konbu (kombu) species of large brown alga (Saccharina japonica) containing great quantities of glutamate; together with katsuobushi an essential ingredient in Japanese dashi. Of the many different variants of Japanese konbu, ma-konbu, Rausu-konbu, and Rishiri-konbu are considered to be the best bases for dashi and they yield a very light dashi with a mild and somewhat complex taste. A lower quality konbu is Hidaka-konbu. Oboro-konbu and tororo-konbu are dried konbu that have been marinated in rice vinegar and, after being dried partially, shaved or cut into paper-thin shavings. Konbu dashi is a water extract of konbu.
