Everything you need to shave your first block of Japan's most awarded katsuobushi — and make dashi the way it has been made for centuries.

Highlights

• Honkarebushi, Six-Month Aged: Two blocks of award-winning katsuobushi from Sakai Shoten, Kagoshima — the full aged variety that represents the highest grade of the craft and the deepest umami available.
• Traditional Kezuriki Included: A cedar-and-oak shaving box approved by the Japan Katsuobushi Association — the same tool professional kitchens use to shave fresh flakes directly into dashi and finished dishes.
• Single Ingredient, Nothing Added: Skipjack tuna only. No additives, no preservatives, no shortcuts — a complete first experience with Japan's most fundamental umami ingredient.

Details

• Contents: 2 honkarebushi blocks (approx. 400g total) + 1 cedar-and-oak kezuriki shaving box
• Ingredient: Skipjack tuna (Honkarebushi) — single ingredient
• Allergens: Contains fish (skipjack tuna). No wheat, soy, dairy, or nuts — naturally gluten-free.
• Additives: None
• Storage: Cool, dry place. Refrigerate blocks after opening.
• Origin: Yamagawa, Kagoshima

Producer's Story

Yamagawa, at the southern tip of Kagoshima, is the birthplace of Japan's bonito fishing tradition — the place where fishermen have landed skipjack tuna and craftspeople have transformed it into katsuobushi for centuries. The name has meaning: honkarebushi (本枯節) refers specifically to the fully aged form, distinguished from standard katsuobushi by the six months it spends in the curing house and the careful cultivation of a specific mold — karebushi — that draws moisture from the fish and concentrates its umami to a degree that the shorter process simply cannot reach.

Sakai Shoten has worked this way since 1950. Every block is smoked, rested, and surface-cultured by hand across the full six-month cycle. No shortcuts. No machines where hands will do. The result has been recognized at Japan's national bonito competition multiple times — earning the highest honor: the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award.

Less than five percent of katsuobushi producers in Japan still make honkarebushi. Most have moved to the shorter, less labor-intensive ararebushi process. Sakai Shoten has not, and this set — two whole blocks and the kezuriki to shave them — is the most direct way to experience what that commitment produces.

Cooking Ideas

Draw the kezuriki box slowly across the block, applying light, even pressure, and let the curling flakes fall directly into a pot of just-simmered water — this is ichiban dashi, the foundation of Japanese soup and the reason a great bowl of miso tastes completely different from one made with powder.

Scatter freshly shaved flakes over warm tofu with a few drops of soy sauce for a dish that takes thirty seconds and shows exactly what honkarebushi tastes like unadorned — a useful starting point before cooking with it.

Use the leftover flakes after dashi to make furikake with soy sauce, mirin, and sesame — a rice seasoning that keeps in the refrigerator for a week and turns everyday meals into something worth eating, which is the kind of practical Japanese kitchen wisdom that food-curious Americans are increasingly looking for.

Ships from Japan · Order more, pay less per item