The third dashi that I am going to focus on is Anchovy Stock known as Niboshi Dashi or Iriko dashi in Japanese. It is similar to Katsuo dashi which is made from Bonito flakes.
Pluck off heads and remove entrails of the dried baby anchovies. *2
Place the prepared dried anchovies in a small saucepan over low-medium heat to dry roast them for a few minutes without using any oil.
Fill a container with cold water and add the dry roasted infant anchoivies.
Let it stand overnight.
Line a sieve with a sheet of kitchen paper towel and place it over a large bowl.
Strain the dashi into the large bowl. *3
Use it for cooking or store in the fridge. *4
Steep & Simmer (Nidashi) Method
Pluck off heads and remove entrails of the dried baby anchovies.
Place the prepared baby anchovies in a saucepan with water to steep for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes steeping, put the saucepan over medium heat and bring it to the boil.
When the stock boils, turn the heat down to low and simmer it for 3-5 minutes.
Remove any scum off the surface as often as it necessary. *5
Strain the stock through a kitchen paper towel lined sieve.
Use it for cooking or store in the fridge. *4
Notes
*1 the ratio is usually 2-4 % of ingredients to water. *2 Do this carefully because we don't want to extract bitter taste from heads and entrails.*3 Leftover dried baby anchovies can be used for Tukudani and furikake. See recipe in the above post. *4 This dashi will last in the fridge for a couple days. If you are not going to use them in two days, keep the dashi in the freezer. It will last about 3 months frozen. *5 In order to extract melow and bold umami flavour.