What Is Dashi Powder? Instant Dashi Explained

Dashi powder is instant Japanese stock: granules or powder that dissolve in hot water to give dashi in seconds. Japanese kitchens call it dashi no moto (だしの素).

This guide explains what is in it, how much to use, and how bonito and kombu powders differ. It sits inside our Dashi Masterclass.

Our dashi powders: Shimaya Dashi no Moto Powder, 50g, and Shimaya Kombu Dashi Powder, 128g.

What Is Dashi Powder?

Dashi reaches the kitchen in three forms: drawn fresh from bonito flakes and kombu, as instant granules or powder, or as a liquid concentrate such as shiro dashi. Dashi powder is the instant form. It is a seasoning blend in which salt, sugars and flavour enhancers outweigh the fish or kelp: Marutomo's 1kg bonito granules, for example, are 8.5% dried bonito.

Is Hondashi the Same as Dashi?

Hondashi is a well-known brand name for instant bonito dashi, so it is a dashi powder rather than dashi drawn from scratch. It is used the same way as any bonito dashi no moto.

How Do You Use Dashi Powder?

Dissolve it in water or hot water as the base of a soup. Shimaya specifies 1% to 2% of the liquid, which works out at about 10g to 20g per litre. Marutomo gives about 4g, one teaspoon, per 600ml of miso soup for four.

Instant dashi is heavily salted, from about 37g to 47g of salt per 100g of powder, so season the rest of the dish with that in mind.

Bonito or Kombu Dashi Powder?

Bonito dashi powder gives the smoky, savoury katsuo stock used for miso soup and noodle broths. Shimaya's Dashi no Moto 50g is a bonito powder with no kelp in its ingredients. Contains fish.
Kombu dashi powder has kelp as its only flavour material and no fish in its ingredient list. Shimaya's Kombu Dashi Powder 128g is one.

Is Dashi Powder Vegetarian?

Bonito powders are not: they contain fish. Kombu powders list no fish ingredient, but none of the specifications we hold carries a vegetarian or vegan statement, and the source of some flavour enhancers is not stated, so we cannot call them vegetarian.