Learn how to make Iriko Dashi (Niboshi Dashi), a Japanese anchovy stock made by boiling dried anchovies. This stock is fundamental to enhance your miso soup for authentic flavor!
Making dashi (Japanese soup stock) is an all-important step in Japanese cooking to create authentic flavor. Today I want to share how to make a Japanese anchovy stock called Iriko Dashi (いりこだし) or Niboshi Dashi (煮干しだし), commonly used in miso soup and many other hot pots, noodle soup, and simmered dishes.
What is Iriko Dashi?
Iriko Dashi (いりこだし) or Niboshi Dashi (煮干しだし) is Japanese soup stock made from Iriko (いりこ) / Niboshi (煮干し), dried baby sardines or anchovies.
Iriko (いりこ) / Niboshi (煮干し) come in sizes between 1.5″ to 3″ long and are often sold in plastic bags at Japanese and Asian grocery stores. They have been boiled in salt water once and then dried.
The smaller baby anchovies have a milder flavor, and the larger ones have more umami. They are high in calcium and are a great source of Omega 3, protein and minerals.
In Japan, we enjoy these dried baby anchovies as a snack or use them to make soup stock. They are also a common ingredient in Korean, Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines where they are used in many different ways!
Iriko vs Niboshi – Are They The Same Thing?
Now I have been using both iriko and niboshi throughout the post when referencing the dried baby anchovies. Not to confuse you, they are actually the same thing.
The Japanese have a knack with naming produce and vegetables, so you can find different names are being used in different regions of Japan.
Watch How to Make Iriko Dashi
Learn how to make Iriko Dashi (Niboshi Dashi), a Japanese anchovy stock made by boiling dried anchovies. This stock is fundamental to enhance your miso soup for authentic flavor!
What Dishes to Make with Iriko Dashi
Iriko dashi is a very common stock choice to make miso soup because dried iriko are more affordable in price than katsuobushi or kombu. Since Japanese drink miso soup almost every day, it makes sense to use Iriko Dashi. Its briny and pronounced flavor also complements the bold miso, resulting in a more complex tasting soup.
You can also use Iriko Dashi in recipes such as:
- Simmered dishes with soybeans, vegetables, seaweed, mushrooms
- Udon noodle soup
- Strongly-flavored dishes
- Good to mix with kombu dashi
Anchovy stock is also a basic stock for Korean cuisine, and the process of making the stock is very similar to the one for Japanese cuisine. For those who cannot find kombu or katsuobushi, you can try finding these dried baby anchovies/sardines from Korean grocery stores to make this Iriko Dashi.
The Ultimate Dashi Guide on Just One Cookbook
Dashi plays an important role as a flavor enhancer in Japanese cooking, so you don’t need to season the food with too much salt, fat, and sugar. Rich in minerals and other vitamins, dashi is considered a healthy ingredient in our daily diet.
There are five different types of dashi you can use in Japanese cooking, including vegetarian and vegan dashi (*).
- Kombu Dashi → made from kombu (dried kelp)*
- Katsuo Dashi → made from katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
- Iriko Dashi → made from iriko or niboshi (dried anchovies/sardines)
- Shiitake Dashi → made from dried shiitake mushrooms*
- Awase Dashi → made from a combination of all above or two (e.g., kombu + katsuobushi)
If you are new to different types of dashi, check out my Ultimate Dashi Guide post.
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- ½ cup iriko or niboshi (dried baby sardines/anchovies) (.7 oz or 20 g) (See Notes)
- 4 cups water (1000 ml)
Gather all the ingredients.
I highly recommend removing the head and gut from the fish to reduce bitter flavor in iriko dashi. First, remove the head, and then around the belly area (bottom side), take out the gut inside (black color).
Continue with the rest of the iriko/niboshi. Discard the head and guts.
Soak the iriko/niboshi in the 4 cups of water for 20-30 minutes, preferably overnight.
Transfer the water and iriko/niboshi into a small saucepan and slowly bring the water to a boil.
When boiling, skim and reduce heat to low and cook for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and drain into a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl or measuring cup. Any extra dashi needs to be refrigerated and used within 3-5 days or freeze for later use.
If you don't make it right away, you can freeze the leftover iriko/niboshi and defrost to make it later on.
- You can season the leftover iriko with sweet soy sauce flavors just like how we make Tazukuri (Candied Sardine).
Iriko or Niboshi (dried baby sardines/anchovies): Iriko or Niboshi can be found in Japanese/Korean/Asian grocery stores. You will need ¼ cup (10 g) of iriko/niboshi for 2 cups (500 ml) water.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published in March 2014. New images and content have been added to the post in April 2019.
The photography is so good! Loved the step by step instructions and the video. Great post Nami
Those flavourful little fishes look a little daunting to prepare but that must be some pretty amazing stock. 🙂
I made anchovy dashi a long time ago, but somehow it was too strong for me (compared to the katsuobushi one). Maybe I shouldn’t have used it in miso soup… I have to experiment with it more.
This definitely looks easy enough for someone like me to make! I love your videos.
Yum! 🙂 What do you use this dashi in, Nami? I couldn’t find recipes on your site for it. Tried the Google search, it said 7 results, but there wasn’t a list.
Hi Angie! I use iriko dashi to make miso soup sometimes (just to change flavor once in a while, but my family’s favorite is always Awase Dashi), but I don’t use Iriko Dashi much. Which is why it took me a long time to make a post. =P If you enjoy this flavor of dashi, you can use it for most of the recipes that says “dashi”. However, I suggest to avoid using it for fish dish (too much fish in flavor). Hope this helps!
Thanks, it certainly does! I was curious because the Chinese (that includes me) use anchovies in our stock but we don’t soak them first. I will try it your way. Keep posting! 😉
We avoid cooking anchovies for a long time because it creates bitter taste. In Japan, we even consider making iriko dashi with just water only (no cooking) for mild flavor dashi. When we use just water, we don’t remove the head and tummy. Just soak and slowly let the flavor come out. Maybe because Japanese food flavor is light and it’s overwhelming when iriko dashi has strong flavor…
Interesting! A tasty stock.
Cheers,
Rosa
I always learn so much from you! Removing the heads and tummy portions of the anchovies must be a bit tedious, but I know you know what you’re talking about, so I’d do it! Good post — thanks.
We also make this similar anchovy stock very often here, we called anchovy in Malay as ikan bilis. We use this stock to cook noodles soup, for hotpot base, or boiled vegetable soup.
I’ve never seen little dried anchovies like that before. What else are they used in?
Hi Sylvie! Thank you for your q uestion. In Japanese cooking, we mostly use in basic stock like this. Another use I can think of right now is our new year’s special food called Tazukuri. It’s “Candied Sardines”. A lot of people think the use of the word “candied” for fish is strange, but it’s savory sweet flavor. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/tazukuri-candied-sardines/
My husband would love this, Nami, he’s addicted to anchovies. I didn’t know the Japanese were keen on anchovies, I thought that was just the Italians! xx
Oh my goodness, I’ve always wanted to try making anchovy stock for some Korean stews so this is perfect. Thank you so much for sharing and the awesome step by step photos – I can’t wait to give this a try 🙂
Hi Nami- I am so glad I subscribed and was welcomed with your inspiring Iroki Dashi video. I love the taste of Miso soup especially with the mild anchovy flavor in the background. I can’t wait to try this. Any other soup suggestions for me? I imagine this stock would be a great base for soups. Thanks!
Nami I always learn so much from you even if it’s the smallest of details. You inspire me every time I read/watch your posts. Have a great weekend!
Was going to ask you what do you use it for? but you’ve already answer that… can I use it as a substitute for fish sauce?
Hi Amira! Fish sauce is a completely different thing. While this is more like mild flavor stock, fish sauce is a condiment to season food (strong flavor). So it can’t be a good substitute. This stock is used to cook food, or base for noodle soup and miso soup. It’s kind of like chicken/vegetable stock in Japanese cooking. 🙂
Wonderful! Food is so much richer when using anchovy stock! Your video is fantastic!!! Thumbs up!
Never even heard of anchovy stock before but since I eat out at Japanese and Korean places I must have consumed it lol. Very curious to give this further exploration.
勉強になりました。いつも鰹節の出汁を作っておりますが、次回是非いりこ出汁を作りたいです。
偶然に、最近うちの主人と日本の友達と話していましたが、アメリカへ輸出鰹節、いりこは安全だと思いますか。主人は福島厳罰の影響を心配していますが、確かに政府の規制を信用できますでしょう。（この悩みはなぜと言うと舞版猫が鰹節を食べています。）忙しいところですみませんが、なみさんの意見を頂けませんでしょうか。
So interesting – I’ve never removed the heads and tummies when I make dashi although it makes sense. Thanks for the tutorial Nami!
Nami-san, I have never made dashi with baby anchovies but I am sure it is delightful. I am sure it takes some time to prepare them and thank goodness you are so patient.
Hi Nami
Thank you for this I usually buy Iriko Dashi powder, now I can do it by myself.
Chantal
I never knew you could make stock from anchovy. This is a great step by step tutorial. It will be helpful because my son loves fish a lot. Thanks for sharing, Nami. Hope your weekend is going great!
We also make this kind of stock in Chinese cooking using dried anchovies (ikan bilis). Usually use it when cooking noodle soupy dishes.
So that’s how you make Dashi! It looks very easy.
I was so intrigued with dashi after reading it from your blog a year ago that I even went out to buy dashi stock from a Japanese supermarket! 😛 I didn`t know there was an anchovy version as well!
Ahhhh so this is how its made, I have anchovies at home now I can make this type of dashi
Lovely! So many uses for it – I really do love anchovies….
Didn’t realize that anchovies were made to make a Japanese dashi. Glad to read that it doesn’t have a fishy taste because I’m not much of a anchovy fan, but I am a huge dashi fan. Thanks for sharing this Nami.
Thank you MJ! Dashi has several kinds (5 kinds), and anchovy one is just one of them. Usually when you eat at restaurants, I’m pretty sure the restaurants use combination dashi of bonito flakes and kombu. It’s most flavorful, and used in many dishes (used as all purose dashi). For miso soup, they would use the combination dashi or anchovy dashi. 🙂
3 ingredient stock… can’t beat that. It’s a lot of work to remove all the heads and tummy parts… but I think my kids would prefer them not in the stock too. 🙂
I have to say, you have loads of patience 🙂 This dashi sounds mouthwatering! Love miso soup, and now I know why they always taste so flavorful.
Hi! Can I use this dashi in making takoyaki?
Yes you can. 🙂
Thanks for your recipe! I’ve used it many times and it’s been great. Would you recommend using the iriko from making the dashi to reuse it for any dishes? If so, what dish would you make with it?
Hi Nathaniel! If you’re okay with eating the fish head… we have this dish called Tazukuri. It’s actually very delicious and high calcium.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/tazukuri-candied-sardines/
I’ll add this link in Note section. Thank you so much for asking!
Hi Nami.
First, thank you for this instruction.
I’m wondering abut ebi, can i use ebi as anchovy subtitute?
One more question,
Is Iriko Dashi suitable for ramen?
I mean, can i combine chicken stock and Iriko Dashi to be ramen soup?
I’ve been trying to make a ramen soup which has umami taste, but i did not get that.
I live in Indonesia, it is so hard to find kombu here.
So i think Iriko Dashi can help me to give more savory taste.
Thank you very much
Hi Ari! Typically Japanese food doesn’t use shrimp stock in our dishes and we use dried shrimp in some of the dishes (more Chinese influence dishes I would say…). Do you plan to use raw shrimp or dried shrimp for broth? I personally think shrimp stock is a bit strong to replace other kinds of dashi. But it’s up to you. You can use shrimp if you like. For ramen, yes you can use anchovy – it’s more Japanese style clean dashi. 🙂
Ok, thank you for your explanation.
Have a good day.
The dried anchovies found in Asian grocers looks like they are coated with white powder/salt on the outside. Do we need to rinse the anchovies before soaking?
Hi Shannon! Hmm I’ve never realized that. Or maybe I think of it as a part of anchovies… It doesn’t hurt to rinse. When we use smaller anchovies, we rinse it before eating (without cooking) but these are much smaller and softer… so you can quickly rinse if it looks excessively salty. 🙂
Hey Nami-san!
Is it possible to use the Iriko Dashi in your Mille Feuille recipe? I just so happen to have iriko on hand but not konbu or bonito flakes ):
Love you videos by the way! They always make me ridiculously hungry at night!
Hi Leira! Sorry for my late response (I was traveling…). Yes, you can! The stock is more subtle flavor but the meat will give good flavors to the soup. 🙂
Hello, Nami!
I just discovered your blog and I’m so excited to learn about Japanese cooking. I have a few questions regarding dashi.
In your blog post titled “How To Make Dashi”, you showed 4 common types of ingredients used to make dashi.
So my first couple of questions related to that are: Can I combine all 4 ingredients to make dashi? If I can, will the flavor be very strong? What dishes can I make with this type of dashi?
My next set of questions are regarding Iriko Dashi to make Miso Soup: If I combine Iriko, bonito flakes and kombu kelp, will this combination be too strong and ruin the miso soup flavor? Also, if I don’t have kombu kelp but I have bonito flakes, can I combine only bonito flakes and Iriko and skip Kombu Kelp?
I apologize for bombarding you with so many questions, but I realize that to learn Japanese cooking properly, I must understand Dashi.
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge, Nami and I hope to hear from you real soon 🙂
Hi Serene! Thank you for asking the questions about dashi. Yes, in fact dashi is very important part of Japanese cooking, so glad you asked!
To make the story short, we can combine dashi. But I’d say it’s more advanced method. Once you know about the food you’re cooking, you might want to try changing up the dashi to see if the outcome would improve, or you can combine with other dashi ingredient to see if it improves.
Till then, I think it’s important to play with individual dashi. Now which dashi is best and which dashi is used for a particular dish?
Now that’s up to preference, and there is no rule for that. In general there is a recommended dashi for some dish, but that’s just generic suggestion and we all know it can be with other type of dashi ingredient. So don’t worry.
Personally, I like awase dashi with kombu and katsuobushi. It brings smokey taste and umami and it goes well with majority of food I make. It’s a standard in my household. But I make kombu dashi for hot pot and some fish dishes etc too.
Hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
Thank you for the great recipe. Can I use big anchovies instead of the small ones? Would there be a difference in the taste?
Hi Aqilah! You can use bigger ones than mine. I am not sure about the flavor difference. 🙂
So use boil the water that is soak with fish? Or use new water? Is 10mins enough time to bring out the Unami? I used to boil it for an hr.
Hi Val! We soak them before cooking, like overnight. However, once you start cooking, some recipes recommend only 3-5 minutes. I do 10 minutes and that’s pretty considered long. 🙂