Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
Ikedaya Hongare Hana-katsuo (かつをぶし池田屋 本枯れ花かつを)
The story behind it
Katsuobushi Ikedaya in Wako, Saitama, is a specialist shop for katsuobushi (dried bonito) and dashi ingredients, founded in 1978. It began by supplying shaved bonito to soba restaurants, and it still delivers dashi ingredients to school lunches in Wako.
The shop uses karebushi, bonito that has been smoked, dried, coated with mold and left to age. Most of what it handles has aged for ten months to over a year. When a new lot arrives, the staff make dashi from it and check the color, saltiness and aroma against their own standards.
Most shaved bonito is steamed before shaving. In the previous generation, Ikedaya developed a way to shave the fillets without steam and patented it (No. 1311643). With less moisture left in, the flakes melt away in your mouth.
How to use it
Before making dashi, try one flake on its own. Scatter it over freshly cooked rice, blanched spinach or chilled tofu to taste the aroma. It also works as the base for miso soup or clear soup.
Where to buy in Japan
3-18-17 Shirako, Wako-shi, Saitama
埼玉県和光市白子3-18-17
Heard from the maker when we visited (interviewed on 2026-09-30). Please check with them before you go.