Beyond sushi and sukiyaki, all kinds of Japanese dishes are being enjoyed around the world more than ever before.

From recipes served at the family table to finely crafted delicacies, washoku, traditional Japanese cuisine, was registered on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013. As many gastronomes may already know, dashi plays a significant role in many of these dishes.

Japanese soup stocks are made of a combination of many dried ingredients such as kelp, shiitake mushrooms, katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), sardines and flying fish. Each ingredient has its own optimum soaking time depending on the temperature of the water and this is factored into the variety and amount of each ingredient used.