I recently had the opportunity to look at the book Momofuku by David Chang (chef and owner of the restaurant of the same name).
Among the many photos and recipes asian styleo dashi de bacon shone among his peers. Because it is from baconclear is dashi. After all, what is dashi?
Dashi It is the Japanese equivalent to the French funds/broths, in general terms. It is a broth made with kombu (seaweed) and bonito flakes (katsuobushi, fermented and dried fish). The essence of the flavored liquid is this: seaweed and fish. Did you understand why I stopped at the recipe in the book?
Before trying it, I confess that I don’t remember doing it. dashi Before, I was shocked when I saw the price of the kombu. Guys, how expensive it is. Depending on the type, it can reach up to R$200/kg! As I was going to use very little, I chose the 100g version which gives plenty of leftovers. Be warned.
Even so, the kombu is essential to dashi. It is nothing more than dried seaweed, in most cases it is Saccharina japonica (or another species from the Laminariaceae family), being responsible for the flavor umami as it is rich in glutamic acid.
The preparation method doesn’t deviate much from the traditional one made with fish, it’s very simple. The instructions in the book just said to remove the solidified fat and it would be ready to use. As I wanted a more crystal clear liquid, I filtered the dashi. This resulted in a clear dashi with the taste of bacon, it was not too strong or salty.
Dashi de Bacon: Caldo Oriental
Makes: 1 L
- 1 L water
- 100 g smoked bacon
- 15×7 cm piece of kombu
1 cup: 250mL | 1 tablespoon: 15mL.
- Wash the piece of kombu very well.
- In a pan add the water and clean kombu. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cover and turn off. Reserve for 10 minutes.
- Cut the bacon into smaller pieces.
- Remove the kombu from the water, add the chopped bacon.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes.
- Remove the bacon pieces. Let the liquid cool (ice bath or in the fridge), the bacon fat will solidify, remove with a slotted spoon.
- If a lot of liquid has evaporated, top up again to 1L.
- To make the dashi very clear it is necessary to filter it.
- I filtered about 4-5 times using a paper coffee filter, each time using a new one. The process is time-consuming, as there are fat particles to be removed.
- Use in desired recipe or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
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