Dashi Fishball Soup

Since we are in the mood for Japanese (again), I decided to make Dashi Soup. I used frozen fish balls for some "meat." The result was a very tasty soup that hubby and I enjoyed.

Dashi is the Japanese word for soup stock. It is made by soaking dried edible kelp, dried bonito flakes, and sometimes dried sardines or dried shiitake mushrooms in water. And since I can't possibly do that, I just used a ready-made dashi mix. ;-)


What you need:

• 1 pack (10 g) dashi soup mix
• 2 cups of water
• 1 package fish balls
• 1/4 cup julienned carrot
• 2 stalks green onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons rice wine
• salt, to taste
• bonito flakes for garnish

What to do:

In a small pot, boil 2 cups of water. Add the dashi mix and bring to a boil. Add the fish balls, carrots, green onion, ginger, and rice wine. Lower the heat and let cook for about 5 minutes. Salt to taste.

Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with bonito flakes. Enjoy hot!


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks:

1. Add 1/2 cup of water if the taste is too strong for you.
2. Don't like fish balls? Use finely shredded salted ham.
3. Try sake instead of rice wine.