What are Bonito Flakes?
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After my last post about Bitter Gourd with scrambled egg and bonito flakes, I got some queries regarding what exactly is a bonito and what are bonito flakes.
Bonito flakes (katsuobushi in Japanese) are dried paperthin shavings of a bonito which is a fish in the tuna family. They are used a lot in Japanese cooking, either as seasoning, flavouring or edible presentation. At any point in time when eating Japanese food, you would probably notice some dry paperthin bits sprinkled on top of your rice or salad or dishes. That is bonito.
It has a strong smell in the packet but does not really taste as strong as it smells. In fact, I find the taste rather mild. It is very useful to make stock for use in Japanese cooking as well, as Pinkelle has said in her comment below. When pressed for time to make dashi (Japanese cooking stock made from fish) you can use handfuls of bonito flakes in boiling water. The stock is mild but flavourful.
This website offers a definition of bonito flakes thus:Â
Dried shavings of fish that are sliced from aged pieces of bonito. A member of the tuna family of fish, bonito is a popular fish in Japan that is typically not consumed as often fresh for a meal as it is in a dried form. Dark in color and oily in texture, the bonito is dried and cut into hard blocks of meat that are preserved for use as an ingredient in various foods. The shavings provide a strong salty taste to many different food dishes as they are commonly used to flavor soup stocks such as dashi, as a seasoning for wakame salads made with dried seaweed, as a flavoring for Asian sauces, as a salty flavoring for noodle dishes, or as a garnish and seasoning in soups and over cooked vegetables.
You can use them as I did in my recipe or sprinkled on top of vegetables or fried rice. It adds a certain flavour that sits well on the tastebuds. Bonito flakes can be bought from most supermarkets now, but best try places like Cold Storage, Isetan or Jusco. Jusco sells various types, but the ones I usually buy are packed in little 3g packets and are by their inhouse brand or Topvalu so its cheaper. A pack of 10 3g packets cost me about RM4.00.
Though it looks like bits of wood shavings, remember that this is actually fish, so avoid if you are vegetarian or plan to be cooking for vegetarians.
technorati tags: Bonito flakes, Japanese, food, katsuobushi
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Comments
Ah… I am enlightened now. Will go look for the bonito flakes in the supermarket and teach my mum how to use it so that she can cook for me! Muahahahaha…
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Original Easy Homemade Tiramisu »
Ahhhhhh, fishy!!!! Now I know why you were so brilliant with the tiramisu trick! You’re an accomplished cook!