Tag Archives: 　寿司

Chirashizushi: Marinated Tuna Sushi for Lunch

January 15, 2009 dragonlife 5 Comments

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home-chirashi

The Missus does not work on Thursday. This is the day we usually go out at night, but the frigid temperature outside having discouraged her to venture into town, she decided to cook both lunch and dinner for us for my (and her own ) pleasure!

For lunch we had a salad of beans, yams from Ishigaki Island and greens with a big bowl of miso and mushrooms soup. As for the main dish featured above, she prepare “Chirashizushi/Sushi on a plate or in a lunch box.
She steamed the rice with a piece of konbu/seaweed.
She later added this seaweed shredded once the rice had been mixed with the rice vinegar, sugar and some “secrets”. She also mixed in some shredded “takuan”/yellow pickled daikon to balance the sweetness of the sushi. Sushi in Shizuoka in generally “sweeter” than that found in other areas of japan, notably Tokyo where it is more “vinegary”.
On top of the rice she placed slices of “maguro”/tuna she had marinated beforehand in konbu ponzu ( a lot lighter tha soy sauce!) and mirin. She added “ikura”/salmon roe and “tobikko”/flying fish roe and completed for color effect and balance pieces of “shiso”/perilla leaves.　A dollop of real grated wasabi, et voila!

She couldn’t help remark how much she would price it for customers at her virtual restaurant! LOL (not a bad price, actually!)

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Japanese Seasonal Fish: Noresore/Conger Eel Whitebait

January 15, 2009 dragonlife 3 Comments

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“Noresore” will soon appear at some select fish markets, and as it will be a very short season, you will have to keep your eyes open!
Noresore stands for very young conger eels. They are called different names depending on regions: “Berada” in Okayama Prefecture, “Tachikurage” in Misaki, “Nagatankurage” in Wakayama Prefecture
In Shizuoka, they mainly come from Hamana Lake, a seawater lake west of the Prefecture, famous for its oysters, eels and clams.

noresore2

5~6cm long, they are practically transparent, save for their eyes. They emit no smell. In our Prefecture they are available only during the first two weeks of March. They are slowly but surely becoming a rarity wherever in Japan, and people come from afar just for the experience!

nresore3

Before serving them, lightly wash them in clean salted water.
As sushi, put them on top of “gunkan”, or a rice ball if you are an expert, with freshly grated ginger and chopped thin leeks.
I like them best served as they are with a little “ponzu or “yuzu” vinegar, a dash of “momijioroshi” (freshly grated daikon and chili pepper) and some chopped thin leeks for a last touch of colour!

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Japanese Seasonal Fish: Sole/Hirame

December 17, 2008 dragonlife 28 Comments

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“Hirame” could be translated in many ways depending of your country of origin: Flat Fish, Sole, Ｔurbot (although the latter should define “karei”) and what else. There are many varieties, wild or humanーfed. In Japanese, the names are numerous: Ｈirame, Ｓｈｉｔａｂｉｒａｍｅ，　Ooguchikarei, oyanirami, etc.
The best season is Autumn to Winter. They are still available until Spring in Shizuoka Prefecture. Wild ones come from Hokkaido and Aomori. Human-fed ones mainly hail from Oita, Ehime, Mie, and Kagoshima Prefectures.

The domestic wild catch is around 7600 tonnes a year, while human-fed fish amount to around 7100 tonnes a year. A recent increase has been observed in recent years, though. A lot are imported from Korea through Fukuoka and Shimoseki.

Hirame can be enjoyed as sashimi, cut in various thickness, according to the chef’s preference and presented artfully.
I like both sashimi and nigiri, but in the case of nigiri, I have a marked preference (see pic above taken at Sushi No Ichi, Shizuoka City): Seasoned with a little lemon juice or yuzu (if available) and salt (preferably “snow salt” from Okinawa), eaten as it is with no shoyu!

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Japanese seasonal Fish: Saba/Mackerel

December 11, 2008 dragonlife 2 Comments

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Mackerel or saba, not to be confused with sanma/mackerel pike, is a fish eaten over the whole Northern Hemisphere and does come under many varieties and names.
In Japan it is mainly called “Saba”, “Masaba” or “Sekisaba”.
“Saba” is written 鯖 in Japanese, that is a combination of kanji characters for “fish” and “blue”!
Here, it is mainly caught off Oita, Saga Prefecture (Kyushu), although quite a few are caught off our coasts. They feed on plankton mainly.

(mackerel catch in Yaizu Harbour)
They are prepared and cooked in many guises.
In France, my birthplace, they are steamed and then pickled in white wine and spices. In Northern Europe they are also eaten half raw as smorgasbrod and pickled fish.
It can be appreciated as sashimi, but it must be absolutely fresh and is best served with grated fresh ginger and lemon:

As far as sushi is concerned, “masaba” variety is best:

It is especially popular as “oshizushi” (pressed sushi).
My preference goes for konbu zume saba. the mackerel is kept inside a variety of wet seaweed for an hour or so before put whole on top of a long “bar” of rice, then cut to size:

(picture taken at Tomii estaurant, Shizuoka City)

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Japanese seasonal Fish: Sanma/Mackerel Pike

December 10, 2008 dragonlife 12 Comments

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“Sanma” or Mackerel Pike has come on our plates with the advent of Autumn and will stay with us until almost end of the year.
Known under other names such “Saira” or “Banjyo”, it is a fish with red meat rich with proteins.
In Japanese, 秋刀魚, it means “Autumn Sword Fish”!
In season, the flesh is fatty and sweet and ought to be sampled as sashimi served with grated fresh ginger and thinly cut leeks:

(Pic taken at Tonami, Shizuoka City. Notice the shiso/perilla flowers)
It is mainly caught off the north eastern shores of Japan as the fish swim down from Hokkaido.
But the more south it is caught, the less fat it will contain.
The annual catch exceeds 20,000 tonnes, although breeding is increasingly successful.
Incidentally for all the fish consumed in this country, Japan is the World leader when it comes to marine research and stock renewal develoment!
If you eat it at a good place such as Tonami in Shizuoka, you will be served its with its bones and head deep-fried.
Of course, as a sushi it is a morsel to savour!