Reddit reviews Kaneso Tokuyou Hanakatsuo , Dried Bonito Flakes 3.52 Oz

Probably the most fundamentally Japanese thing you can make is miso soup, and its very easy! It combines three of the four most basic Japanese ingredients: dashi (fish stock), mirin, and miso. The fourth is soy sauce, of course, and you can use it you want as well.

Here's what you need:

• Bonito flakes
  
• Kombu (dried seaweed)
  
• White miso
  
• mirin^* or soy sauce
  
• Flour
  
• Water
  
• Salt
  
• Tofu (optional)
  
• Green onion for garnish (optional)
  
  First, make udon noodle dough. Follow the recipe here and while the dough is resting before you cut it into noodles, make dashi.
  
  The quickest way to make dashi is by heating a pot of water with a piece of kombu in it until boiling, turning of the heat and removing the kombu, and dumping in the bonito flakes. I usually go with one cup of bonito to four cups of water. Let it sit for about 15 minutes and then strain.
  
  Now to make miso soup take some of the miso, about 1 tbsp at a time, and about 1/2 cup of the dashi and whish it together in a small bowl. Once its thoroughly mixed add it to the rest of the broth. It should be rich and salty but not too salty so adjust as needed.
  
  Next pour in a splash of mirin for a bit of sweetness or you can use soy sauce for a bit more savoriness, or skip both altogether.
  
  Finally, chop up those noodles, boil them in hot water for about thirty seconds, and then rinse. You can now assemble your soup which can simply consist of noodles and broth or you can add things like tofu, dried shiitake mushrooms, and green onion.
  
  Congratulations you just made miso soup!
  
  ^* Real mirin is very hard to find. It is a rice wine so your local liquor retailer might have it. Something that shouldn't be allowed is what you normally find in grocery stores which, in the best scenario, is rice wine with a disgusting amount of salt added to it to avoid liquor laws and import taxes or, in the worst scenario, flavored corn syrup.
  
  
  
  

My picky cat loves bonito flakes. You can buy them at the pet store, but they also sell them for humans, and are much cheaper that way.

https://www.amazon.com/Kaneso-Tokuyou-Hanakatsuo-Bonito-Flakes/dp/B0052BGLMS/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1479498916&sr=8-2&keywords=bonito&th=1

She goes crazy for this stuff and has even climbed into a cupboard and ripped a hole in the bag to get it. So be warned.