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NeKKo
  • Dashi ingredient
  • 利尻昆布

Rishiri-kombu

Kyoto's kombu, clearest of all.

Flavor profile

Umamielegant umami 85%
Oceanocean 55%
Mineralmineral 50%
Sweetnessrestrained 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 Rishiri

Rishiri grows farthest north, around the islands of Rishiri and Rebun and Wakkanai's Okhotsk coast, and gives the clearest broth of all the kombu varieties: nearly colorless, fragrant and restrained. It is the kombu of Kyoto cooking and of kaiseki, chosen so that a clear soup can taste deep without looking cloudy or crowding out the other ingredients. The leaf is firmer than the southern varieties'.

Sensory analysis

Pyramid and character

Aroma

from the bag

  • dried kelp
  • clean sea breeze

Broth

in the spoon

  • elegant umami
  • mineral
  • restrained sweetness

Finish

what lingers

  • long
  • clean
  • dry
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
Rishiri, Rebun and Wakkanai's Okhotsk coast, that is, northern Hokkaido
Kinship
the same species as the other kombu varieties (Saccharina japonica); the name is the harvest area, not a separate species
Broth
nearly colorless and elegant, with a distinct aroma and restrained sweetness
Blades
firmer and harder than ma-kombu, takes a longer soak without turning slimy
Use
clear soups (suimono), kaiseki and the broths of Kansai cooking; especially associated with Kyoto

In the pot

Broth

Soaking
30 minutes to overnight in cold water
Temperature
heat toward the boiling point and lift the leaf out before the water boils
Note
this variety rewards patience more than the others; a cold overnight soak gives a broth almost impossible to tell from water by eye but not by taste

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