation process is at least three times.Darker shavings are suitable for miso soups, simmered dishes, and dressings.Suitable for making flavorful and aromatic clear dashi.Lighter-colored shavings, with or without dark meat.Refers to katsuobushi that repeats the drying and fermentation process twice.Thin pale pink petals that resemble large wood shavings.There are several types of katsuobushi, which are used for different purposes. The finished product resembles hard, petrified wood through a months-long drying process. Katsuobushi is made by boiling, dry-smoking, then introducing Aspergillus glaucus, a beneficial mold that triggers fermentation in the fish fillet. It’s extremely high in umami, which is due to its high inosinate content. It’s most commonly used to make dashi, an essential soup stock used in a wide variety of Japanese dishes. Katsuobushi is paper-thin shavings of skipjack tuna or bonito, known as katsuo.

Bonito flake