Wherein I Become A Shill

I knew 120 million people were not waking up every morning and making dashi fresh with kombu and fish flakes.  It's not like it's super hard to make - though it is hard to make well.  Even so, I knew there had to be an instant powder that comes in a jar somewhere.

Enter Amazon.com.

This "Amazon Associates" thing I'm doing now has definitely increased traffic to their site.  I'm going there daily now.

If you've been reading this blog for a while you will know I'm interested in Japanese cooking.  All of the cookbooks I have contain a recipe for tamago, the Japanese rolled omelette often sliced and made into sushi.  While I enjoy eating tamago it's the skill I'm after - I want to learn how to make it well!  So I searched Amazon (because you can find anything on Amazon and read the reviews before you buy) and I bought this pan:



I haven't used it yet but it's very well made and has a non-stick coating.  It's also tiny and cute as hell.  Kawaii!!!  A recipe for tamago came with it in the box.  The number two ingredient was "Hondashi (Japanese instant soup base)"!

There it was!  I knew it!  Instant dashi!  Thank you again, Amazon!  Well, thank you, House of Rice who included the recipe with the pan.  But I wouldn't have known about The House of Rice without Amazon.

So back to Amazon I went and ordered some:


I think this discovery will open up a whole, new world of Japanese culinary success for me.