Aside from kombu dashi, shiitake dashi is another great option for vegetarians and vegans to make Japanese stock. To make flavorful and intense shiitake dashi, it is as simple as soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in water.
Dashi (Japanese soup stock) is a Japanese soup stock, and it is a fundamental ingredient in many Japanese dishes to create authentic flavor. Today I want to share how to make Shiitake Dashi (干し椎茸の戻し汁/椎茸のだし).
What is Shiitake Dashi?
Shittake Dashi (干し椎茸の戻し汁/椎茸のだし) is the liquid created from re-hydrating dried shiitake mushrooms in water.
As opposed to regular vegetable broth, we use Shiitake Dashi and Kombu Dashi as the only vegetarian and vegan dashi in Japanese cooking. These soup stocks allow you to cook authentic Japanese dishes without sacrificing the flavors.
In this post, I will show you how to re-hydrate dried shiitake mushrooms and make Shiitake Dashi for preparing food.
Shiitake Dashi for Vegetarians and Vegans
Shiitake Dashi is more of a by-product from rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms with a small amount of water. Since the soaking liquid has good nutrients and flavors, we never throw away and try to find a good use for it in cooking. We usually combine the liquid with other kinds of dashi to enhance the flavor and add umami; however, we rarely used shiitake dashi as its own.
Since I moved to the US, I learned that a lot of vegetarians and vegans here use diluted shiitake dashi (the soaking liquid) as a vegetarian/vegan-friendly stock in their Japanese cooking.
In Japan, Kombu Dashi is usually the only and most commonly used “vegetarian/vegan dashi” because shiitake dashi has an intense flavor that it could be too strong for subtle Japanese seasonings. However, if you enjoy the deep and rich shiitake dashi flavor, you can definitely use this soaking liquid as dashi to cook Japanese food.
Watch How to Make Shiitake Dashi
Aside from kombu dashi, shiitake dashi is another great option for vegetarians and vegans to make Japanese stock. To make flavorful and intense shiitake dashi, it is as simple as soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in water.
2 Important Tips to Get the Best Flavor from Dried Shiitake Mushrooms:
Good dried shiitake mushrooms are expensive, but the flavors and texture are amazing. Oita prefecture (大分県) in the Kyushu region is known for the best quality dried shiitake mushrooms.
- Buy thick mushrooms with deep white fissures on the cap (more flavor).
- Use cold water to soak dried shiitake mushrooms to slowly bring out the flavor from mushrooms, preferably overnight.
To make shiitake dashi, please note that we can only use dried shiitake mushrooms because fresh shiitake mushrooms do not have the same deep and intense flavors as the dried ones.
Make-Ahead Japanese Soup Stock for Vegetarian Cooking
Shiitake dashi stores well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and up to 1 month in the freezer, so you can prepare your stock ahead of time. Whenever you make miso soup or noodle soups, you will always the dashi in hand.
Here are some vegetarian and vegan-friendly recipes with dashi that you may like to try:
- Vegetarian Ramen
- Vegan Miso Soup
- Spinach Ohitashi (Japanese Spinach Salad)
- Kenchinjiru (clear soup with root vegetables and tofu)
- Kitsune Udon
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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Aside from kombu dashi, shiitake dashi is another great option for vegetarians to make Japanese stock. To make flavorful and intense shiitake dashi, it is as simple as soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in water.
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (20 g; See Notes)
- ½-⅔ cup water (120-160 ml) (enough to cover mushrooms)
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (20 g; See Notes)
- 2 cups water (480 ml)
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Gather all the ingredients. Check if there are any dust or dirt trapped under the gills of the mushrooms, and if there are, use a pastry brush to clean. Do not wash it under water.
- Ideally, you want to make shiitake dashi ahead of time. Place the mushrooms in a mason jar or an airtight container and pour cold water to cover the mushrooms (and wet them). Let them soak in the refrigerator for a few hours or preferably overnight. However, if you are in a hurry, place the mushrooms in a bowl and soak them in warm water (body temperature) for 15 minutes or until softened. Put something heavy on top of the mushrooms so that they will be submerged under warm water and become fully re-hydrated.
- When shiitake mushrooms are tender, squeeze to drain, reserving the liquid.
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Rehydrated shiitake mushrooms are ready to use. Remove and discard the tough stem of the mushrooms with a knife. You can use these rehydrated shiitake mushrooms as if you use raw shiitake mushrooms.
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Run the soaking liquid through a fine sieve (catch any dirt etc). Use the concentrated shiitake dashi for cooking, by adding in the sauce, steaming, seasoning, etc. No wasting!
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If you plan to save for later, you can store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and 1 month in the freezer.
- Gather all the ingredients. Check if there are any dust or dirt trapped under the gills of the mushrooms, and if there are, use a pastry brush to clean. Do not wash it under water.
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Soak the shiitake mushrooms in 2 cups water. If you have time, let them soak in the refrigerator for a few hours or preferably overnight. If you’re in a hurry, soak them in warm water for 15 minutes or until softened.
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After soaking for several hours...
- When shiitake mushrooms are tender, squeeze to drain, reserving the liquid.
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Rehydrated shiitake mushrooms are ready to use. Remove and discard the tough stem of the mushrooms with a knife. You can use these rehydrated shiitake mushrooms as if you use raw shiitake mushrooms.
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Run the soaking liquid through a fine sieve and use it for cooking (this is the shiitake dashi). If you plan to save for later, you can store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and 1 month in the freezer.
Dried shiitake mushrooms: This can be found in Japanese/Asian/Chinese grocery stores. The weight of each dried mushroom varies from 5 grams to 10 grams depending on the size and thickness.
Rehydration of dried shiitake mushrooms: It’s recommended to use cold water to soak dried shiitake mushrooms to slowly bring out the flavor from mushrooms preferably overnight.
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: This post was originally published in March 2015. The images and recipe have been updated in April 2019.
