Yeah, dashi is basically my cheat code. lol. When trying various mixes of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onions, etc., adding dashi just automatically makes it taste complete.
Another thing we “discovered” was using the *don (i.e. oyakodon, gyudon, etc.) sauce recipe to make a thick broth for tsukemen (dipping noodles), and it works! We just add a little more water than usual so it’s more like thick soup in consistency rather than sauce. And the recipe being soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar/honey.