Hello, Alan! You’re very welcome, and yes, I agree! Our bodies definitely need more sodium depending on the weather or when we exercise more. Making a miso drink for hydration is a brilliant idea, too! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!

Thanks Naomi. I’ll try that.

I know I had mentioned about high salt content in Japanese cuisine but I did notice one thing. During the hot summer months in my country, I had been taking a cup of hot water mixed with a teaspoon of miso paste. After drinking it I had felt refreshed and energised.

It is not something I had thought about but obviously when I had it is obvious that during hot weather the human body loses a number of minerals through sweating which needs replaced. The minerals contained in Japanese cuisine like sodium does this.

It is got a case of being mindful of sodium content at the specific time of year and as you say cutting down on specific ingredients depending on the time of year. For myself, now the weather where I live is starting to get colder, I can start looking into Yōshoku recipes rather than the very tasty traditional recipes I have been using so far!!

Hi Alan! Thank you for reading Nami’s post!
Homemade dashi, including vegetarian versions with kombu and shiitake mushrooms, is naturally low in sodium compared to instant dashi powder. When made from scratch, the sodium content is pretty similar across different types of homemade dashi.
Japanese meals can sometimes be high in sodium due to the use of soy sauce, miso, or other seasonings. You can try reducing those instead, so you still get all the wonderful umami from your homemade dashi. Hope this helps, and happy cooking!

I have stopped eating savoury snacks completely and feel a lot better but I’m now conscious of the high salt content in Japanese meals and for the moment have substituted recipes that uses dashi with green tea which gives a hint of savouriness to meals.

Would I be right in saying that using Vegetarian dashi doesn’t have much salt in it?

Hi Bikshapathi! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback!
We hope you’ll enjoy the deep umami flavor of homemade dashi in your miso soup soon. Happy cooking!

Hello, Wayne! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback! 🤗