• One sachet, 500ml of water, five minutes — that is the whole method
• Two dashi, two jobs: Yellow is light and clear, Red is dark and strong
• Four ingredients at most. No salt, no MSG, nothing added
Uneno has been making dashi in the south of Kyoto since 1903. It buys the fish, the kelp and the mushrooms itself, mills them, and puts them in a bag. Nothing is added to carry the flavor — no salt, no yeast extract, no MSG. What comes out of the pot is what went into the bag, which is rarer in a dashi pack than it sounds.
Yellow is the Kyoto dashi most people picture. Katsuobushi and karebushi — bonito dried, and bonito dried then aged with mold for months — from Kagoshima, with Rishiri kombu (kelp) and shiitake from Oita. Clean, light, faintly smoky. Use it where the broth itself is meant to be tasted: clear soup, rice cooked in dashi, simmered vegetables, chawanmushi (savory egg custard).
Red trades bonito for a blend of dried sardine, round herring and mackerel, with the same kombu and shiitake. Darker, oilier, considerably stronger. Use it where the dashi has to carry something else: miso soup, udon and soba broth, nimono (simmered dishes), anything with meat in it.
To use: drop one sachet into 500ml of water, bring it to a boil, simmer five minutes on medium, then lift the bag out. Don't throw it away — cut it open and the softened flakes can be seasoned and eaten over rice.
Yellow 18 sachets × 7g (4.4 oz)
Red 17 sachets × 7g (4.2 oz)
Yellow ingredients Dried bonito, aged dried bonito, kombu, dried shiitake
Red ingredients Dried round herring, dried mackerel, dried sardine, kombu, dried shiitake
Allergens Fish (Red also contains mackerel). No wheat, no soy, no dairy
Care Cool and dark. Refrigerate after opening
Maker Uneno, Kyoto — founded 1903
A limited quantity has been brought in, and we are not expecting another shipment.
