---
product_id: 12334361
title: "TENPAKU Traditionally Fermented & Smoked Whole Honkarebushi Katsuobushi Block Full of Umami from Japan, 7.05oz"
brand: "nihon ichiban"
price: "VT13143"
currency: VUV
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 12
category: "Nihon Ichiban"
url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/12334361-tenpaku-traditionally-fermented-and-smoked-whole-honkarebushi-katsuobushi-block-full
store_origin: VU
region: Vanuatu
---

# Traditionally smoked for deep flavor Highest umami concentration in honkarebushi Authentic artisanal Japanese craftsmanship TENPAKU Traditionally Fermented & Smoked Whole Honkarebushi Katsuobushi Block Full of Umami from Japan, 7.05oz

**Brand:** nihon ichiban
**Price:** VT13143
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 🔥 Elevate Every Dish with Japan’s Ultimate Umami Block!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** TENPAKU Traditionally Fermented & Smoked Whole Honkarebushi Katsuobushi Block Full of Umami from Japan, 7.05oz by nihon ichiban
- **How much does it cost?** VT13143 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/12334361-tenpaku-traditionally-fermented-and-smoked-whole-honkarebushi-katsuobushi-block-full)

## Best For

- nihon ichiban enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted nihon ichiban brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Trusted by Top Chefs:** Handcrafted by a family-owned Japanese producer revered in elite kitchens.
- • **Freshly Shaved Perfection:** Create your own flakes on demand for maximum freshness and flavor control.
- • **Unmatched Umami Intensity:** Experience the richest, most complex flavor profile only honkarebushi can deliver.
- • **Versatile Culinary Essential:** Elevate miso soups, dashi stocks, okonomiyaki, tofu, and donburi with authentic smoky depth.
- • **Artisanal Multi-Cycle Fermentation & Smoking:** Skipjack tuna undergoes repeated fermentation, smoking, and sun-drying for a premium taste.

## Overview

TENPAKU’s 7.05oz Honkarebushi Katsuobushi Block is a traditionally fermented, smoked, and sun-dried skipjack tuna masterpiece from Japan. Designed for freshly shaving premium bonito flakes, it delivers an intense umami punch far beyond pre-packaged flakes. Perfect for crafting authentic dashi, miso soup, and garnishes, this artisanal product is favored by top chefs and culinary enthusiasts seeking genuine Japanese flavor craftsmanship.

## Description

desertcart.com : TENPAKU Traditionally Fermented & Smoked Whole Honkarebushi Katsuobushi Block Full of Umami from Japan, 7.05oz : Bonito Flakes : Grocery & Gourmet Food

Review: Wonderfully tasty and well worth the learning curve - Taking the plunge into freshly shaved katsuobushi is one of the best culinary decisions I've ever made. I hesitated for literally a couple years, put off by two main points... I imagined: 1) The process would require sharply honed skill that wouldn't come easy and that would, for quite some time, produce unusable shavings from expensive starting materials. 2) Once I had the skill down, it would be very labor-intensive to produce a small amount of product; not something that I could whip up in a few minutes when the urge for katsuobushi based recipes struck. On each of these points I was both right and wrong. On the first point, yes... it is quite a skill, perhaps even an art to produce beautiful shavings of an even thickness that equitably absorb water and homogeneously diffuse tasty goodness into the hot water. After about my third time I started to be able to produce shavings whose evenness I was happy with. I was also wrong though; even the first couple times' shavings which were not so pretty (and the tiny razor sharp shards which I chipped off) were completely usable and made the best katsuobushi dashi I've ever had. The real problem with shavings of uneven thickness is that the fine shavings will "cook" while at the same time the thick shavings and shards will be under extracted. My advice during the learning curve is to err on the side of under extraction. Usually katsuobushi is placed into water that is no longer on the boil. I let it cool even a bit further to where it was still very hot but no boiling bubbles remained (off the heating element)... And then extracted for less time than I would normally. This produced a wonderful dashi that didn't taste "cooked" or fishy. As the skill improves and your flakes become more even you can play with your extraction level. On the second point, yes it is quite labor-intensive to produce a tiny amount of product. However, this katsuobushi block produces shavings which are phenomenally intense! Orders of magnitude more deliciously smokey and tangy than the paltry whiff of flavor that can be wrung out of even the most expensive pre shaved katsuobushi flakes. I found that I need only about 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of these flakes freshly shaved from the katsuobushi block as I would normally use from those big pillowy bags of pre shaved katsuobushi. So in actuality, it doesn't take a lot of time or effort to produce enough for even a large pot of dashi (I usually make a couple of quarts, or make 1 quart of super concentrated stock then divide and freeze). Another tip is to strain through a VERY fine mesh strainer, don't press the shavings too firmly, allow it to cool in a deep bowl then carefully decant the liquor off of the sediment. You want zero sediment. Sometimes I cool further in the fridge and decant again- the sediment imparts a muddy flavor. It won't fully appear until the dashi cools, it's insoluble in cold katsuobushi dashi so take your time and get rid of it all. I guess the last thing that put me off trying to shave the flakes myself was finding a shaving block (kezuriki) that wasn't hundreds of dollars but yet was still reliable enough to last for a couple years at least. I did find an inexpensive kezuriki here on desertcart, and followed some great advice from previous customers to give it a thorough oiling. I also try to be careful with it by not tapping to hard with the wooden mallet when adjusting the depth of the blade so I don't split the block. I hesitate to recommend that particular kezuriki yet though because I've only had it a few months and only used it less than 10 times. The point being, inexpensive kezuriki can be found, treated well and may last for at least a reasonable period of time. I hope this helps people who are considering trying the process of shaving katsuobushi themselves. I will never go back to pre shaved. As to whether this particular brand of katsuobushi block is good, I have also purchased the other available brand of block katsuobushi here on desertcart, but have not yet shaved into it. I didn't want to have two open blocks being shaved at the same time. so I can not attest to whether this brand or the other brand is more tasty. What I can say with no ambiguity, and complete certainty is that this freshly shaved katsuobushi is simply light years better than any pre shaved katsuobushi I've tried over decades of using those pillowy bags. It produces a katsuobushi dashi that is better than any I've had in a restaurant, including medium high grade Japanese and sushi restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco (some of this might just be my ability to cater the intensity and extraction to my particular taste). In my opinion, the process is harder to screw up then I originally thought and I regret waiting so long to try it.
Review: Better than expected - Great smoky flavor....a little goes a long way

## Features

- THE REAL THING: Whole katsuobushi block for shaving fresh bonito flakes. It is honkarebushi said to have the highest amount of umami. Use it to make freshly grated Bonito flakes that are of much higher quality than pre-packed ones.
- TRADITIONAL PRODUCTION: Skipjack tuna has been fermented, smoked and sun-dried multiple cycles to achieve the most intense flavor and umami.
- VERSATILE: These flakes are ideal flakes for making dishes full of umami such as miso soup and dashi stock. Fresh bonito flakes also are delicious as garnishing for tofu, okonomiyaki and donburi rice bowls.
- PURE INGREDIENTS: honkarebushi made from skipjack tuna | Storage: keep in a dry and cool environment away from sunlight.
- PREMIUM QUALITY: Made in Japan by TENPAKU, a traditional family owned busing using artisanal production methods trusted by Japanese chefs from top restaurants.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN  | B00A3KSHUM |
| Best Sellers Rank | #115,959 in Grocery & Gourmet Food ( See Top 100 in Grocery & Gourmet Food ) #23 in Bonito Flakes |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (87) |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer  | No |
| Manufacturer  | Tenpaku Katsuobushi |
| Product Dimensions  | 11.02 x 1.38 x 3.94 inches; 8.04 ounces |
| Units  | 7 Ounce |

## Product Details

- **Brand:** NIHON ICHIBAN
- **Flavor:** Bonito flake
- **Item Form:** Chunk
- **Number of Items:** 1
- **Package Information:** Pouch

## Images

![TENPAKU Traditionally Fermented & Smoked Whole Honkarebushi Katsuobushi Block Full of Umami from Japan, 7.05oz - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31ogTsCnImL.jpg)

## Questions & Answers

**Q: Where does the fish come from? How was it caught?**
A: It's made by a family business, Tenpaku, in small batches from what I understand. By small I mean not on a factory scale. It is made completely by hand, the old fashioned way, a process which takes several months. Mr Tenpaku is well aware of decreasing fish stocks and uses a type of tuna that is not endangered. They only process a few hundred at a time. The fish is caught in Indonesia or Papua New Guinea.  Not Japan because of the radiation spill. They sound like a pretty ethical business.

**Q: how long is the shelf life unopened?**
A: As the bonito is dried and sealed, it can be stored for a long time (cool and dark area). The recommendation is about 12 months.

**Q: Has anyone had success shaving this without a Katsuobushi Kezuriki?**
A: I have been using a "Stanley 12-101 Small Trimming Plane" (which is available on Amazon). It may not be perfect, but it works for me. The shavings, however, are smallish...but that does not seem to affect the outcome, since the dashi is strained (perhaps someone else can comment on this).

**Q: Is this skipjack tuna or bonito?**
A: It is made of skipjack tuna called KATSUO in Japanese.

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wonderfully tasty and well worth the learning curve
*by C***K on November 24, 2018*

Taking the plunge into freshly shaved katsuobushi is one of the best culinary decisions I've ever made. I hesitated for literally a couple years, put off by two main points... I imagined: 1) The process would require sharply honed skill that wouldn't come easy and that would, for quite some time, produce unusable shavings from expensive starting materials. 2) Once I had the skill down, it would be very labor-intensive to produce a small amount of product; not something that I could whip up in a few minutes when the urge for katsuobushi based recipes struck. On each of these points I was both right and wrong. On the first point, yes... it is quite a skill, perhaps even an art to produce beautiful shavings of an even thickness that equitably absorb water and homogeneously diffuse tasty goodness into the hot water. After about my third time I started to be able to produce shavings whose evenness I was happy with. I was also wrong though; even the first couple times' shavings which were not so pretty (and the tiny razor sharp shards which I chipped off) were completely usable and made the best katsuobushi dashi I've ever had. The real problem with shavings of uneven thickness is that the fine shavings will "cook" while at the same time the thick shavings and shards will be under extracted. My advice during the learning curve is to err on the side of under extraction. Usually katsuobushi is placed into water that is no longer on the boil. I let it cool even a bit further to where it was still very hot but no boiling bubbles remained (off the heating element)... And then extracted for less time than I would normally. This produced a wonderful dashi that didn't taste "cooked" or fishy. As the skill improves and your flakes become more even you can play with your extraction level. On the second point, yes it is quite labor-intensive to produce a tiny amount of product. However, this katsuobushi block produces shavings which are phenomenally intense! Orders of magnitude more deliciously smokey and tangy than the paltry whiff of flavor that can be wrung out of even the most expensive pre shaved katsuobushi flakes. I found that I need only about 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of these flakes freshly shaved from the katsuobushi block as I would normally use from those big pillowy bags of pre shaved katsuobushi. So in actuality, it doesn't take a lot of time or effort to produce enough for even a large pot of dashi (I usually make a couple of quarts, or make 1 quart of super concentrated stock then divide and freeze). Another tip is to strain through a VERY fine mesh strainer, don't press the shavings too firmly, allow it to cool in a deep bowl then carefully decant the liquor off of the sediment. You want zero sediment. Sometimes I cool further in the fridge and decant again- the sediment imparts a muddy flavor. It won't fully appear until the dashi cools, it's insoluble in cold katsuobushi dashi so take your time and get rid of it all. I guess the last thing that put me off trying to shave the flakes myself was finding a shaving block (kezuriki) that wasn't hundreds of dollars but yet was still reliable enough to last for a couple years at least. I did find an inexpensive kezuriki here on Amazon, and followed some great advice from previous customers to give it a thorough oiling. I also try to be careful with it by not tapping to hard with the wooden mallet when adjusting the depth of the blade so I don't split the block. I hesitate to recommend that particular kezuriki yet though because I've only had it a few months and only used it less than 10 times. The point being, inexpensive kezuriki can be found, treated well and may last for at least a reasonable period of time. I hope this helps people who are considering trying the process of shaving katsuobushi themselves. I will never go back to pre shaved. As to whether this particular brand of katsuobushi block is good, I have also purchased the other available brand of block katsuobushi here on Amazon, but have not yet shaved into it. I didn't want to have two open blocks being shaved at the same time. so I can not attest to whether this brand or the other brand is more tasty. What I can say with no ambiguity, and complete certainty is that this freshly shaved katsuobushi is simply light years better than any pre shaved katsuobushi I've tried over decades of using those pillowy bags. It produces a katsuobushi dashi that is better than any I've had in a restaurant, including medium high grade Japanese and sushi restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco (some of this might just be my ability to cater the intensity and extraction to my particular taste). In my opinion, the process is harder to screw up then I originally thought and I regret waiting so long to try it.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Better than expected
*by T***E on November 14, 2025*

Great smoky flavor....a little goes a long way

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Real Deal
*by J***O on June 5, 2015*

Unlike the more common katsuobushi flakes sold in big bags, this is fermented and all of the flavor is preserved until you are ready to use it. Cheaper katsuo dashi flakes are very good, much better than instant dashi products, but they are usually made from dried and smoked bonito without any fermentation. A good analogy here is the difference between purchasing pre ground pepper vs high quality fresh ground pepper, maybe even a bit more like dried garlic or ginger vs the fresh stuff. This product comes in an elegant paper envelope, and inside is a vacuum sealed plastic bag containing the block. Very high quality, when you open the bag the smell reminds me of camping, grilling fresh caught fish over a hardwood fire. Fantastic.

## Frequently Bought Together

- TENPAKU Traditionally Fermented & Smoked Whole Honkarebushi Katsuobushi Block Full of Umami from Japan, 7.05oz
- TIKUSAN Dried Bonito Katsuobushi Shaver Box Made in Japan Smoked Bonito Block Kezuri Grater
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*Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu*
*Store origin: VU*
*Last updated: 2026-05-10*