Japanese Clear Soup (Osumashi)

Before You Start...

1. Gather all the ingredients. Please note that this recipe requires a minimum steeping time of at least 30 minutes for the dashi stock.
2. Sometimes, life happens and you just don‘t have 30 minutes to make dashi from scratch. On those occasions, you can use a Dashi Packet or Dashi Powder.

To Make the Awase Dashi

1. Gather all the ingredients. Most Japanese recipes would say to gently clean the kombu with a damp cloth. However, these days, kombu is quite clean, so just make sure it doesn't have any mold spots and it‘s ready to use. Do not wash or wipe off the white powdery substance, as it has lots of umami. Put the water and kombu in a large bottle or measuring cup and let it steep on the counter for at least 30 minutes (or ideally, 2–3 hours in the summertime and 4–5 hours in the wintertime). You can also cold brew the kombu dashi overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Add 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) and 4 cups water to a medium saucepan. If you have cold brew Kombu Dashi (previous step), add the Kombu Dashi and hydrated kombu to the pot.
3. Turn on the heat to medium low and slowly bring it to almost boiling, about 10 minutes. Just before the dashi starts boiling gently, remove the kombu from the pot (discard or repurpose it in other recipes—suggestions follow). If you leave the kombu in the pot, the dashi will become slimy and bitter. 
4. Add 1 cup katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) and bring it back to a boil again. Once the dashi is boiling, reduce the heat, simmer for just 30 seconds, and turn off the heat.
5. Let the katsuobushi sink to the bottom, for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, you can prepare the soup ingredients.
6. Strain the dashi through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl or measuring cup. The Awase Dashi is ready to use.
7. Reserve the spent kombu and katsuobushi in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for up to a month. See the instructions below for how to repurpose them.

To Prepare the Ingredients

1. Tips: The ingredients I use here do not require pre-cooking. If you want to add different ingredients to Osumashi, be sure to first cook separately any ingredients that require cooking, then add them to the soup later. These include dense root vegetables or leafy greens that may release color, such as spinach. Once all the ingredients are cooked, simply add them to the clear soup to warm up.
2. Soak 8 pieces fu (wheat gluten) in water for 10 minutes. Once soft, gently squeeze out the water.
3. Discard the stems of 2 shiitake mushrooms and thinly slice them about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick.
4. Make a knot in each of the stems of 4 sprigs mitsuba (Japanese parsley). Detach the wooden board of the kamaboko by sliding the knife under the fish cake. Then, thinly cut 8 slices kamaboko (fish cake) about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick.

To Make the Soup

1. Divide and add the rehydrated wheat gluten and mitsuba to the individual bowls.
2. Next, make the clear soup broth. Add 3⅓ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) back to the pot and season with 2 tsp usukuchi (light-colored) soy sauce and ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
3. Add the kamaboko fish cake slices and shiitake mushrooms to the pot and heat until warm. Serve the soup in the individual bowls.
4. Enjoy!

To Store

1. Let your soup cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for up to 2–3 days. It‘s best to add the mitsuba and wheat gluten just before serving.

What To Do with the Spent Katsuobushi and Kombu?

1. With the spent kombu, you can make Simmered Kombu (Kombu Tsukudani).
2. You can also repurpose the spent kombu and katsuobushi to make Homemade Furikake (Rice Seasoning).