Shiitake Dashi is a great option for vegans and vegetarians to use for Japanese soup stock. When you soak dried shiitake mushrooms for recipes, simply collect the liquid and repurpose it as an intense stock that’s packed with umami.
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 it 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.
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 dried ones.
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 have 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
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 six different types of dashi you can use in Japanese cooking, including vegetarian and vegan dashi (*).
- Awase Dashi – a stock made from a combination of dried kelp + bonito flakes
- Kombu Dashi * – a stock made from dried kelp
- Katsuo Dashi – a stock made from dried bonito flakes
- Iriko Dashi – a stock made from dried anchovies/sardines
- Shiitake Dashi * – a stock made from dried shiitake mushrooms
- Vegan Dashi * – a stock made from dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu
If you are new to different types of dashi, check out my Ultimate Dashi Guide.
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Shiitake Dashi
Video
Ingredients
For Rehydrating the Dried Shiitake and Collecting the Dashi
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (5–10 g each; found in Japanese and Asian grocery stores)
- ½–⅔ cup water (enough to cover the mushrooms)
For a Diluted Dashi
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (5–10 g each)
- 2 cups water
Instructions
Before You Start…
- In Japan, we collect shiitake dashi as a by-product of reconstituting dried shiitake mushrooms for recipes. We soak them only in just enough water to cover, so the resulting stock has a very strong and concentrated flavor. In this recipe, I‘ll show you two ways to rehydrate dried shiitake for either a typical stock or a diluted stock. Ideally, you want to start your dashi ahead of time and let it steep for a few hours or preferably overnight. Alternatively, I‘ll also show you a quick method that takes only 15 minutes of steeping time.
★ To Rehydrate the Dried Shiitake and Collect the Dashi ★
- Gather all the ingredients. Check the dried shiitake mushrooms to see if there is any dust or dirt trapped in the gills. If there is, use a pastry brush to clean it. Do not wash it under water.
- Place 3 dried shiitake mushrooms in a mason jar or airtight container and add ½–⅔ cup water (cold) to cover the mushrooms. Place a heavy object on top of the mushrooms to keep them submerged so they fully rehydrated. If you have time, let them soak in the refrigerator for a few hours or preferably overnight. If you are in a hurry, soak them in ½–⅔ cup warm water (body temperature) for 15 minutes or until softened.
- When the shiitake mushrooms are tender, squeeze to drain, reserving the liquid.
- Use the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms in the recipe of your choice. You can use them as you would fresh shiitake mushrooms. Simply remove and discard the tough stems with a knife.
- To collect the shiitake dashi, run the soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve to catch any dirt or debris. This concentrated Shiitake Dashi is now ready to use for adding to a sauce, steaming, seasoning, and so on.
To Store
- You can store the dashi in the refrigerator for 2–3 days or in the freezer for 1 month.
★ To Make a Diluted Shiitake Dashi ★
- Gather all the ingredients. Check if there is any dust or dirt trapped in the gills of the mushrooms. If there is, use a pastry brush to clean. Do not wash it under water.
- Soak 3 dried shiitake mushrooms in 2 cups water. Place a heavy object on top of the mushrooms to keep them submerged so they fully rehydrated. 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 2 cups warm water for 15 minutes or until softened.
- After soaking for several hours…
- When the shiitake mushrooms are tender, squeeze to drain, reserving the liquid.
- Use the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms in the recipe of your choice. You can use them as you would fresh shiitake mushrooms. Simply remove and discard the tough stems with a knife.
- To collect the shiitake dashi, run the soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve. Your diluted Shiitake Dashi is now ready to use.
To Store
- You can store the dashi in the refrigerator for 2–3 days or in the freezer for 1 month.
Notes
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2015. The images and recipe have been updated in April 2019.
Thanks! I’ve used this method to make Dashi for miso soup before, but do you know if I can boil this Dashi to concentrate it? I want to make mushroom gravy with as much concentrated flavor as I can, and this seems like it might be a good place to start.
Hi Celeste, Thank you for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
Instead of boiling it down, we recommend increasing the Shiitake amount to give the dashi a stronger flavor.
We hope this was useful!
Can you make a second dashi with the same mushrooms like you can with kombu? How long do rehydrated shiitake keep in the fridge?
Happy New Year!
Thank you so much for this Making a dashi from dried shitake mushroom.
I really love your notes of recipe. There is always an alternative recipe for some needed ingredients, no need to always buy in the store.And this is so helpful.
My kids and I love Japanese Food.
Your recipe and its procedure is so friendly. With your Justonecookbook we tend to enjoy Japanese food especially we are in this pandemic that we cannot bring kids outside. Your email is so great and very useful.
Arigato Gozaimasu
Hi Dolores, Thank you very much for trying many of Nami’s recipes and for your kind feedback. Your kind words meant so much to us!💕 Thank you for your love and support!
I plan on soaking the mushrooms overnight in the fridge. Can I also soak a piece of kombu with the mushrooms?
Hi Kimberly,
Yes. You can soak both together.
Enjoy!
Hi Nami,
Thank you for showing us how to make dashi. You really introduced me to Japanese cooking and baking. Before I found you, i have always put shiitake mushrooms, dried kelps, and bonito flakes altogether in the pot. Is that ok?
Yesterday, i made awase dashi and shiitake dashi. Is it ok to leave them overnight at room temperature? Will it be ok to combine 2 dashi together to make soup? Thanks
Hi Catherine! In Japan, We don’t usually use dried shiitake mushrooms when we combine with kombu and katsuobushi because the mushroom dashi is so strong. But if that’s what you prefer, you can. It’s a bit of waste if you are using good quality kombu and katsuobushi as mushrooms flavor can be overpowering too much. I am not sure where you live, but for safety, I recommend keeping in the fridge. Water could go bad at room temperature when it’s a warm environment. 🙂
Your website is my best site for Japanese recipes. Most ingredients are connected and you give great info. You guys have a good teamwork from you two & your tech group. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Hi Sonny! Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words!
Does the shiitake mushroom dashi have the same taste as the kombu+bonito flake dashi?
Hi Jerico! No, COMPLETELY different taste. 🙂
I love to use shiitake dashi but dried shiitake are very expensive where I currently am and I’m often prevented from making a lot of recipes because the dashi part isn’t cost effective. Is there any such thing as a shiitake dashi powder? And is it any good? Love your recipes
Hi J! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂 Unfortunately, it’s not very common but there is one brand here that is powder from just shiitake: https://amzn.to/372N4kK
The Chinese and Korean use dried shiitake and they may have less expensive dried shiitake mushrooms at the grocery stores.
[…] It’s very easy to adapt this recipe to a vegetarian or vegan dish as the main ingredients do not include any meat or seafood. Instead of other dashi of your choice, you just need to switch out with Kombu Dashi and/or Dried Shiitake Dashi. […]
[…] Shiitake Dashi → made from dried shiitake mushrooms* […]
[…] Shiitake Dashi → made from dried shiitake mushrooms* […]
[…] mushrooms in your cooking, you will need to rehydrate them in water and remove the tough stems. Click here to learn how to do […]
[…] Dashi (Japanese stock) – I used both kombu dashi and anchovy stock (iriko dashi) in flavoring the broth as it is how it’s done traditionally. Anchovies lend a stronger and flavorful broth but feel free to use other dashi that is available. For vegetarians, you can use kombu dashi or/and shiitake dashi. […]
Hi there! Looks really good. I wonder though- what do I do if I want a litre? Do I just add water or should I scale it all up so I use about 10 times as many shiitake? I mean – I want to use it for miso ramen – but 120 ‘ll is not enough soup for two people 🙂
Hi Jonas! I have edited the recipe so it makes more sense for everyone. In Japan, we actually consider the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms as the main purpose of doing this process. The leftover liquid is considered more like a secondary product and call it “modoshi-jiru” which means the liquid came from rehydration. We don’t want to throw away such liquid so we use it for cooking, but we do not make “shiitake dashi” for using it as dashi. The “modoshi-jiru” is always used with other dashi and not used solely. But I know a lot of people (outside of Japan) like the flavor of shiitake dashi and use it as main dashi and especially popular among vegan/vegetarians. So I edited the ingredient section in the recipe and the method of preparation is the same.
If you need to rehydrate the mushrooms for your recipe
2-3 Dried shiitake mushrooms (10-20 g; See Notes)
½ cup water (120 ml) (enough to cover mushrooms)
If you need the liquid (shiitake dashi)
2-3 Dried shiitake mushrooms (10-20 g; See Notes)
2 cups water (480 ml)
Thanks a lot! It makes a lot of sense – so it can be mixed with kombu dashi?
What should the balance be? How much shiitake dashi for 1 liter kombu?
And can the dehydrated mushrooms be used in ramen or should they be fried or anything first (after they are rehydrated)
Hi Jonas! Yes, you can mix with kombu dashi. In Japan, it would be mainly kombudashi and we add “modoshi-jiru” (leftover liquid from rehydrating). The flavor is totally up to you. There is no “wrong” for this. You can use the mushrooms – should be cooked after you hydrated. You can simmer with soy sauce, sugar, sake, mirin etc. But remember, these mushrooms taste strong, so you may want to want to slice thinly and cook in seasonings.
Awesome! Thanks a lot!
[…] RECIPE: To make it from scratch, check out How To Make Shiitake Dashi. […]