Okui Kaiseido Rishiri Kombu Powder (奥井海生堂 利尻粉末昆布)

The story behind it

From the Edo period until the middle of the Meiji era, Hokkaido kombu traveled west along the Sea of Japan shipping routes, and Tsuruga was the gateway.

Newly arrived kombu spent the winter in Tsuruga storehouses just as it was. Merchants noticed that by the time it shipped in spring, the roughness and off-notes had gone and the savory character stood out. Kuragakoi, resting kombu in a storehouse under straw matting, is said to have come about this way.

Okui Kaiseido, founded in 1871, is the kombu merchant in Tsuruga that has kept kuragakoi alive. From the mid-Meiji era it became a supplier to Eiheiji, the head temple of the Soto Zen school, and from the Taisho era into early Showa it began dealing with Kitaoji Rosanjin and with restaurants in Kyoto.

This product is Rishiri kombu alone, ground to a powder. There is no drawing and straining of dashi. You put it into the dish and eat it.