Bonito Flakes

Dried shavings of fish that are sliced from aged pieces of bonito. A member of the tuna family of fish, bonito is a popular fish in Japan that is typically not consumed as often fresh for a meal as it is in a dried form. Dark in color and oily in texture, the bonito is dried and cut into hard blocks of meat that are preserved for use as an ingredient in various foods. The shavings provide a strong salty taste to many different food dishes as they are commonly used to flavor soup stocks such as dashi, as a seasoning for wakame salads made with dried seaweed, as a flavoring for Asian sauces, as a salty flavoring for noodle dishes, or as a garnish and seasoning in soups and over cooked vegetables.