Best bonito flakes according to redditors

One thing I like about Asian "meals" is that some cultures tend to build their meals in a set formula. So you could basically just make some rice and then make as many side dishes as you'd like and call it a meal.

My low-effort meal that I make when I have no time is half a cup of white rice, two eggs, broccoli, and kimchi. I just cook up some rice, boil or fry the two eggs (making sure to leave the yolk uncooked), heat up some frozen broccoli, and put some kimchi on the side. Season the eggs with a bit of soy sauce (or eat plain), and season the broccoli with sesame oil, soy sauce, and black pepper.

Here are some ideas for actual side dishes that you could eat with rice:

If you have access to a place that sells miso (and not the instant packets), you could make miso soup. I actually use instant bonito granules instead of bonito flakes to make the dashi stock (just mix some granules with water). Heat the stock on the stove on low-medium heat, mix in some cubed firm tofu. You can add other stuff too like chopped green onions, reconstituted wakame, or enoki mushrooms. You're not supposed to mix the miso in when the water is boiling as it can make the miso kind of clumpy, but I ignore this if I'm feeling lazy.

If you have too much miso for just soup, you can make a condiment called negimiso. Basically, you fry up some chopped green onions in a pan, toss in some miso, and toss in some water. Reduce the mixture a little bit until it gets the paste-like consistency you want. I like to then spread this paste onto some tofu slices and then fry the slices until the negimiso blackens a bit. You could also fry thin layers of the paste in a pan until it turns crispy, then use it to crumble on top of some rice for flavor. By the way, JustHungry and JustBento are both great resources for Japanese recipes. That's where I learned how to make tamagoyaki.

Another favorite of mine is a Korean potato-based side dish called gamja jorim. I've used this recipe before, and it turned out pretty well.

You could also make a stir-fry on the cheap. If you're not vegetarian, you can use chopped chicken breast, beef, or even ground turkey to add some protein. In this case, you should cook the meat first. For basic seasoning, I use ginger (ground ginger is fine in a pinch, but fresh grated ginger tastes better), salt, and black pepper. You can find a lot of different recipes for stir-fry sauce online, but I honestly just buy premade sauce and use that. You could even use tonkatsu sauce if you wanted. For the vegetables, I usually chop up half a head of cabbage, two carrots, and half a yellow onion. You can also add / substitute bell peppers, snap peas, or pretty much anything you can think of. Throw the veggies in with the meat and sauce, mix it around, then put it over some rice.

For another variation on stir-fry, you could also make something like yakisoba, although it tastes less legit if you don't actually use soba, which can sometimes be difficult to find or expensive.

I also eat a lot of more bland but healthy meals, and the biggest lifesaver for me recently was adding furikake (Japanese rice seasoning) to my food.

I use Nori Komi Furikake specifically and it makes a lot of bland food a lot better - it's mainly just sesame seeds and seaweed flakes, though there's other versions with different fish flavors.

aiight

Rice Eating Meetup on Friday, somewhere in Cobo: Be nice 4 free rice. Y'all better bring some furikake to that meetup bc eating with only soy sauce is kinda boring imo

Furikake!
or look up sushi rice with the vinegar sauce

Hey guys! This is my first post to this subreddit. I made these today for my SO. I had had the Bao flour for a while, but I was too intimidated. I was wrong though! It was super easy dough to work with!

Here's the recipe.

Filling:

• Pork Shoulder
  
• Soy Sauce
  
• Mirin
  
• Ponzu
  
• Green Onions
  
• Pickled Carrots/Cabbage (whatever you like)
  
• Cucumber
  
• Kewpie Mayo
  
  Bao Buns:
  
  
• Bao Flour (This packet makes 18 buns)
  
• 1 Cup Milk
  
• 1 Cup Sugar
  
• 1 TBL Sesame Oil
  
• Canola oil for frying
  
  Sauce:
  
  
• water
  
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
  
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
  
• Splash of Mirin
  
• Splash of Ponzu
  
• 2 tsp Sempio Hot Pepper Paste
  
• pickled ginger
  
• 2 cloves of Garlic (fine chop)
  
• Pinch of Bonito flakes..
  
  First.
  You're going to need to get a good cut of pork shoulder. Then, brown it on all sides before putting it in your slow cooker. I slow cooked it for 12-hours on low in a mixture of stock, soy sauce and brown sugar (did this to taste).
  In hindsight, I should have only cooked the pork shoulder for two hours on high. The shoulder fell apart by just poking it. When reheating it with the sauce, the meat absolutely disintegrated. It still tasted great, but it lacked that juicy meaty flavor that I would have gotten if I had cooked it a little less. Keep this in mind if you use this method. After it cooked, I pulled it and I set it aside for filling later.
  
  Second.
  
  While your pork is cooking in the slow cooker, get to making your bun dough. I used this flour I got from my local asian mart. The recipe on the package said to combine the Bao flour with a 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of sugar and last your sesame oil. After all that is combined, you're going to want to knead the dough like bread for at least 10 minutes. I made sure that I had a lot of elastic gluten built up (test this by pressing your finger into the dough, it should spring back quickly).
  
  Rest the dough for 30 minutes at room temperature, this relaxes the dough, and makes it easier to form into buns. Make sure that you cover the dough with a damp paper cloth or wax paper--you don't want your dough to dry out.
  
  Third.
  
  After resting, you're going to steam your buns. I used a proper wooden steaming basket. Flatten into a circle about 3 inches in diameter, and fold onto itself. It should look like this when you're done.. Steam these suckers on some parchment paper for 15 minutes over a boil and they'll puff right up. If you want your bun to be whiter, add some vinegar to the water.
  
  Fourth.
  
  While the buns are in the steamer, start making your sauce for your meat. I'm sorry I don't have a recipe for this, I cook to taste. I added roughly added all the ingredients above and reduced it over medium to a glaze. My aim was to caramelize the sugar in the sauce while still paying attention to the sodium level making sure that it wasn't too salty from the soy sauce. When it was the consistency of covering the back of a spoon, I added back in my reserved meat and warmed it.
  
  Fifth.
  
  While your buns are almost done, heat some canola oil on HIGH heat. Don't be afraid to add a lot of oil, these suckers only take about 10-20 seconds total if you get the amount of oil and heat right. When your buns are done, put them in your canola pan, and be very attentive. When they're browned on both sides, make sure you set them aside on an angle so that the top and the bottom dry and don't become soggy.
  
  Sixth.
  
  Cut those buns open with your knife! Add whatever condiments you'd like! I added kewpie mayo, and all the good stuff above. I think they'd also go great with some fresh jalapeños, lime and cilantro. The dough is naturally a bit sweet so it compliments acid, fat and spice.
  
  I hope some of you try it at home--the buns were way easier than I anticipated. You could even make the dough before hand and make a whole bunch of small tasters for a party appetizer.
  
  It's also a great way to use up left over meat quickly. I'm saving the dough and the pork for my bento box this week. :)

I found this on amazon, in case you are struggling to find an Asian market.

https://www.amazon.com/Jfc-International-Seasoning-Furikake-1-7/dp/B0006G5KEY

furikake

• Bouillon cubes
  
• Curry powders
  
• Spice mixes
  
• Milk, sugar, and cinnamon
  
• Flavored diced tomatoes (e.g. "Italian tomatoes" or tomatoes with chiles, etc.)
  
• Furikake
  
• Saffron - expensive, but a little goes a long way
  
• Butter and fresh herbs - parsley, basil, thyme
  

miso.... you need Miso Paste, Bonito stock(you can make it yourself with bonito flakes, but this is faster.), and optionally Wakame Seaweed.

Thai style omelet: 2 eggs mixed with a slice of lime, a tsp of corn starch, and a splash of fish sauce. I had that with steamed rice sprinkled with this crack and kimchi. It's delicious and my favorite easy go-to meals.

It's salty and kinda sweet Japanese seasoning usually made with nori and sesame seeds. My favorites are the basic one and the on with tiny dried shrimp.

http://www.amazon.com/JFC-Nori-Furikake-Seasoning-Ounce/dp/B0006G5KEY


https://www.google.com/search?q=furikake&safe=off&client=ms-android-att-us&source=android-browser&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiO5sn6q8rKAhUQ72MKHQG_CpMQ_AUICCgC#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=furikake+rice

Get good dashi powder.

As someone in precisely OP's shoes, I cannot recommend [furikake] (http://www.amazon.com/JFC-Nori-Komi-Furikake-Seasoning/dp/B0006G5KEY) enough. My local Japanese market has shakers for $2 each, and they turn steamed white rice into a flavorful meal.

You guuuuys this was so good, I wish I could eat it every day. This is an entire serving of udon noodles (198g) for 230 calories, and 512g of soup. I followed this recipe basically to the letter; I just forgot the corn starch. Not sure it made a difference, but hey, I'll do it next time. I doubled the recipe, which made enough for me to have this big bowl, my husband to have two giant bowls, and then I'm eating the leftovers with zoodles for lunch tomorrow!

I used these udon noodles, and this dashi stock. Don't skip the dashi stock!!! It adds such an unique flavor!

Ingredients

Not pictured: enoki mushrooms, green onions

Pork Recipe from Serious Eats

Egg Recipe also from Serious Eats

I boiled about 1 Cup water, added 2/3 cup beef stock and turned the stove down a bit to maintain a small simmer. Added cubed firm tofu and a handful of enoki. Added a pinch of this and a dash of soy sauce. Let this simmer on the stove for about a minute, then added the packet of Ramen noodles. After the noodle softens (about a minute), stir in 1 tbsp of miso paste. Simmer for 1 more minute and transfer to bowl. Immediately dunk in the 2 halves of soft boiled eggs and slices of pork to let them heat up a bit.

Top with chopped up spring onions and sriracha.

All this is missing is a few servings of vegetables, which is what salads are for.

I can seriously eat this every day.

I can see two ways to proceed.

1. You could boil a ton of konbu to make a stock, then boil it down like you'd do with a veal stock if you were making demi glace.
   
   
2. You could look into something Like this.
   
   I'd be very surprised if kombu concentrate isn't running around someplace.

You're looking for Furikake, rice seasoning. There are several different flavors, I usually get the fish/seaweed flavor, it's pretty good. It goes well on ramen too!

If you have an Asian/international grocery store nearby they'll have a lot more stuff like this.

Yeah, I tend to splurge a little when I buy the pre-shaved too. I hate those individual 5g packets, they're stale and taste like nothing. I don't buy like the $15 premium stuff but a 100g bag of large flakes runs me about 8 dollars at my local Japanese grocery and lasts me for about 2 weeks I think.

ETA: Actually the bag I have at home says 400g for $8, so there you go.

This is exactly what I do every game night! My friend and I will play a video game for almost the entire evening and I'll just make a bunch of snacks instead of us stopping for dinner.

Some of my favorites include:

• Salt and Vinegar chips with yogurt dip (Greek yogurt, cucumber, green onions, and black pepper). This is my most calorie dense snack, but I can get three chip servings (~54 chips/84g/~half a bag) for 480 calories. If I am going to eat nothing but this for dinner and before bed snack, I'm not to upset. It is game night after all... :D I'm trying to find a crunchy, salt and vinegar alternative, so if anyone has any ideas, let me know please!!!!
  
• Popcorn with Furikake and Coconut Oil (a little spray to keep the seaweed and sesame seeds attached to the popcorn). I've also made a mix of coco powder, cinnamon, and Ovaltine to sprinkle on my popcorn when I am craving something sweet.
  
• Baby carrots and Trader Joe's crunchy coconut chips. I don't know why, but I love altering each bite. One bite carrot. One bite coconut. One bite carrot. One bite coconut. One bite.... They taste delicious together and the two different types of crunchy textures drives me nuts! Also, altering the two bites will help me from eating too much of the coconut chips, which are more calorie dense than the carrots (coconut 80cal/14g vs. carrots 5cal/15g).
  
• Savory Crisps crackers (50cal for 9!) and miscellaneous toppings. Sometimes I like jalapeno mustard (0-10cal) with mixed finely diced raw veggies (peas, carrots, etc.). Other times I like to use avocado, red pepper, and salt (like it shows on the package!). A slice of apple or pear with a low cal cheese is also great! Cracker toppings are the best, because you can get a lot of variety! Variety is amenable to low calorie diets.
  
  If I am going to snack a lot, I try to focus on sating as many different needs as possible, which is why a crunchy texture is the main focus point of most of my snacks, and then taste.

One of my favorite recipes is known as hurricane popcorn.

You can easily make your own at home like this:

Pop your popcorn as you normally would (mircowave or stovetop).

Toss with a mix of melted butter, a little toasted sesame oil, and a little soy sauce.

Then add furikake (Japanese seasoning of crushed seaweed and sesame seeds), and [rice crackers] (http://www.amazon.com/Umeya-Hana-Rice-Crackers-Toasted/dp/B001AYDRTQ/).

Traditionally maybe, but a number of commercial brands list MSG as a separate ingredient, rather than Kombu or other seaweed.

Whether it's seaweed powder or some other form of MSG, I don't think it matters. I think this is much like the "No Nitrates Added" bacon where they add celery powder instead of straight nitrite/nitrate and instead if comes from celery powder.

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 ex-wife was from Hawaii and made them all the time for me. I stole the recipe before I left her. (GOTEM) Anyways, her recipe was as the same except a few differences.

Exchange teriyaki sauce with soy sauce & sugar. Heat the soy sauce and then add sugar to the desired level. Cook the spam slices in the soy/sugar mixture.

Additionally add Furikake seasoning to the rice cakes or to the rice bowl as desired. See: "https://www.amazon.com/JFC-Nori-Furikake-Seasoning-Ounce/dp/B0006G5KEY"

A good trick to form the musubi is to cut out the bottom of the spam container and use that to shape the cakes

Try furikake! It's a dried seasoning that you sprinkle on cooked rice. There are lots of different varieties but here's an example

[Furikake] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006G5KEY/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_KOQBwbCYD7GN3)

Hiyayakko is great in the summer.

• chilled cube of silken tofu
  
• katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
  
• grated ginger
  
• thinly sliced scallions
  
• soy sauce
  
  Just lay the katsuobushi on top, a bit of ginger on the side, sprinkle scallions on top and drizzle with soy sauce.

YOU FUCKIN KNOW IT!

GRILLED CHEESE AND SPAM MUSUBI PARTY!

Edit: Question: Do you use furikake on your musubi, and if so which flavor? My default is nori komi, but I have a bottle of the wasabi flavor and it's really tasty so I want to try it on the next batch of musubi I make. I haven't used any other flavors before and I'm curious as to how they hold up.

Spicy tuna with cucumbers

1 large cucumber

4 oz raw sashimi grade tuna

1 tbsp Sriracha

1 tbsp ponzu sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Furikake to taste

Peel, de-seed and chop the cucumber. Pour ponzu over cucumbers. Mash up the tuna with the Sriracha and sesame oil. Serve on top of cucumbers, top with Furikake. So delicious.

Calories: 288

Fat: 11g

Cholesterol: 44mg

Sodium: 1105mg

Carbs: 13g

Fiber: 3g

Sugar: 9g

Protein: 31g

Yes, it's high in sodium, but most of the ponzu sauce is left at the end. It's delicious.

currently i live in japan. my local grocery store sells it fresh. also you can buy powered form like a pixie stick. called hon-dashi.

I have three cats. Disco, Spike and Gypsy. They are all so awesome and loving. They are all laying near me right now. :) Their personalities are so unique. Disco is a GIANT beast of a love muffin. He snores and grunts and is just weird. He drools too. Hes perfectly healthy. His breed is large. Spike is a tiny little thing. When we moved, she squeezed out the window and spent a week on the roof. She lost so much weight. Now shes fatter than she has ever been, which means nothing. Shes still tiny but she takes advantage of the fact that I feel bad that I lost her for a week and she gets lots of table scraps. She also follows me around the house everywhere. If im in the bathroom, so is she. If im showering, shes on top of the shower. When cooking, shes at my feet. She sleeps on my pillow. Gypsy is the "baby". Shes extremely tiny. She is very lovable lately. She used to be very skittish but I broke her out of that recently. She loves to cuddle.

They are all very spoiled and would like Bonito Flakes These are evidently very good for dogs as well.

Album of fur.

Yup, this is what I buy most of the time, granted at my local Asian grocery store not from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/JFC-Noritamago-Furikake-Seasoning-Ounce/dp/B073FPZLSK

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.

I like to add it to the water I boil the noodle in. Then the flavor seems to get into every single noodle really well. The same can be done with sriracha, or really any sauce.

I also like to add a dash of powdered hondashi to mine. If you don't like fish, you probably shouldn't try this, but man, that stuff is savory!

Also, remember you can buy sesame seeds in bulk in a lot of grocery stores. 1lb of them is a LOT and is much cheaper than buying them on the spice aisle. You can toast them by putting them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 325 for about 5 min. Just keep an eye on them and take them out when they look slightly toasted, then let them cool and store them in something airtight.

I love that 'rice seasoning' they sell at the asian supermarket. My favorite is the seaweed one, I don't like the salmon one too much.

I'll upload a pic in a sec, so OP can see what I'm talking about. I'll eat just rice with that stuff, it's great.

Edit: here it is

Alternatively you can just buy seaweed sheets and canned tuna, and mix it all up.

There is really nothing special here every sushi place does a generic Ahi tower of sorts... Siracha goes in the tuna to the correct color, regular mayo goes into the imitation crab meat(broken into strands) to the correct consistency and desired flavor then just go buy yourself a piece of PVC pipe cut to the desired size and width or you can cut the bottom off of a Styrofoam cup to use as a form. Now just layer into your form the rice on bottom, sprinkle with togarashi , avocado, tuna, and then crab. Dress the plate with eel sauce and wasabi mayo(wasabi powder, lime juice, half mayo and half Japanese mayo) all ingredients will be to taste, consistency, and color; trust your pallet. Lastly plate the form and gently remove the form to reveal the tower. Dress with a sprinkle of black and white sesame mixed and micro greens. That's it. All laid out. If you're going to be doing this with salmon I would recommend first making the salmon into a sort of spicy poke(pronounced pohkay) with sesame and soy(maggi is best)and then follow the plating as usual.

edit: I just saw the orange spicy mayo, that one is siracha, a sprinkle of tagarashi, Korean chili paste, and the garlic chili sauce made by the company that makes cock sauce but it is NOT cock sauce. Mix with half Japanese mayo and half regular. All ingredients again are to YOUR taste and pallet as I have not eaten this dish at that particular restraunt. There is also a spice mix that I missed that goes between the rice and avocado layer that consists of nori, sesame and other spices that I forget... Anyone know what that stuff is called?

edit: found it. This stuff. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0006G5KEY

So what is the difference between buying something like this or this, which is the same? and straight up shaved bonito flakes? Is the shaved bonito flakes a less formatted product?

Edit: Food isn't formatted, I meant to ask if the bonito flakes are a less processed (not ground and reshaped into little daishi balls)?

Dashi. But if you can't find the ingredients to make it, which is rare these days but possible, here is my "quick" faux-dashi recipe. Really just a method to making a quick delicious broth from pantry stuff mostly. Note that I give the ingredients depending on what I have in my /r/frugal pantry. And I have good access to a variety of interesting stuff... here goes:

Ingredients
> Either: Fish Base Better Than Bouillon (found in soup aisle), or in a pinch if you are desperate Ossem Chicken Consomme or what my Polish family grew up with Vegeta Seasoning.


> If you can find it, I get it in my health focused local co-op but not this brand: dried kombu. This makes it extra yummy but if you dont have it, like the rest of the substitutions in my "quick broth" method, it'll probably turn out fine.


>the cherry on top of the sundae, if you have the extra few minutes: katsuobushi, & your miso of choice, soy sauce of your choice, mirin if you have; if not, keep an eye out for it, grated ginger root if you're feeling fancy


> Depending on whether you want a soup or broth for rice, you may want vegetables and maybe some protein like chicken or egg or even fish (which I've cooked some types in the broth and comes out lovely).


> Need rice maybe.

Method:
In a good sized pot - one that can hold at least 2-4 bowls of soup or enough water to make rice, so, 1-2 liters depending? Fill with water only 3/4 of the way up, for room to boil. Add strip of dried kombu Heat water, ladle some nearly boiling into a small bowl and dissolve a couple teaspoons or tablespoons, depending on desired strength of broth, of fish Better Than Bouillon. Pour into pot, taste, adjust. Don't make it too salty yet. If you don't have BTB, season your water with the Ossem or Vegeta - it won't be quite as nice as using BTB, which is my secret quick dinner weapon- I use it in all the flavors it comes in. Important thing is that you have good flavor here but the sodium level isn't bad yet. Subtle.

When water is boiling, remove kombu and set aside. You can shred it and add a bit on top of the rice later, make a salad, or just toss it and make me cry.

Reduce to low simmer. Use your katsuobushi if you have it and want to but I admit to neither having tried it yet nor being that skilled yet to teach another about it but there are guides better than mine online. This is just a quick way to make yourself a tastey liquid for dinner.

Season with soy sauce, mirin, whatever you may have on hand that pleases you.

Turn off burner. Let stand a few minutes. If you wish, ladel a bit of the liquid into a bowl again and mix with some miso; it's good for you! Return miso mixture into pot. I don't usually do this with rice because the liquid is flavorful enough without it, but if I'm at the end of making a real soup from it with veggies etc I will add miso before serving along with some appropriate fresh herbs, optional.


Keep in mind:
If you're making rice with it, a too-salty broth will make the rice too strong. Try to get used to a lower salt level in your life and you'll appreciate a whole new world of taste sensitivity. And your heart will thank you.

Rice is like a backdrop to the more potent things you eat, and a flavorful stir-fry is nice when paired with a more delicate rice. Dare I suggest you try jasmine rice sometime, it is one of my favorites even though it's long-grained. Lovely aroma, I could eat it plain!

If making a soup with it, experiment with different flavor profiles, bases, and vittles like sweet potatoes cubed up, bits of chicken or pork, fresh parsley and/or dill, wakame seaweed (a favorite in my house), and yes even tofu!

Anyway, hope that wasn't too long... I am getting midnight cravings talking about rice and good broth (I make an insane bone stock that turns into jelly in the fridge, yum... that's for another day!)

Edited: fixed some things!

a good pinch of bonito flakes into a quart of chicken stock as it is reheating, along with a teaspoon of Montreal Chicken Spice

Let that steep for 30 mins or so

I'm usually boiling the pasta noodles / wontons / par cooking the veg in the stock during this time.

you'll need to strain it as you put it into the bowl but definitely worth a try at some point.

once in the bowl, just a few drops of Sesame Seed oil to finish it off takes it to a whole other level.

also, if you have cats, they usually will go nuts for the Bonito flakes as well

I like this one too for the office. I use about a tsp of the granules for about 12 oz water then miso paste to taste.

I generally make a chicken stock of what ever. I've gone simple(just chicken) or complex (Chicken, onion, garlic, carrot, green onion, whatever else you feel like). I took this Serious Eats recipe and stole the broth for a heavier/darker chicken broth. It was a great place to start with a nice friendly chicken broth recipe. edit: it's gonna get smoky so air it out

I've made double soups dashi and chicken broth. Dashi powder can be bought on amazon or you can get the kombu and katsuobushi on amazon. Niboshi I've ordered off amazon but it still hasn't come in yet.

Everything else can be found in my regular grocery store that I've seen. Noodles in the asian/international aisle. I like doing pork loin or chicken breast that has been sous vide for the meat. Green onions, collard greens, broccoli, bamboo shoots(I buy in bulk when I see them available at the store), eggs, spinach, corn, what ever else you have available.

I live in Texas so I'm working on trying to make a sopa de lima ramen or a pozole ramen. It's coming along slowly. Adapt your ramen recipe to suit what is available around you.

Sounds tasty!

I got a hold of these asian rice seasoning spices http://www.amazon.com/JFC-Nori-Fumi-Furikake-Seasoning/dp/B0006G5KEY

They are pretty good

I've never seen dashi sold in cans like chicken stock so you may have been too specific in what you asked for. The markets should carry what you need to make it from scratch (fish flakes and seaweed) and they'll have the instant granules. The instant really isn't bad at all.

buy some stuff online and make your own yakisoba!!! it will be better i promise.

if you can find fresh or frozen ramen noodles at an asian market, buy those, otherwise cook your usual instant ramen noodles for about half the time you normally would, do not add the broth packet, and strain the water.

in a pan, heat up some vegetable oil, and saute some ground or diced pork, cabbage, carrots, and onion. once this is almost done, add the cooked ramen noodles and some "yakisoba sauce".

you can buy yakisoba sauce premade, or just mix worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, soy sauce and sugar together, heat to dissolve sugar and whisk together.

cook the noodles, veg and pork with the yakisoba sauce for a minute or two on high till the noodles brown a little bit.

put on a plate and garnish with kewpie mayo and katsuobushi.

here are links to buy what you need;

yakisoba sauce - https://yummybazaar.com/collections/japan/products/yakisoba-sauce-by-otafuku-17-6-oz

katsuobushi - https://www.amazon.com/Katsuobushi-Shaved-Bonito-Flakes-0-88oz/dp/B001CWI4DU

kewpie mayo - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000WKU8K/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_1_w

those toppings and the sauce should come out to around $25 and should make 20-30 servings, then all you have to do is grab a ramen packet, pork and a bit of veggies and fry dat shit up...and that is how to make a very very simple, but legit japanese yakisoba, not the americanized instant version. will prob taste alot different than "beef taco" flavor. much less spice and much more umami. the yakisoba sauce, katsuobushi, and kewpie mayo all have natural or chemical flavors that trigger the sense of savoriness and meatiness...aka that same indescribable taste that makes it hard to stop eating doritos or hot cheetos or some snack with MSG

Here are the items i found that i cant get local. Any good/bad items or alternate options you would suggest?

> Mirin

Kikkoman Aji-Mirin

>Dashi

Ajinomoto - Hon Dashi

>Miso Paste

Shiro Miso Paste

>Gochujang

Sunchang Gochujang

>Kombu/Wakame/Nori (sea weed)

Welpac Dashi Kombu

Wel-Pac - Fueru Wakame

Nagai Deluxe Sushi Nori

>Furikake

JFC - Seto Fumi Furikake

>Bonito Flakes

Japanese Bonito Flakes

Furikake!

Sprinkle over rice, it's super tasty and low cal. Growing up, my mom used to make rice, dump on a bunch of furikake (usually adding some dried, flavored seaweed as well) and sprinkle some hot water or green tea over top to mix it up and make the seasoning spread out more. Also gives it more of a porridge texture. You can skip the water/tea if you want though.

I've tried giving my cat tidbits of everything you can think of: ham, cheese, chicken, turkey, hamburger, tuna, hard-boiled egg. He sniffs them once and walks away. But for some reason he loves chicken salad from the grocery store deli. When I open the container he races into the kitchen and stands on his hind legs begging for it. He even eats the bits of celery and onion in the chicken salad. He only likes the good stuff, I guess.

The only other (sorta) people food he likes is this stuff. If my cat loves this junk, normal cats will go apeshit for it.

> Will look for Kayanoya for dashi then.

I think Kayanoya is pretty much only available online. Even my local Mitsuwa doesn't stock it. But Mitsuwa at least has packet dashi instead of powdered, which is all my other Asian markets have. Kayanoya's quite pricey - about $1/packet, so about $1/cup of strong dashi. Kind of posh for a simple miso soup IMO. I save it for udon broth where I'm really going to taste it. The house brand packets at Mitsuwa were something like $6 for 20 packets. These packets are supposed to be good too and are probably a good bit cheaper if you can find them on store shelves. But from Amazon, they're almost the same as Kayanoya.

Or on Amazon if you don't have access to an Asian market! https://www.amazon.com/Luxury-Bonito-Kombu-Powder-Yamaki/dp/B00LF9RZWQ

Give your girl some bonito flakes: http://www.amazon.com/Marutomo-Katsuo-Bonito-Flake-16-Ounce/dp/B001AY8VV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344403845&sr=8-1&keywords=bonito+flakes

It will make her feel better!!!!!

wow this is great! a vegetarian ex girlfriend of mine introduced "furikake" to me and i have been looking for nori komi ever since (without knowing it under that name).

so tonight i found this! http://www.amazon.com/JFC-Nori-Komi-Furikake-Seasoning/dp/B0006G5KEY

You're welcome, glad I could help! It's also common to add dashi stock to your batter and top with bonito flakes

Hello, I am a bit late to the party but I was wondering if you can give me the weight for each ingredient in the tare? I need to order everything since nothing is available close to me.

I was wondering if those would be ok for your 7.6 litres recipe:

• http://www.amazon.ca/Japanese-Katakuchi-Iwashi-Dried-Sardines-Dashi/dp/B00GFH6Z88/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1421000907&sr=1-1&keywords=niboshi
  
• http://www.amazon.ca/Japanese-Rishiri-Kombu-Dashi-Medium/dp/B00K7VAZQ6/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1421001094&sr=1-2&keywords=kombu#productDetails
  
• http://www.amazon.ca/Tenpaku-Premium-Katsuobushi-Bonito-Flakes/dp/B00A6QVSCC/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1421000846&sr=1-2&keywords=bonito+flakes

Most long term bulk storage lists suggest rice. I suppose options for cooking are the one you have prepared and defended.

I was just looking at the list and can not imagine having time to cook with flour every day. I bake edible bread, but I am not a pastry chef. This recipe seems a simpler option to make a sandwich from scratch.

My partner really enjoyed Onigiri when he visited Japan. He bugged me to learn how to make them. You really don't need the Nori, furikake is all you need to make them taste good. I even got a mold to make them faster.

For people who have a stockpile of Spam, try it the Hawaiian way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eYyAmrqUoA&t=566s

Edit : Fixed Links