This is just my opinion, chicken stock with the curry base and then shrimp as the protein would taste great. But if you're looking for a seafood base, these hondashi pellets are a great easy way to make bonito stock to use instead.
No, it should be like when chicken stock used as a base for soups (or katsuoboshi for miso soup) -- you shouldn't notice the original stock, but it carries that savory flavor over to your dish.
I think what you did by adjusting is perfect. I think a good reference that you can pretty much order at any korean restaurant is daenjangjigae or soondubu-jigae, they both use anchovy/dried kelp stock
For my stock I have 2 methods for making 2 cups of stock:
Method 1: traditional
Method 2: cheating
Have you tried buying instant dashi (hondashi) granules? They taste like 80% as good as the homemade stuff, and the profile is essentially the same. It will help you to see what it is supposed to taste like.
How to make Miso Soup:
Basic miso soup is simply dashi stock and miso paste, plus whatever other add-ins you like. Dashi stock is a soup stock, most commonly made using kelp and bonito flakes (dried fish flakes). There are other variations as well using ingredients such as mushrooms. I like to make my own dashi sometimes, but more often than not I just use Hondashi, which is basically bullion for dashi stock. It's cheap and one little jar makes a ton of stock. So buckle in, this one's a real doozy.
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 teaspoon Hondashi
1 tablespoon miso paste
Instructions
Bring water to a boil and mix in Hondashi until fully combined.
Move off of the heat and whisk in miso paste. Many people like to whisk the miso paste into a bit of water in a separate bowl to help it incorporate into the stock.
Add whatever you like or enjoy it as a delicious brothy umami soup all by itself!
Notes
This makes a single serving, which I find handy since it's so simple to make. As you can imagine it's very easy to scale up to suit how much you need.
My typical extras are green onions, white or yellow onions, mushrooms of all kinds, and whatever veggies I have on hand that I need to use up. Other options include noodles, rice, seafood, etc. Basically whatever you want to add!
Smaller supermarkets may or may not have miso paste and hondashi, but most decent sized ones should. If you have a local Asian market I'd recommend going there.
Easiest shoyu broth that I do(makes about 1 cup of liquid-- Measurements are off the top of my head, adjust to taste):
1 tsp Hondashi
1 TBSP Soy Sauce
1 tsp Mirin
1 tsp MSG
1 tsp Sake
Optional: Kombu and bonito flakes to make a good dashi, but honestly hondashi works well in a pinch
Combine in 1 cup hot water, boil for a minute or two or until it doesn't smell too alcoholic and you have a quick and dirty shoyu broth.
Add some aroma oil like fried garlic oil or something to elevate it(simply fry garlic in oil on low-medium heat until the garlic is brown).
Hope that helps! This basically kind of combines the soup/tare into one easy recipe.
Bonito flakes + kombu = dashi stock, which is a fish stock that is in a lot of Japanese recipes. Try this brand!
I've bought mine from amazon though I've found them in asian markets for half the price
This is the stuff you want:
https://smile.amazon.com/Ajinomoto-Stock-Hondashi-Original-Version/dp/B0000CNU0C
Needs hondashi
I've been making Oyakodon using this recipe recently, and it's really easy and really good! The only odd ingredients you need are Dashi (1 tsp of this powder equals 1 cup of broth) and sake, which I found at publix. If you can't find sake (or can't purchase alcohol) I think you can use mirin, but consider using less sugar if you do. I don't use as much sugar as stated in the recipe anyways. I also buy chicken thighs with the bone in because they are cheaper, and you can use the bones to make stock to cook your rice in! Deboning them is a good deal of work, though, so do whatever is best for you!
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If you like miso soup from the Japanese restaurant, you owe it to yourself to find some miso paste.
What is Miso Paste?
Miso paste is made from fermented soybeans and a (healthy) bacteria culture. There are three main types of miso: Shiro, Awase, and Aki. Each is fermented longer than the last. As a result, Shiro miso will be milder and sweeter in flavor, while Aki miso will be stronger and saltier due to the longer fermentation. That leaves Awase in the middle.
Are there health benefits?
A ton. I'll leave it to the experts to explain all of them. The quick answer is that it is full of nutrients that are difficult to obtain in other foods. Also, due to the fermentation process, it's chock-full of probiotics. So much like yogurt, it promotes good digestion. Anytime I feel sick or run down, I've always craved miso soup, but for a long time didn't know why it felt so healing besides just tasting comforting. Turns out it's because it's super good for you. The main drawback is that it is high in sodium, so moderation is key if you are watching that.
How do I use it?
Miso soup comes to mind, and while it is awesome and super easy to make (it's dashi stock and miso paste heated up), it doesn't stop there. Miso is fantastic as a marinade, can be mixed with softened butter (I used it in my eggs this morning instead of salt, used in ramen, and I'm sure much more that hopefully we can learn in the comments.
How to make Miso Soup:
Basic miso soup is simply dashi stock and miso paste, plus whatever other add-ins you like. Dashi stock is a soup stock, most commonly made using kelp and bonito flakes (dried fish flakes). There are other variations as well using ingredients such as mushrooms. I like to make my own dashi sometimes, but more often than not I just use Hondashi, which is basically bullion for dashi stock. It's cheap and one little jar makes a ton of stock. So buckle in, this one's a real doozy.
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 teaspoon Hondashi
1 tablespoon miso paste
Instructions
Bring water to a boil and mix in Hondashi until fully combined.
Move off of the heat and whisk in miso paste. Many people like to whisk the miso paste into a bit of water in a separate bowl to help it incorporate into the stock.
Add whatever you like or enjoy it as a delicious brothy umami soup all by itself!
Notes
This makes a single serving, which I find handy since it's so simple to make. As you can imagine it's very easy to scale up to suit how much you need.
My typical extras are green onions, white or yellow onions, mushrooms of all kinds, and whatever veggies I have on hand that I need to use up. Other options include noodles, rice, seafood, etc. Basically whatever you want to add!
Smaller supermarkets may or may not have miso paste and hondashi, but most decent sized ones should. If you have a local Asian market I'd recommend going there.
This one! Ajinomoto brand. I just got the little jar for summer when I'm not as interested in soups, but it comes in bigger boxes too if you eat a lot of miso soup
https://www.amazon.com/Ajinomoto-Stock-Hondashi-Original-Version/dp/B0000CNU0C/
I generally make a chicken stock of what ever. I've gone simple(just chicken) or complex (Chicken, onion, garlic, carrot, green onion, whatever else you feel like). I took this Serious Eats recipe and stole the broth for a heavier/darker chicken broth. It was a great place to start with a nice friendly chicken broth recipe. edit: it's gonna get smoky so air it out
I've made double soups dashi and chicken broth. Dashi powder can be bought on amazon or you can get the kombu and katsuobushi on amazon. Niboshi I've ordered off amazon but it still hasn't come in yet.
Everything else can be found in my regular grocery store that I've seen. Noodles in the asian/international aisle. I like doing pork loin or chicken breast that has been sous vide for the meat. Green onions, collard greens, broccoli, bamboo shoots(I buy in bulk when I see them available at the store), eggs, spinach, corn, what ever else you have available.
I live in Texas so I'm working on trying to make a sopa de lima ramen or a pozole ramen. It's coming along slowly. Adapt your ramen recipe to suit what is available around you.
You're welcome, glad I could help! It's also common to add dashi stock to your batter and top with bonito flakes
Single guy here who cooks for myself often. I like making Oyakodon or Gyudon. For the dashi in the recipes, you can just use Hondashi powder. Simple stir fry is pretty easy to make too and easily scalable for just one person. TheKitchn.com has a beginner tutorial to get started. A wok isn't that necessary, you can do it in a regular saute pan.