Kombu is dried edible sea kelp that is mainly used to make Dashi broth in Japanese cooking. It has a subtle but great savory taste (Umami) when it’s boiled in water. Kombu should be rehydrated in cool water and then cooked to extract its Umami flavor. When rehydrated, it grows about 3 times in size.

Is dried kelp the same as seaweed?

Though kelp is a kind of seaweed, it is different from seaweed in many aspects. Kelp is also referred to as large seaweed, which belongs to the brown algae. Classified in the Laminaria order, about 300 genera of Kelp are known. Some of the kelp species are very long, and can even form kelp forests.

What can I substitute for dried kelp?

Substitutions: If you don’t have dried kelp, you can just use anchovies to make broth. As a side dish, you can use seaweed to make a similar dish.