HOW TO MAKE KOREAN STYLE DASHI STOCK

Give life to your Korean soup by learning how to make Korean soup stock (aka Korean style dashi stock)! 

WHAT IS DASHI?

Dashi is Japanese soup stock, which is used as a base stock in a Japanese soup dish. It is also used in some side dishes and in noodle dishes etc. Dashi is like a backbone of Japanese cuisine. So why am I talking about Japanese food – dashi here?

Well, there is dashi in Korean cooking as well. In Korea, we call this yuksu (육수), however, dashi (다시) is also a commonly used terminology as well.

KOREAN SOUP STOCK

Among others, dried kelp and dried anchovy stock (Dashima Myeolchi Yuksu, 다시마 멸치 육수) is the most commonly used soup stock in Korean cooking. For even more complex flavor, some Koreans add dried shiitake mushroom, the white part of green onion (close to the root) and/or Korean radish (daikon radish) on top of this.

As you can see from the picture above, dried kelp and dried anchovy stock is thin water based stock. It has a subtle but savory note. You can use this stock in various Korean soups (e.g. Korean fish cake soup and Korean miso (doenjang) soup) and in tteokbokki etc.

With well made dashi / soup stock, you don’t need to use as much seasoning in your main dish.  If you are not familiar with the base ingredients – dried kelp and dried anchovy, making this stock could be intimidating. But it’s very simple to make, so I hope you give this a try!

INGREDIENTS FOR KOREAN SOUP STOCK (DASHI STOCK)

• 6 cups water
• 10g (0.4 ounces) dried kelp (or Japanese kombu) – I buy pre-cut dried kelp. Each kelp piece is about 6.5cm (2.6 inch) x 4.5cm (1.8 inch)
• 30g (1.1 ounces) dried anchovy, It’s about 20 medium sized dried anchovies.

* 1 cup = 250 ml

** Above recipe results in about 4 and 1/2 cups of stock

HOW TO MAKE KOREAN DASHI STOCK

1. Gently wipe dried kelp with a damp kitchen towel or kitchen paper to remove any debris or dust. (You can skip this step if you’re short on time. Also, it is important to remember that the white powdery substance on dried kelp is mannitol – a type of sugar alcohol, which contributes to the sweetness and umami taste. So don’t scrub too hard!)

2. Soak the dried kelp in the water (6 cups) in a sauce pan for 1 hour. (You can do this overnight if you can afford the time for an even deeper flavor. Alternatively, if you’re short on time, skip this step.)

3. Remove the head and the black innards of the anchovy. Put the cleaned anchovy into a spice ball / large tea ball strainer. (If you don’t have this strainer, skip this, but it makes the cleaning process a lot neater.)

4. Add the anchovy filled spice ball into the sauce pan (from step 2). Alternatively, if you skipped step 2, add the water. Then boil the kelp and the anchovy for 10 mins on medium low heat.

5. 10 mins later, remove the kelp (with some tongs) and boil the anchovy for another 10 mins on low heat.

6. Remove the anchovy ball and sieve the stock through kitchen muslin cloth to catch any leftover kelp or anchovy particles. Now the soup stock is ready to use. If you are going to use it later, cool down and transfer it into an air tight container or a bottle. It should keep well for a few days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer.

NOTE

1. If you think your anchovy smells overly fishy, you can stir fry it in a pan (without any oil) for a few minutes or microwave it (under 1 minute – this is my guess only). This is recommended by the dried anchovy manufacturer. However, I didn’t think it was necessary for my recipe above.
2. If you have a specific dietary requirement, you could choose one ingredient over the other. For vegetarian stock, use dried kelp only. This stock is called “Dashima Yuksu (다시마 육수)”. Also alternatively, you could only use dried anchovy and this stock is called “Myeolchi Yuksu(멸치 육수)”.
3. Do not over boil the dried kelp as it can become slimy and bitter.