Directions

1. Soak your kombu and mushrooms in the water overnight in a pot. If you don’t have the time, you can bring the water, kombu and mushrooms to a boil, turn off the heat and then let it steep for at least an hour.

2. Bring the water back to a boil, add the katsuobushi if using, then quickly turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn the heat off, then let it steep for another 10 minutes without disturbing.

3. Remove the kombu, mushrooms and katsuobushi (if using) with a slotted spoon and gently press excess liquid from the ingredients into the pot through a fine mesh sieve. 

   
   

   Separate the ingredients to be used later in another dish. The kombu can be eaten and/or chopped up as a garnish. The mushrooms can be added to a number of other dishes and the katsuobushi can be used to makefurikake by heating them in a small pan on low heat. We, however, share the leftover kombu with our dogs as a snack and feed the spent katsuobushi to our chickens.

4. Enjoy as a nourishing drink by adding sea salt or a small dollop of miso to taste, or use as a soup, sauce base or a cooking liquid for congee/jook rice porridge. 

   
   

   Note: the non-vegan version can easily be made with a discarded fish carcass from a leftover meal in lieu or in addition to katsuobushi- preferably an oily white fish such as mackerel or trout. 

   
   

   For vegan versions, try adding ingredients like dried daikon, dried lily flowers or soaked soybeans for some extra umami.