Lightly smoky and full of umami, Mentsuyu is a Japanese soup base used in a multitude of noodle dishes. You can easily make it at home with sake, mirin, soy sauce, and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes).
Mentsuyu (めんつゆ), or sometimes called Tsuyu (つゆ), is a Japanese soup base commonly used in soba and udon noodle dishes. Made from sake, mirin, soy sauce, kombu, and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), the flavor is delicate yet intensely savory.
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What is Mentsuyu (Tsuyu) for?
In Japan, we use Mentsuyu as a basic sauce or broth to flavor everything from noodle dishes, rice bowls, and hot pots to the tempura dipping sauce.
The multipurpose sauce gets a real depth of flavor and smokiness from the use of kombu and bonito flakes. As it happens, these two ingredients are the elementary components to make dashi—the Japanese soup stock that characterize the distinct flavor of Japanese food.
In this recipe, soy sauce contributes to the savory tones, and mirin imparts sweetness that ties everything together.
Making Mentsuyu at home is as easy as combining all the ingredients in a pot and letting it simmer down to a concentrated sauce. You can store it in a mason jar and keep it in the refrigerator for up to a month. The sauce will come in handy when you need it to season your favorite noodle dishes.
When ready to use, you just need to thin it out with water! The ratios of Mentsuyu to water will differ depending on the recipes.
Use Mentsuyu for Hot Noodle Soup
To use Mentsuyu in a hot noodle soup, dilute it with water, heat it up, then pour over boiled noodles. This hot noodle soup broth is called Kaketsuyu (かけつゆ).
Use Mentsuyu for Cold Noodle Dipping Sauce
The Mentsuyu is diluted with water (sometimes no need to dilute), then serve with chilled noodles. This dipping sauce is called Tsuketsuyu (つけつゆ).
Convenient Store-Bought Mentsuyu Bottles
For convenience, you can purchase pre-made Mentsuyu from Japanese (or Asian) grocery stores or online.
Each brand has different instructions for diluting the Metsuyu. Find the usage guide on the bottle that looks like this. You can learn more about the Ratio of Tsuyu to Water on this page.
Use Mentsuyu in These Recipes!
- Cold Tanuki Udon
- Tsukemen
- Zaru Soba
- Yaki Udon
- Mushroom and Tuna Japanese Style Pasta
- Hiyayakko (Japanese Cold Tofu)
- Kitsune Udon
- Negitoro & Avocado Donburi
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Homemade Mentsuyu (Japanese Noodle Soup Base)
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup sake
- 1⅛ cup mirin
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) (5 g; 2 x 2 inches or 5 x 5 cm per piece)
- 1 cup katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) (packed; omit for vegetarian/vegan or substitute 2 dried shiitake mushrooms)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- In a saucepan, add ½ cup sake, 1⅛ cup mirin, and 1 cup soy sauce.
- Add 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) and 1 cup katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes).
- Slowly bring it to a boil over medium-low heat.
- Then, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let it cool.
- Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Tip: Reserve the kombu and katsuobushi for another use (see below).
To Serve
- This Mentsuyu is concentrated. In general, the mentsuyu-to-water ratio should be 1:2 for a dipping sauce for cold Zaru Soba or Tanuki Udon and 1:4 for Udon Noodle Soup or Soba Noodle Soup. Please adjust the taste of your dipping sauce or soup broth by adding more mentsuyu or water.
To Store
- You can store the Mentsuyu in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to a month.
To Repurpose the Spent Katsuobushi and Kombu
- Save 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.
- Repurpose the spent katsuobushi and kombu to make Homemade Furikake (Rice Seasoning).
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on July 16, 2013. It’s been republished on May 5, 2022, with updated step-by-step and final images.
I love this sauce, it’s so good! How long can we store the sauce? Thank you for your recipes!!
Hi Ji, You can store Mentsuyu in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month. Thank you for trying this recipe!
Hi Nami I’m going to make this. Looks great. But, aren’t we supposed to take out the kombu before the liquid comes to a boil? I see you continue to simmer it all together for 5 full minutes. Doesn’t the kombu become slimy and bitter?
By the way, I have a question completely unrelated. By accident I got too many somen noodles. I don’t want to eat them cold as suggested. It’s winter here. How can I use the somen noodles in a warm /hot dish? I love your blog and I’ve already cooked more than a dozen recipes. All of them were delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Nany,
When you are making Kombu dashi, Yes, you have to take out the kombu before the water starts to boil. In this recipe, we extract Kombu flavor into Sake, so 5 minutes of cooking time is nesesarry.😉
As for Some noodles, you can serve it warm with Mentsuyu or Tsukemen or use the udon recipe and swap the noodle to Somen.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/tsukemen-dipping-noodles/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/kitsune-udon/
We hope this is helpful and you can enjoy the warm Somen.
Thank you very much for using many of Nami’s recipe!💕
This mentsuyu recipe was easy yet so delicious! I’ve always grown up with just buying one but this adds so much more depth and is worth making. Thank you!
Hi Erri,
We are so glad to hear you enjoyed this Homemade Mentsuyu!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
I have a bottle of Kikkoman Memmi. Can I add mirin and sake to make Mentsuyu?
Hi Bkhuna,
The Kikkoman Memmi is a premade dipping sauce that already has sugar, so if you would like to add mirin and sake, please adjust to your liking amount.😉
Hello! I am interested in making this for udon dishes in warmer weather, however I may be cooking for vegetarians and I cannot get my hands on dried bonito flakes easily. Is there a way to make this using shiitake mushrooms or any other substitute instead?
Hi DC,
In that case, you may use Shiitake as substitute for Katuobushi. If you have a dried Shiitake, you may place 1~2 dried Shiitake in 1 cup of soy sauce the night before to maximusise the Umami from Shiitake. We hope this is helpful!
I made the noodle dipping sauce from your recipe. Should it be diluted with water?
Hi Julie! Yes, depending on the dish you’re making, the amount of water you need to dilute is different – hot noodle soup, you need more water, but dipping sauce you don’t need much. For seasoning, I use the concentrated form. So it depends on what recipe you’re making. 🙂
I’ve been experimenting with using the Instant Pot to make natto. It’s been okay but I can’t find a recipe for the tare for the natto. What do you suggest? I don’t know what the tare consists of.
Hi Elaine! Typically, homemade natto seasoning includes dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, vinegar, and you can add (or replace soy sauce with) mentsuyu too. 🙂
maybe i should be worried about my sodium consumption lol, but i dilute this 1:1 with water as a dipping sauce. とても おいしい です! it’s helping me survive the humid summers. Thank you, Nami-san!
Hi Joy! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! どうもありがとう！
Can I freeze your sauces? I need to throw out sauces because I didn’t use then in time. I’ve been freezing sake in ice cube trays which is handy for a lot of recipes.
Thanks!
Hi Doe! Yes, you can freeze. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Is Mentsuyu and Tsuyu the same thing?
Hi Grace! Yes, Men (noodle) Tsuyu (sauce). 🙂
Hi, could I “hack” the store-bought mentsuyu and use it as a substitute for teriyaki sauce or dashi stock? Unfortunately I just moved into a shared dorm with very limited pantry space – instead of having bottles of dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sake, I’m trying to live with just one all-in-one condiment!
Hi Rissa! I understand your situation. I’d be keeping soy sauce in the fridge, but mirin and sake do not need to be in the fridge (but if you use Mirin-like condiment, not 100% mirin, you need to refrigerate). You can make dashi either with dashi powder or dashi packet OR homemade (kombu and dried bonito flakes) which are all dry ingredients. It’s not easy to make teriyaki sauce with mentsuyu… 🙂 However, if you eat more noodles at home, it makes sense to get this store-bought mentsuyu…and soy sauce for cooking other dishes.
Hello! I couldn’t find any bonito flakes in any shop near me, but I did find “fish sauce” made from fermented anchovy. Can I use this as substitute for bonito flakes?
Sincerely, Lucas
Hi Lucas! Fish sauce is very different from bonito flakes so they can’t be substituted. I’m so sorry… 🙁
Thanks for your recipe
Thank you Dawa! 🙂
Hi Nami! Great recipe, I was wondering how long can this last in my refrigerator for?
Hi ChengLing! About up to a month. 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi, Nami! What can I use to substitute if I don’t have sake or mirin? I do have rice vinegar…is there some way I might be able to use that instead? If so, how?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Alex! Please do not use rice vinegar…. some online source says it’s okay to use rice vinegar but it will completely ruin the taste. It’s same as you won’t use red wine vinegar for red wine substitute… just wrong….
Here’s a good post to read about sake and mirin as well as substitute info.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/sake-mirin/