高湯 / Dashi

日本料理的特徵之一就是使用高湯。經常使用含有肌苷酸的鰹魚節，含有谷氨酸的海藻，含有鳥苷酸的乾香菇。高湯的製作因為很費工，家庭中經常使用的是即食食品的高湯。煮完高湯的昆布和鰹魚節也可以做佃煮（甜鹹口味的煮物）。精進料理則是使用黃豆的高湯。北海道是昆布的一大產地。

One of the features of Japanese cuisine is the use of Dashi (soup stock). There are several types of dashi. Famous examples include dried bonito (Katsuobushi) containing inosinic acid, kelp (kombu) containing glutamic acid and dried Japanese mushroom (Kanso Shiitake) containing guanylic acid. It takes time to make dashi from scratch, so most people prefer using instant dashi products at home. Common types of dashi-packs are like teabags, granulated, powdered or liquid type. Unused dried bonito or kelp are reused to make other food, like tsukudani and furikake. For vegetarian, soy beans are used for dashi. Hokkaido is the biggest production place for kelp in Japan.