Iriko Dashi Small Dried Fish Stock Depth and Bitterness

Japan — particularly Kyushu, Shikoku, and the Inland Sea coast where small oily fish (katakuchi iwashi, urume iwashi) were abundant

Iriko dashi (also called niboshi dashi in eastern Japan) is made from small dried anchovies or sardines and is the most assertive, mineral-forward of the four primary Japanese stocks. Used heavily in miso soup in Kyushu and western Japan, as a base for udon in certain regional styles, and in strongly flavoured simmered dishes that can stand up to its bold character. Unlike the clean, delicate profiles of kombu dashi and katsuobushi dashi, iriko produces a deeply savoury, slightly bitter, distinctly oceanic stock that makes food taste unmistakably of the sea. The bitterness is a feature — it creates depth and complexity — but requires management through technique.

Bold, mineral, assertively fishy with controlled bitterness, deep oceanic character, high glutamate and inosinate content