The bones of my kitchen are Thai -- an over-dependence on voluminous fragrant roots and herbs, plus the umami core of fish sauce and shrimp paste. I love this article because I don't think americans understand just how sustainable those two bases are -- they're using small fish (like anchovies) and tiny shrimp. And small fish, in addition to sea vegetables, are the future of blue food ... unfortunately, since we've industrially targeted all the larger species and ecosystems tend to collapse from the top. The ocean in 30 years may just be algae, squid and jellyfish.
Which brings me to a shameless plug for our calamari jerky (available at www.thehermit.com) -- we intentionally chose to use a small squid, D. opalescens, wild caught off the California coast. We believe it's one of the most sustainable animal proteins available to americans, and it's a shame that 90% of it is exported to asia right now (all while 80% + of seafood consumed in america is imported, which is sheer insanity, and leads to americans unwittingly contributing to ecological disasters across the planet).
Sorry for the shameless plug. Students of umami must know!
My problem is more the "fishy" flavor that I just can't get my taste buds to approve of. I love miso and eat it every day --not necessarily in the traditional miso soup but in salad dressing (kefir & miso & garlic), I add it to my sourdough & cookies, and honey and miso mixed together taste like caramel 😆. But the dashi with fish flakes just doesn't sound appealing. How can I tweak my taste buds? Would I find these "packs" at the local H-Mart? (Korean store). I've never seen the stuff at the usual US stores.
Dashi does not need the fish to still be dashi. On its most basic level, you can simply steep Kombu (dried kelp) and it'll impart a good deal of glutimates to deliver umami without leaving an overly dominant seafood flavor.
this is unfair -- a lot of blue foods are actively restorative. Kelp and bivalves (oysters, scallops, mussels, etc) not only clean and filter the water column but contribute to biodiversity. New york harbor used to be carpeted with oysters and is worse off for no longer having them; the pacific northwest has seen many kelp forests destroyed as well, so replenishing them is actually a way to get back to a more natural state.
Thanks Mike!
Dashi packs sold out! I’m going to share about them at an easy weeknight meals class through Stanford Healthy Living program.
Looks like they still have 'em! https://okume.us/products/classic-dashi
Ah thanks!
(Premium sold out)
The bones of my kitchen are Thai -- an over-dependence on voluminous fragrant roots and herbs, plus the umami core of fish sauce and shrimp paste. I love this article because I don't think americans understand just how sustainable those two bases are -- they're using small fish (like anchovies) and tiny shrimp. And small fish, in addition to sea vegetables, are the future of blue food ... unfortunately, since we've industrially targeted all the larger species and ecosystems tend to collapse from the top. The ocean in 30 years may just be algae, squid and jellyfish.
Which brings me to a shameless plug for our calamari jerky (available at www.thehermit.com) -- we intentionally chose to use a small squid, D. opalescens, wild caught off the California coast. We believe it's one of the most sustainable animal proteins available to americans, and it's a shame that 90% of it is exported to asia right now (all while 80% + of seafood consumed in america is imported, which is sheer insanity, and leads to americans unwittingly contributing to ecological disasters across the planet).
Sorry for the shameless plug. Students of umami must know!
My problem is more the "fishy" flavor that I just can't get my taste buds to approve of. I love miso and eat it every day --not necessarily in the traditional miso soup but in salad dressing (kefir & miso & garlic), I add it to my sourdough & cookies, and honey and miso mixed together taste like caramel 😆. But the dashi with fish flakes just doesn't sound appealing. How can I tweak my taste buds? Would I find these "packs" at the local H-Mart? (Korean store). I've never seen the stuff at the usual US stores.
Dashi does not need the fish to still be dashi. On its most basic level, you can simply steep Kombu (dried kelp) and it'll impart a good deal of glutimates to deliver umami without leaving an overly dominant seafood flavor.
I’m not sure about the ‘good for the planet’ line. The goal looks more like ‘less bad for the planet’.
this is unfair -- a lot of blue foods are actively restorative. Kelp and bivalves (oysters, scallops, mussels, etc) not only clean and filter the water column but contribute to biodiversity. New york harbor used to be carpeted with oysters and is worse off for no longer having them; the pacific northwest has seen many kelp forests destroyed as well, so replenishing them is actually a way to get back to a more natural state.