Miso Soup

Instructions

1. Put 4 g of kombu into a small saucepan with 350 ml of cold water and leave it to soak for 30 minutes; the kelp should soften and the water take on a pale straw colour. Wipe the kombu with a dry cloth first if it is dusty, but never rinse off the white bloom, which is flavour.
2. Set the pan over a low heat and bring it up slowly, about 10 minutes. Watch for the first small bubbles clinging to the sides and lift the kombu out just before the water boils, boiled kombu turns the dashi slimy and bitter.
3. Raise the heat until the water just reaches the boil, scatter in 5 g of katsuobushi and immediately take the pan off the heat. Leave it undisturbed for 2 minutes while the flakes sink, then strain through a fine sieve lined with kitchen paper. Do not press the flakes; let it drip. You should have a clear, faintly golden dashi.