Dashi is a classic Japanese fish stock that forms the foundation of many classic Japanese dishes.  The basic ingredients are incredibly simple, just dried bonito flakes, kombu kelp, and water.  Many families & restaurants have their own variations, one of the frequent additions is dried shiitake mushrooms (though you could use maitake mushrooms or matsutake mushrooms).

Though instant dashi packets exist, they often contain MSG.  Fresh dashi can be made from scratch very quickly and the ingredients are all dried (so they keep a long time) and reasonable affordable.   

Click for Dashi Recipe

The most common application for dashi is miso soup, which is consumed regularly across Japan and is served with breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  It is simple to make, soothing, nutritious, and easy to digest.  Miso soups served in the evening tend to be made with darker miso than those served in the morning.  Check out our Dark Miso Soup Recipe.