NINBEN Nihonbashi Honten

Experience Japanese culinary skills with all five senses

Dashi, a broth made with kelp and bonito flakes, is a base ingredient in many Japanese dishes, adding flavor and contributing to a healthy diet. In addition to purchasing dashi products, you can watch up close as this shop’s experienced artisans shave the dried bonito. Then, in one corner, try this process yourself or taste the freshly shaved katsuobushi flakes.

Needless to say, you will gain plenty of ideas for how to bring out the appeal of dashi in a way that stimulates the five senses. The shop also has a humorous take on dashi, evidenced first by their Dashiba—a play on the words dashi and bar—where you can purchase and enjoy authentic dashi in a bar-like environment. And with their takeout service, instead of coffee you can grab a cup of hot dashi to go!

Healthy cuisine, 300 years in the making

What allows Japanese dishes to be seasoned without salt is the umami flavor of the dashi soup stock. Bonito, which is often the source of dashi, is high in protein, low in fat, and rich in vitamins and minerals. The umami flavor is drawn out by the bonito, unleashing the full potential of all the ingredients.

Techniques involving dashi are based on experience and skill cultivated for more than 300 years and are the basis for much of the washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

At this shop, you can choose products that match your current diet and lifestyle, from dried bonito blocks that you can shave yourself to make katsuobushi flakes to packages of easy-to-use, pre-shaved flakes. Ask the staff about the kinds of food you want to make, or the kinds of dashi you want to use, and they will be sure to help you find something that suits your needs.