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  • Dashi ingredient
  • 日高昆布

Hidaka-kombu

The household kombu, the one you also eat.

Flavor profile

Umamimild umami 70%
Oceangreen ocean tone 60%
Texturesoft leaf 55%
Sweetnesslight sweetness 45%

The strengths are editorial judgments on a scale within the family, not measurements. They can be compared across the dashi ingredients varieties, not directly against another family.

Origin the Hidaka region around Cape Erimo in southeastern Hokkaido

Hidaka, also called mitsuishi, is harvested around Cape Erimo in southeastern Hokkaido and is the household kombu: the cheapest of the four, the mildest in the broth, and above all the only one that turns properly soft when boiled. That is why it gets eaten rather than just steeped: kombumaki, oden and tsukudani are made with hidaka, while the pricier varieties are lifted out and discarded or saved for something else.

Sensory analysis

Pyramid and character

Aroma

from the bag

  • mild kelp
  • green ocean tone

Broth

in the spoon

  • mild umami
  • light sweetness
  • greenness

Finish

what lingers

  • medium long
  • clean
  • soft
UMAMISALINITYSWEETNESSSMOKEBODYCLARITY

Character 0-100 per axis, set relative to the other entries in the same family. An editorial judgment of a typical serving, not measurements.

Background

Facts

Origin
the Hidaka region around Cape Erimo in southeastern Hokkaido; also known as mitsuishi-kombu
Kinship
the same species as the other kombu varieties (Saccharina japonica); the name is the harvest area
Blades
softens quickly when boiled, unlike the firmer northern varieties
Broth
mild and light, with a greener tone than the clear varieties give
Use
kombumaki, oden, tsukudani and hot pots, and the broth of everyday cooking; most common in Kanto and northward
Price
the most affordable of the four main varieties

In the pot

Broth

Soaking
20 to 30 minutes in cold water is enough; the leaf releases faster than a thick one
Temperature
heat toward the boiling point and lift the leaf out, or let it boil along if it is going to be eaten
Note
the only one of the four where eating the leaf afterward is a given; simmer it soft in soy sauce and mirin instead of throwing it away

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