Dashi ingredients - how old is old?

Dee wrote on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:50:00 -0400:

DD> About a lb. of bonito flakes which I bought Feb 06 and
DD> vacuumed in jars.

DD> About 10 oz. of sheets of kombu – perhaps 10 years +/- old?
DD> They have been in heavy zip-lock bags.

DD> Wakame – a large (seems large – 85 g) opened package with a
DD> tie around the top, but doesn’t look too secure – perhaps 5
DD> years old

DD> Wakame – a large (seems large – 150 g) opened package with
DD> a tie around the top, but looks even less secure than the
DD> 85g package. Perhaps 3-5 years old.

DD> Would you keep any of this? I don’t make dashi often, as
DD> you can see. I love wakame and carrots, but don’t seem to
DD> want to make it.

I have never made Hon Dashi from scratch but I "eat" miso soup
quite often and the dried concentrate from Ajinomotu seems to
keep in the regular refigerator until I have used it up. Their
other dried stocks, for example Dashi Chuka, seem to keep
equally well.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

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

Dee Dee said:

Looking in my cupboard, I see:

About a lb. of bonito flakes which I bought Feb 06 and vacuumed in jars.

About 10 oz. of sheets of kombu – perhaps 10 years +/- old? They have been
in heavy zip-lock bags.

Wakame – a large (seems large – 85 g) opened package with a tie around the
top, but doesn’t look too secure – perhaps 5 years old

Wakame – a large (seems large – 150 g) opened package with a tie around the
top, but looks even less secure than the 85g package. Perhaps 3-5 years
old.

Would you keep any of this? I don’t make dashi often, as you can see. I
love wakame and carrots, but don’t seem to want to make it.

Thanks.

Dee Dee

I would think they would be usable. The most unstable would be the
bonito but that isn't old. The wakame and kombu seem to last forever as
long as moisture doesn't get to them.

Dee Dee said:

Looking in my cupboard, I see:
.... Feb 06 ....
.... perhaps 10 years +/- old? >
....perhaps 5 years old....
....Perhaps 3-5 years old....

My cupboard and pantry shelves are overdue for a cleanout and
rearrangement. Your post has made me decide to use an arbitrary
criterion for all the keep/save decisions. Rather than trying to make
a judgment about each item I'm going to toss (or give to a food bank,
if okay) everything that is more than a year old, or hasn't been used
for a year. Or use it within a week. If I got along without it for
that long I don't need to have it on the shelf.

As to your stuff, I'd toss that which was in opened bags, tied, and in
ziplocs. But then I have asian markets handy, do you? -aem

"George" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I would think they would be usable. The most unstable would be the bonito
but that isn't old. The wakame and kombu seem to last forever as long as
moisture doesn't get to them.

Thanks so much, George. From you email reply, I decided to vacuum the
wakame and kombu. At least it will keep the bugs out until I'm 'ready' to
release it to the garbage pail ;-)'
Dee Dee