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One of Whigham’s creations for the “water” element, for instance, is hamachi and seaweed with kabocha squash and tamari-shiitake dashi dressing.

They’re great finishings for dashi and sauces or crumbled into salads, and are very versatile.

In most instances, kombu is used to flavor a broth or stock, or in certain cases, cooked with bonito flakes to make dashi, the fundamental, classic Japanese broth that is the base of countless recipes.

Try using it at home, either in a super simple dashi or maybe in a kombu-imbued rice pilaf, a crispy okonomiyaki, or perhaps even take inspiration from Amanda and make a vegan gumbo.

As Alexa Weibel writes in The New York Times, dashi is a "cornerstone of Japanese cuisine" and "has smoky, salty, savory notes and tastes restorative on its own, but more often contributes depth to many traditional Japanese recipes, used as one might use any other broth to build flavor."