Bonito Flakes substitute

Substitutes for Bonito Flakes with ratios

1. 2Kombu plus dried shiitake

   Different taste

   Use 1 four-inch piece kombu + 2 dried shiitake for every 4 cups water, steeped 30 minutes cold then warmed to a bare simmer

   The vegan and vegetarian answer, and a genuinely good broth in its own right.

   What changes

   Best for

   vegetarian miso soup, vegan ramen broth, simmered tofu, hot pot, rice cooked in dashi

   You get plenty of savoury depth, but from a different direction: rounder, sweeter, faintly mushroomy, and with none of the smoke or the light animal quality that bonito brings. Add a quarter teaspoon of soy sauce per cup to sharpen it. Never boil kombu hard or the broth turns slippery and bitter.

2. 3Dried anchovies (niboshi or iriko)

   Different taste

   Use Use about half the weight you would use of bonito flakes; 8 to 10 small dried anchovies for every 4 cups water

   Stronger, cheaper, and the backbone of Korean anchovy stock as well as plenty of Japanese country cooking.

   What changes

   Best for

   miso soup, udon broth, Korean soups and stews, kimchi jjigae

   Much fishier and slightly bitter compared with bonito's clean smokiness, so the broth tastes rustic rather than delicate. Snap off the heads and pull out the dark guts first, which is where most of the bitterness lives, and steep for ten minutes rather than boiling for thirty.

3. 4Fish sauce

   Different taste

   Use ½ to 1 tsp for every 2 cups of liquid

   A corrector rather than a base, for when a broth already exists and simply tastes thin.

   What changes

   Best for

   rescuing a flat broth, noodle soup, dipping sauce, braises

   Delivers salt and marine savouriness in seconds but no smoke and no body, and it is aggressive, so add it a quarter teaspoon at a time. A miso soup fixed this way tastes savoury and a little sharp rather than gently smoky. Do not use it as the only flavour in a clear soup, where it will read as raw fish sauce.

4. 5Furikake or finely shredded toasted nori

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by volume as a topping only

   The stand-in when the flakes were going on top of okonomiyaki, takoyaki, rice or noodles.

   What changes

   Best for

   okonomiyaki, takoyaki, rice bowls, onigiri, cold noodles

   Right saltiness and right seaweed-and-sesame savouriness, wrong theatre. Bonito flakes are so light they wave in the steam and they melt on the tongue; nori and furikake sit still and stay crisp. Many furikake blends already contain bonito, so read the label if you need it fish-free.

5. 6Canned tuna in oil, drained and mashed with soy sauce

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 2 tbsp tuna + 1 tsp soy sauce for every serving, for fillings only

   The pantry fix for okaka, the bonito-and-soy filling for rice balls, and nothing else.

   What changes

   Best for

   onigiri filling, rice seasoning, sandwich filling

   Fine in a rice ball, where you want salty savoury fish flecks bound with soy. Do not try to make broth with it: canned tuna is neither smoked nor dried, so it clouds the water and gives you a greasy, fishy stock rather than dashi.