There is a discussion in rec.food.cooking as to whether or not
"hon dashi", the dried basis of miso soup is a generic
description. I don't know enough Japanese to answer it (in fact,
my Japanese only allows me to translate a few sushi items :-).
Can a more competent speaker help, please?


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"James Silverton" > wrote in message
news:KbMoj.79$qI.42@trnddc03...
> There is a discussion in rec.food.cooking as to whether or not
> "hon dashi", the dried basis of miso soup is a generic
> description. I don't know enough Japanese to answer it (in fact,
> my Japanese only allows me to translate a few sushi items :-).
> Can a more competent speaker help, please?
>
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland
>


James,

The "Hon" in Hondashi comes from "Hontou" meaning real or true.
Hondashi is a specific Brand Name of a dashi packet.,
manufactured by Ajinomoto Co.

The generic term for dashi is "dashi".

Musashi

Musashi wrote on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:57:17 GMT:


M> "James Silverton" > wrote in
M> message news:KbMoj.79$qI.42@trnddc03...
??>> There is a discussion in rec.food.cooking as to whether or
??>> not "hon dashi", the dried basis of miso soup is a generic
??>> description. I don't know enough Japanese to answer it (in
??>> fact, my Japanese only allows me to translate a few sushi
??>> items :-). Can a more competent speaker help, please?
??>>
??>> James Silverton
??>> Potomac, Maryland
??>>
M> James,

M> The "Hon" in Hondashi comes from "Hontou" meaning real or
M> true. Hondashi is a specific Brand Name of a dashi packet.,
M> manufactured by Ajinomoto Co.

M> The generic term for dashi is "dashi".

Thanks very much for the quick explanation. I guess then the
label on the bottle implies "real dashi". The words were
separated in the English on the Ajinomotu bottle and I did not
take them as a trade name.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Feb 1, 7:34 pm, "James Silverton" >
wrote:
> Musashi wrote on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:57:17 GMT:
>
> M> "James Silverton" > wrote in
> M> messagenews:KbMoj.79$qI.42@trnddc03...
> ??>> There is a discussion in rec.food.cooking as to whether or
> ??>> not "hon dashi", the dried basis of miso soup is a generic
> ??>> description. I don't know enough Japanese to answer it (in
> ??>> fact, my Japanese only allows me to translate a few sushi
> ??>> items :-). Can a more competent speaker help, please?
> ??>>
> ??>> James Silverton
> ??>> Potomac, Maryland
> ??>>
> M> James,
>
> M> The "Hon" in Hondashi comes from "Hontou" meaning real or
> M> true. Hondashi is a specific Brand Name of a dashi packet.,
> M> manufactured by Ajinomoto Co.
>
> M> The generic term for dashi is "dashi".
>
> Thanks very much for the quick explanation. I guess then the
> label on the bottle implies "real dashi". The words were
> separated in the English on the Ajinomotu bottle and I did not
> take them as a trade name.
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland
>
> E-mail, with obvious alterations:
> not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

That being said, the stuff is quite good. It's not too salty, compared
with say... boullion cubes and similar products. The granules are
packed with flavor, and it's really easy to use too much. I use it all
the time for cooking lobsters and shellfish in general.

"The "Hon" in Hondashi comes from "Hontou" meaning real or true.
Hondashi is a specific Brand Name of a dashi packet.,
manufactured by Ajinomoto Co. "

Ajinomoto is the company that patented MSG.

parrotheada1a wrote:
> On Feb 1, 7:34 pm, "James Silverton" >
> wrote:
>
>> Musashi wrote on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:57:17 GMT:
>>
>> M> "James Silverton" > wrote in
>> M> messagenews:KbMoj.79$qI.42@trnddc03...
>> ??>> There is a discussion in rec.food.cooking as to whether or
>> ??>> not "hon dashi", the dried basis of miso soup is a generic
>> ??>> description. I don't know enough Japanese to answer it (in
>> ??>> fact, my Japanese only allows me to translate a few sushi
>> ??>> items :-). Can a more competent speaker help, please?
>> ??>>
>> ??>> James Silverton
>> ??>> Potomac, Maryland
>> ??>>
>> M> James,
>>
>> M> The "Hon" in Hondashi comes from "Hontou" meaning real or
>> M> true. Hondashi is a specific Brand Name of a dashi packet.,
>> M> manufactured by Ajinomoto Co.
>>
>> M> The generic term for dashi is "dashi".
>>
>>Thanks very much for the quick explanation. I guess then the
>>label on the bottle implies "real dashi". The words were
>>separated in the English on the Ajinomotu bottle and I did not
>>take them as a trade name.
>>
>>James Silverton
>>Potomac, Maryland
>>
>>E-mail, with obvious alterations:
>>not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
>
>
> That being said, the stuff is quite good. It's not too salty, compared
> with say... boullion cubes and similar products. The granules are
> packed with flavor, and it's really easy to use too much. I use it all
> the time for cooking lobsters and shellfish in general.

I have a small jar I use when making Congee (Juk), and it does add a lot
of flavor. It keeps for a long time also, since I've had mine in the cabinet
for years and its still good.

--
Dan

But MSG is the main ingredient in all of them, isn't it?

wrote on Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:07:46 -0800
(PST):

w> But MSG is the main ingredient in all of them, isn't it?

But who the hell knows what you are referring to! Try quoting if
you hope for a response. :-)

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

wrote:
> But MSG is the main ingredient in all of them, isn't it?

and flavorings.. doesn't bother me. I use MSG when I cook.

--
Dan

On Feb 10, 5:07 pm, wrote:
> But MSG is the main ingredient in all of them, isn't it?

Dashi is made from dried bonito fish and kombu seaweed. The latter is
naturally chock full of glutamates (the G in MSG). It would be
interesting to see whether this natural glutamate would affect those
who have a reaction to MSG the same way or not.

Tippi wrote on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:22:22 -0800 (PST):

T> On Feb 10, 5:07 pm, wrote:
??>> But MSG is the main ingredient in all of them, isn't it?

T> Dashi is made from dried bonito fish and kombu seaweed. The
T> latter is naturally chock full of glutamates (the G in MSG).
T> It would be interesting to see whether this natural
T> glutamate would affect those who have a reaction to MSG the
T> same way or not.

"Natural" and "artificial", sodium hydrogen glutamate (MSG) are
identical chemically and would dissolve to give the same ions
but manufactured MSG is made by fermentation and you could argue
that it is "natural" too :-)

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not