My aunt in Osaka has a lot in common with my husband. They have both worked at retail stores selling seafood. I love shopping with both of them as I always learn about new seafood and what to look for before purchasing something.
My Osaka aunt is also a great cook. As a mother of three she managed keeping everyone well fed. With three men in the house there was always a lot of food on the table.
When I visit her we often have the local favorite okonomiyaki. But there is one dish that I will always associate with her. Anago (or unagi if you can't get anago) chirashizushi. It's an economical way to have anago and unagi which is really expensive this year. There are enough vegetables in the dish so this and a bowl of soup is perfect for lunch.
Anago and unagi are both in season this time of year. The anago I found at the market was already grilled and cut up. Thinly slice a Japanese cucumber, lightly salt it, set aside for a few minutes, and then squeeze of excess water. Meanwhile julienne some shiso and a myoga. In a large donburi bowl combine rice, anago, salted cucumbers, shiso, and myoga. Add some toasted sesame seeds and stir to combine.
The anago is a bit meaty so it is perfectly balanced by the juicy cucumbers, refreshing shiso and the myoga that packs a tiny punch. If you are lucky enough to have anago or unagi in your market then this is a dish worth making.
As the waters become cooler the fish become rich with fat. We love sanma(Pacific saury) this time of year, both as sashimi, or simply salted and grilled. If there is a nice cup of nihonshuon the table, eating the guts of the sanmais also a treat. For miso soup a handful of shijimi(corbicula clams) into the pot brings lots of umami and flavor. A bowl asari (Japanese little neck clam) steamed in nihonshu is a perfect appetizer to dinner. While I always thought of hirame (halibut) and karei(flounder) as white fish and hence non-fatty that is not at all the case. These flatfish can take on a lot of fat - which you can actually see in the flesh. These are great as sashimi, or after a day or two we love to simmer until tender in nihonshu.
A recent article in the New York Times by Mark Bittman on edamame reminded me on what a great and simple snack this is. Mark's article talks about the frozen variety that is readily available at many supermarkets throughout the USA.
My favorite variety of edamame are called dadacha-mame だだちゃ豆. Dadacha-mame are fresh green soybeans that are harvested in my mother's hometown of Tsuruoka 鶴岡 in the Shonai 庄内 area of Yamagata 山形 prefecture. Dadacha-mame are often recognizable as the pods often have a hint of brown as well as the brown fuzzy hair on the pods. The Japan Agricultural Co-operatives of Tsuruoka registered a trademark (number 2104023) for dadacha-mame in 1997. Dadacha-mame is recognized for the large size of the soybeans and for its earthy flavor.
The perfect accompaniment to beer, sake, or shochu, dadacha-mame is in season from July to September, peaking around mid-August. This coincides with the obon national holidays when families return to their homes to pay respect to the deceased. Dadacha in the local dialect means "father". Dadacha-mame have been harvested in Tsuruoka since the Edo period (1603-1868). The name comes from long ago when a feudal lord asked, "kono oishii edamame ha doko no dadacha no mono ka?"
On this pack the name of the farmer is on the pack written on a white circle. To cook edamame:
Cook the soybeans as soon as you can after purchasing. In a large pot, bring to boil three times the amount of water to the beans. Add a generous amount of salt to the pot. While the water is coming to a boil wash the soybeans (still in their pods) in a small amount of water. Scrub the beans hard with your hands and then put in a strainer to get rid of the excess water. Add the washed beans to the boiling pot and put on the lid. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to boil too long, the soybeans should be al dente. The pods should just start to be opening up. Strain of excess water, shock in ice water, season with salt, and fan to cool down.
If the edamame will be put into the refrigerator:
Boil the beans leaving them a little on the hard side, shock in ice water, strain of excess water, and store in the refrigerator. Consume as soon as possible.
While most people associate edamame as a savory dish, Japanese are familiar with soybeans in sweet dishes. Perhaps most famous is zunda sweets such as zunda mochi boiled and crushed soybeans with sugar over sticky rice balls. Other dadacha desserts can be seen here include pudding, mont blanc, or sandwiched between two small pancakes (dorayaki).
Dadacha-mame finds it way into lots of food, including ramen. A friend of mine worked at a ramen shop in Sendai, Miyagi, called Tsuruoka-ya. The owner is from Tsuruoka and he puts dadacha-mame into his ramen noodles. It's hard to see in this photo, but I hear the ramen is unique and good.
The Shonai area of Yamagata is famous for lots of food products from rice, cherries, melons peaches, pears, and much more. Tsuruoka in particular is a lovely place as it is on the Sea of Japan to the West and there are mountains to the East, including the famous Dewasansan mountain, which has a historic shrine and great local jizake (sake). For me, going home is always filled with great local products.
The first things that capture your attention in this country cookbook are Kenji Miura’s photos of foody farm life. The design includes a motif of traditional blue and white Japanese textiles, giving it a rustic feel—a perfect setting for this compendium of much-loved recipes.
“Authentic Japanese farm food is uncomplicated and intuitive, with a limited number of easily learned methods,” writes Hachisu. After mastering just a few techniques, readers are equipped to prepare food in a multitude of ways. A few dressings in your repertoire, and suddenly salads and sides have a new life on the table. “Japanese farm food is both logical and simple to execute,” says the author, with many of the recipes including just a handful of ingredients. This is perfect for the novice in the Japanese kitchen but also refreshing for the seasoned cook.
One chapter defines these ingredients, including unusual items like shottsuru (Japanese fish sauce) and onigurumi (black walnuts). The glossary of Japanese produce includes tips on handling, substitutions, and serving suggestions.
The tsumami (snacks) chapter casts light on popular bites such as home-cured salmon roe, half-boiled eggs, and young scallions with miso. Hachisu’s husband, Tadaaki, includes a recipe for pickles where cucumbers are cooked three times for extra intensity.
Perhaps the best lessons come in the vegetables section. A combination of sesame seeds or walnuts, miso, and rice vinegar quickly becomes a dressing for spinach, eggplant, and other vegetables. There are simple recipes for seafood as well, such as simmering in sake—especially good with sea bass.
A chapter on dressings and sauces includes household favorites like the versatile miso vinaigrette. The country-style ponzu can accompany many different nabe hot pots (also in the cookbook). There are also recipes for condiments usually bought, such as Japanese mayonnaise, and yuzu kosho for the ambitious.
Unlike most Japanese cookbooks with a slim sweets selection, this one is filled with a dozen ice creams and sorbets. A simple brittle made with sesame and sugar is a star when mixed with ice cream.
Even those who don’t cook much will be entertained by the farm-life anecdotes that dot the book, regarding cleaning chickens, rice planting, and such. And for the kitchen-philes, Japanese Farm Food will be something to go back to again and again.
Japanese Farm Food (Andrews McNeel Publishing, 386 pp., ¥2,623). Buy here
See here for a Metropolis profile of Nancy Singleton Hachisu
The Asahi Shimbun ranks the most popular takikomigohan based on a recent survey. Takikomigohan is simple to make at home if you are in the practice of making rice. Simply add some ingredients to the pot, and possibly some seasonings like soy sauce and sake, and cook the rice as usual.
It's a lovely way to showcase seasonal ingredients like bamboo shoots in fall or mushrooms and chestnuts in autumn. It is notable that the most popular takikomigohan in this survey, gomoku gohan, is made with ingredients that are available all-year long.
While not on the top 20, some responders said that they liked to use unique seasonings like curry powder, sesame oil, or fish sauce.
Click on linked items below for recipes from this site.
This very easy recipe was on the morning t.v. program, "Hanamaru Cafe". These have become Shinji's favorite "oyatsu" or snack. And while it is sweet, it is still a healthful snack as the sweet potatoes are rich in nutrients and it is topped with sesame seeds. Best of all, it takes less than 10 minutes to make.
The top photo is of bite-size cubes, a bit more hard work, but easy for children to eat. The purple sweet potatoes came from our rooftop garden in Tokyo (if you can imagine that). The bottom photo is much easier for cutting up and more like the traditional daigaku imo.
250-300 grams sweet potato (cut into bite size pieces, rinsed of excess starch, and dried)
4 Tablespoons sugar (wasanbon if you have it, if not, regular sugar or try brown sugar)
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons salad oil
a bit of water (just a tiny splash)
toasted black sesame seeds
Put the sweet potatoes, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, salad oil and water in a fry pan and put over medium high heat. Place a lid over it and after two minutes stir the mixture. After another two minutes stir again, and start to watch (and smell) that the sugar does not burn. After six minutes, check to see if the sweet potatoes are cooked, and then move to a plate to serve. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds and allow for the sugar to cool a bit before serving.
The vinegar helps the sugar from hardening when it cools down.
Variations:
Cut into small cubes which is easier for kids to eat.
Use different colored sweet potatoes.
You too may become addicted to these "daigaku imo" candied sweet potatoes.
We love this time of year as the seafood is rich with fat as the waters turn cold. Some of our favorites this time of year is ankou (monkfish), for its meat which we often make in a nabe (hot pot) but also for its liver.
The photo above is of monkfish liver that we made at home. The liver is often sold at supermarkets this time of year. Simply marinate in a bit of salt and sake, roll up in plastic wrap and then foil, steam until cooked through, then chill and slice. Serve with a citrusy soy ponzu and a sprinkle of shichimi (seven spice). Many Japanese gourmands call it the foie gras of the sea, albeit not as rich, so a delicate treat.
We also love sashimi this time of year. The other photo is of kinmedai, wild warasa (young yellowtail), tachiuo, aori ika, and maguro. All are in season this time of year.
Katsuo is lovely seared tataki-style, scallops we love as sashimi or sautéed in butter. Swordfish calls out for a sweet soy teriyaki sauce. And while salmon is available all-year long, must of it is farmed and imported. This time of year we look for domestic, wild salmon.
Click on the name of the fish in Japanese to see a photo.
Katsuo (skipjack tuna or bonito) is in season twice a year. In the springtime katsuo swims from south to north along the Pacific Coast of Japan to its destination Aomori at the northern tip of Honshu, Japan's biggest island. In the spring katsuo is a lean fish. While swimming north katsuo eats a lot of smaller fish and starts to get fat. By autumn when katsuo swims along the same path to the south it is rich in fat, and that is what treasured by the Japanese this time of year.
Tataki is a very common preparation for katsuo. The outside of a sashimi quality katsuo filet is seared. The katsuo is cut into thick slices and served with a citrusy ponzu sauce. The dish above was purchased at our local department store. If possible, look for fresh katsuo, not previously frozen, for a better texture. Look on the packaging for the kanji for "nama" or raw. If it was previously frozen it will say "reitou". Domestic seafood will be labeled as "kokusan", or will even list the specific prefecture it hails from.
We love to have sashimi salad throughout the year. This salad above is made with katsuo sashimi. As katsuo is a very meaty and full-flavored fish it can be topped with many different yakumi (condiments).
Shinji's Katsuo Sashimi Herbal Salad
onions, thinly sliced and rinsed in cold water
kaiware (daikon sprouts)
myoga, julienned
shiso, chiffonade
garlic, thinly sliced
ginger, julienned
green onions, finely chopped
katsuo sashimi
homemade ponzu
sudachi (Japanese lime)
soy sauce
mirin
Mix the homemade ponzu. Determine which citrus (sudachi, kabosu, lime, or daidai) to use. Overseas this may be hard to find so feel free to use yuzu juice (often sold in bottles at Japanese markets) or another tart citron. Our home recipe is one part each of citrus juice, soy sauce, and mirin. Taste this and then adjust as you like. To make this into a salad dressing then just add some extra-virgin olive oil.
On a large serving platter layer thinly sliced rinsed onions and top with kaiware. Over that layer the sliced katsuo sashimi. Sprinkle the sashimi with the yakumi of myoga, shiso, garlic, ginger, and green onions. Feel free to garnish with thinly sliced sudachi (but only for decoration, not to be consumed).
Just before eating pour the ponzu over the salad.
This same salad can be made all-year long using tuna or salmon. In the fall another nice fish to use is sanma. And, in spring, the lean katsuo is also nice. Feel free to add other vegetables like bell peppers, carrots, or daikon.
Here is a photo of katsuo sashimi in the back and tuna sashimi in the front just to see the contrast in color. On the left of the plate is the chiai or bloodline of the katsuo that Shinji rough chopped and mixed with a bit of mayonnaise.
Seafood postings starting from this one will be penned by my husband, Shinji, a former buyer at Tsukiji Market, and myself. We hope to introduce seasonal Japanese seafood to the world.
My newest cookbook is Nobu's Sushi Cookbook (in Japanese). The photos are gorgeous and so detailed when it comes to making nigiri and roll sushi. The English version should be coming out this spring, so be sure to look out for it.
The first recipe we tried was perhaps the easiest, Tomato and Miso Soup. The tomato is from Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu. The miso is an aka dashi, made from soybeans that is slightly heady and intense. The sweetness and acidity from the tomato was perfectly balanced by the dark, red miso. It is simply garnished with hana hojiso, the flowers from the shiso plant, that adds a hint of shiso.
We were in a rush and didn't have time to make dashi from scratch so we used Marukome liquid miso (マルコメ液みそ 赤だし). The liquid miso includes dashi so we cooked the tomato and then added the liquid miso diluted with some hot water. To the table in minutes.
And herein lies the brilliance of Nobu Matsuhisa. Simple ingredients combined for a winning dish. We had this for breakfast and it was so addictive that we made it for lunch. Had there been any more tomatoes in the refrigerator.
This oyster and napa cabbage hot pot was featured on NHK's Kyo no Ryori cooking program the other with chef Akiko Watanabe. Only a few ingredients for this simple yet satisfying nabe. Served with ponzu and yuzu koshu as garnishes and a bottle of freshly brewed sake for a taste of autumn.
Oysters and Napa Cabbage Hot Pot
160 grams fresh oysters
250 grams Napa cabbage, cut into large strips
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon sake
pinch of salt
condiments
yuzu kosho
ponzu
Cut the Napa cabbage into large strips. Most important, to cut the tough, white part of the backbone of the Napa cabbage into strips that can be cooked quickly. Oysters should be rinsed in salted water.
In the bottom of a medium sized nabe hot pot place the white, tough strips of Napa cabbage. On top of that layer the green strips from the soft part of the cabbage leaf. Scatter the fresh oysters over the cabbage. Add water, sake, and salt and simmer over medium heat for five minutes. Serve immediately.
Oysters in Japan are in season in winter. Prefectures known for oysters include Hokkaido, Iwate, Miyagi, and Hiroshima as well as from the Seto inlet area. In the market, oysters can be sold in the shell (kara tsuki) or shucked (mukimi). Of the shucked type there are two ways they will be sold, shucked and packed in the store - which needs to be cooked before eating. Or, as in the packet below, shucked, pre-washed, and packed at the producer. This second type you need to check the package to see if it can eaten raw or if it needs to be cooked. (see kanji below)
There is one type of oysters, iwagaki, that are season in the summer. This type is meaty and round and you should try it if you see it in the market.
Sweet and creamy raw oysters are best paired with some acidity to balance it with vinegar (sugaki) or as we love at home, with grated daikon, ponzu and a hint of shichimi togarashi.
Most of the oysters we are eating is farmed (yoshoku). Oysters are raised on long ropes. Oyster shells raised in Hiroshima tend to be big and long while oysters from the northern prefectures are smaller and rounder.
Oysters can be grilled in their shells, cooked in hot pots, baked in the oven in a creamy gratin, or my favorite, as kaki furai - breaded and deep-fried. The best place to find kaki furai is at tonkatsu restaurants, like Maisen in Omotesando.
Our newest cookbook is Nobu's Sushi Cookbook, currently only in Japanese but anticipating the English version next year.
As I am married to a fishmonger hardly a day goes by without seafood. If it is fresh we'll have it as sashimi, which is often the case. So, as you can imagine, we love perusing Nobu's cookbook as his recipes include classic sushi as well as original recipes that are so appealing.
We love the tang and spice from Nobu's ceviche sauce. It is not at all like any flavors we are used to in Japan when we think of sashimi or donburi. The ceviche sauce includes lemon and yuzu juice, minced garlic, ginger juice, aji amarillo chile paste, and more. I am blessed to have a Peruvian friend in Sydney who visited Tokyo and knew all about Nobu's chiles and sent me some. Here is the aji amarillo that we used for the ceviche sauce.
Sweet fruit tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, and red onions add a nice contrast to the seafood as well the bright cilantro. For sashimi we used flounder, salmon, tuna, and scallops. We couldn't find awabi and I am allergic to shrimp but those should also be included. What also makes this ceviche so simple is that the seafood is not marinated for a long time as traditional ceviches. We made a large batch of the ceviche marinade and used it as a dressing on thinly sliced tuna carpaccio topped with micro-greens and that also was a hit.
Nobu's newest cookbook on sushi (currently only in Japanese) includes some seasonal soups that are perfect for serving with sushi. We really loved the summer Red Miso Soup with Fruit Tomato. And I was so curious about his autumn soup as I've never seen anything like it. Petals from an edible chrysanthemum are plucked and served in a classic clear Japanese soup.
As soon as the flowers came into the market we picked up a packet. The flowers come in yellow or a lavender color. It was very easy to prepare and the soup was delicious. As Nobu writes in his recipe, chrysanthemum flowers are representative of autumn seasonal ingredients in Japan. And, as the Japanese eat with their eyes this is a dramatic presentation, and delicious as well.
We came across makomotake まこもたけ at our local vegetable shop recently. This is from Shonai in Yamagata 山形県庄内産 which is where my mother's family is from. On first appearance it looks like long, skinny corn as it is covered in long green leaves. After peeling the harder outer green leaves inside is a tender stalk.
Here's what it looked like out of the package. Reminded me of my junior high school days walking the corn fields in Minnesota. These looked like baby corn on the top of the tall stalks.
I peeled off the outer hard layers. The inside was a dense stalk.
Different recipes online show that it can be cooked in a variety of methods. Pickled, stir-fried, deep-fried, steamed, or blanched in hot water and dressed in a sauce. I cut it into thin strips, blanched it, then dressed it with a simple yuzu kosho mayonnaise. The taste and texture reminded me of baby bamboo shoots. Next time I'd love to try this as tempura or pickled. Unfortunately it's hard to find at the market so here's hoping there's a next time.
Winter has arrived in Tokyo. The waters surrounding the island nation are cold in most parts of the country and the fish are rich with fat. At the moment Shinji, my husband who is a fishmonger, is crazy about wild buri (yellowtail) from Hokkaido. We look for the kama (collar) of the buri and other larger fish to salt and grill. He’s also excited as up until now the monkfish in the market has been imported but now that it’s cold the monkfish is domestic and he loves to make ankimo (monkfish liver). It’s often called “foie gras of the sea”. And while the texture and appearance is similar to foie gras it’s not as rich in fat. We also love kinmedai as nitsuke, simply simmered in a soy and saké broth with a bit of ginger. As for clams, we love asari in pasta and shijimi for miso soup.
Tuna is a popular seafood for sushi around the world. In Japan there are five species of tuna that is sold that is sashimi-quality. Sashimi-quality means that it can be eaten raw. The pack will say "sashimi you" 刺身用 on it in Japanese. If it needs to be cooked it will say "kannetsu you" 感熱用.
You find frozen tuna with the sign of ‘キハダマグロ’(kihada maguro, yellowfin) ‘解凍’(kaito, defrosted) ‘天然’(tennen, wild) on the package. This is the most common type of tuna sold on sale in the supermarket in Japan.
Fresh wild from local
The season in Japan is in Spring, from the middle of March to May. You can enjoy it fresh with a hint of refreshing acidity.
#2 Bigeye tuna (ばちまぐろ, bachi maguro, Thunnus obesus)is also often sold at the supermarket. It is similar to yellowfin tuna, but the color of the meat is redder and it has a richer flavor. It is bigger than yellowfin tuna. If the size of the bachi maguro is big it is sold as ‘大ばち'(oobachi, big size) on the package, it will have a nice amount of fat in the meat. Oobachi maguro is sold as thee types: ‘赤身' (akami, lean meat),中トロ(chutoro, medium fatty tuna), and 大トロ(ootoro, fatty tuna from the belly). A lot of fish is harvested all year round in the world, super-frozen on the boat, or air shipped to Japan. There is enough supply so it is not farmed.
Frozen wild from Taiwan or the Pacific Ocean
You can find the sign of ‘バチマグロ’ (bachi maguro, bigeye) ‘解凍’ (kaito, defrosted) ‘天然’ (Tennenn, wild) on the package. It is available all year long.
Fresh wild from local or the Pacific Ocean
The season in Japan is from May to July. You can find the sign of ‘生’(nama, fresh), ‘旬' (shun, season) or 'バチマグロ’ (bachi maguro, bigeye) on the package.
#3 Northern Bluefin tuna, (本マグロ, hon maguro, Thunus thynnus)is an expensive tuna, usually farmed in Japan or in the Mediterranean Sea. It is regarded as the king of tuna, very fatty and it is sold as chutoro (fatty tuna), or ootoro (fatty belly tuna). Wild tuna is very rare and extremely expensive and you can get it only at fish markets like Tsukiji Market, or you can try at some top notch sushi restaurants.
Frozen farmed from Mediterranean Sea
It is available all year long. It is distributed as super-frozen tuna (-60℃)and be sold after half defrosted at supermarkets. You can find the tuna when you see the sign of ‘本マグロ’ (hon maguro, northern bluefin tuna) ’解凍’ (kaito, defrosted) and ’養殖’ (Youshoku, farmed) on the package of tuna. You have choices of ‘赤身’ (akami, red lean meat), ‘中トロ’ (chuoro, red and pink gradational meat), and '大トロ’ (ootoro, white pinkish meat from belly).
Fresh farmed from Kyushu in Japan
It is available all year long. It is distributed as a whole or loin and cut into sashimi portion in the supermarket. It is more flavorful and has a better texture than frozen tuna. You can find the tuna when you see the sign of ‘本マグロ’ (hon maguro, northern bluefin tuna), ‘生’ (nama, fresh) and ‘養殖’ (youshoku, farmed) on the package of tuna. You have choices of ‘赤身’ (akami, red lean meat), ‘中トロ’ (chutoro, red and pink gradational meat), and '大トロ’ (ootoro, white pinkish meat from belly).
Fresh wild from all over the world
Wild northern bluefin tuna is very limited, and you will find it only at some top notch sushi restaurants. The price completely follows to the market auction price. The tuna from Ohma ‘大間’ in Aomori prefecture is regarded as the best bluefin tuna in Japan.
Fresh wild from the Sea of Japan
From fall to winter, wild young bluefin tuna, ‘めじまぐろ, meji maguro’ swims up along the Japan sea coast to the north. They are caught by net and when the catch is good, the price is reasonable and great chance to try wild bluefin tuna.
#4 Southern bluefin tuna (南(インド)まぐろ, minami or indo maguro, Thunnus Haccoyii) is an expensive tuna, farmed in Australia. More than 90 percent of harvest goes to Japan. It tastes similar to Northern bluefin tuna, is fatty but has a bit of acidity. It is less expensive than Northern bluefin tuna, you can buy akami (lean meat), chutoro (medium fatty tuna), or ootoro (fatty belly tuna). Personally I prefer Southern bluefin to Northern bluefin, especially when it is seared outside. The acidity turns to sweet.
Frozen farmed from Australia
Available all year long, most of revolving (kaitenzushi) sushi restaurants in Japan use this for maguro for chutoro or ootoro. At the supermarket, you can identify this with the sign of ‘インドマグロ or 南マグロ’(Indo maguro or minimi maguro, Southern bluefin tuna) ’解凍’ (kaito, defrosted) and ’養殖’ (youshoku, farmed). You have choices of ‘赤身’ (akami, red lean meat), ‘中トロ’ (chutoro, red and pink gradational meat).
'大トロ’ (ootoro, white pinkish meat from belly) is usually separated and sold to sushi restaurants so that it is difficult to find in the super market
Fresh farmed from Australia
Season in the summer time, available from June to August. Air shipped to Japan. Lots of sushi chain restaurants do the tuna promotion. At the supermarket, you can identify this with the sign of ‘インドマグロor南マグロ’(indo maguro or minimi maguro, southern bluefin tuna) ’生’ (Nama, fresh) and ’養殖’ (Youshyoku, farmed). You have choices of ‘赤身’ (Akami, red lean meat), ‘中トロ’ (Chuoro, red and pink gradational meat) and '大トロ’ (Otoro, white pinkish meat from belly).
#5 albacore tuna has white pinkish color lean meat and is used mostly for canned tuna due to its quick spoilage. The canned tuna in Japan is called sea chicken. For sashimi use, you can find super-frozen tuna (SF tuna) for all year long, and fresh tuna in the spring. Fresh tuna has less fat than SF tuna. This is because of the harvest points. SF tuna is mostly harvested from cold waters north of Canada, and the fresh fish is from warm waters in the south Pacific Ocean.
Frozen wild from Canada
Available all year long, most of revolving sushi restaurants in Japan use this for トロビンチョウ (torobincho , fatty albacore), At the supermarket, you can identify this with the sign of ‘トロビンチョウ’ (torobinchou, fatty albacore) ’解凍’ (kaitou, defrosted) .
Frozen wild from Pacific
Available all year long, most of revolving sushi restaurants in Japan use this for ビンチョウ (binchou , albacore). At the supermarket, you can identify this with the sign of ‘びんちょう’ (torobinchou, albacore) ’解凍’ (kaitou, defrosted) .
Fresh wild from Pacific
Season is in the summer time, available from May to Nov. At the supermarket, you can identify this with the sign of ‘ビンチョウ’ (vinchou, albacore) ’生’ (nama, fresh) .
Tuna Bak Kut Teh Soup (inspired from Singaporean cuisine)
These pictures are bigeye tuna (bachi maguro in Japanese), which I bought at out local supermarket in Tokyo. Can you see the difference between this and regular tuna? I bet you have never seen this in your supermarket outside of Japan. The package consists from only blood meat with bones and the sinew meat, that is unsuitable for sashimi, but good for cooking. We usually call it ‘ara’ in Japan. For instance if it is tuna, we call it ‘maguro no ara’. Ara can be head, collar backbone, or trimmed meat, and is good for grilling, in soups, or simmered in a sweet soy broth for Tsukudani 佃煮.
I made Tuna Bak Kut Teh Soup with this tuna after living in Singapore for nearly two years. Bak Kut Teh is a Singapore local food, flavorful soup with pork rib. I used tuna instead of pork because I wanted to give my wife and 2 year-old son more iron in their diet. I cooked it in a high pressure cooker to make the tuna soft like fatty pork rib which is what Bak Kut Teh is traditionally made with.
·Tuna ara (Maguro no ara) 1 pack *cut into a bite size then put in the boiled water for 20 seconds to clean.
·
A
2 whole onions, cut in half
·1 garlic bulb, no need to peel the skin
·2 liters water
·Bak Kut Teh mixed herbs and spices 1 satchet *Eu Yan Sang brand
·
B
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Salt
·Soy sauce
·Black pepper
How to cook
Put the tuna ara, onion, garlic, water, and Bak Kut Teh mix in a high pressure pot and cook for 30 mints on low heat. Season to taste with salt, soy sauce, and black pepper.
The seafood in winter is rich with fat as the fish protects itself from the cold waters. Some sashimi eaten this time of year will be a bit oily as a result. As always, we love to have most seafood as sashimi when possible, like buri, sawara, hirame and hotate. Shinji in particular has a soft spot for kanburi or winter buri from Himi port in Toyama. He loves it as sashimi but it is also good as teriyakior in the classic dish buri daikon – simmered with daikon in a slightly sweet soy broth. Kinmedai is also lovely when simmered in a soy broth as nitsuke.
Shijimi, little tiny clams, are ideal in miso soup. Asari can be steamed in saké or served with pasta as vongolé. And, of course, if you can get your hands on any of the crab this time of year, indulge!
Aozakana, literally blue fish, are the fishy fish in the mackerel family like sabaand sawara. Sawara can be marinated in a sweet Saikyo miso and grilled, the miso helps to cover some of the intense fish flavor. Saba is nice simmered in miso in a traditional dish preparation called misoni. Shime saba is the term for sabathat has been marinated in a sweet rice vinegar, essentially pickling it. Finally, each January we usually have ankou nabe, a hot pot of monkfish. We save the liver to prepare it as ankimo, often called “foie gras of the sea”. It is simple to prepare, see the recipe here.
Matsu no uchi is the first seven days of each new year. On the last day of Matsu no uchi, January 7th, many Japanese eat nanagusa-gayu 七草粥. Anokayu (rice porridge) dish with seven different herbs. Nanagusa means seven grasses 七草. Supermarkets sell packs of the herbs so it is quite easy to make at home.
Of the seven listed above, I only use seri, turnips, and radish in my daily cooking. The other herbs are not that common, although radish and turnips are often used in cooking. Rich in vitamins, eating nanagusa gayu, has a rich history in Japan and is supposed to contribute to one's health for the upcoming year.
On a past NHK cooking program, chef Kazunari Yanagihara, demonstrated how to cook this simple recipe. It's a nice twist on most okayu as it includes small pieces of mochi which add a unique texture to traditional porridge.
250 grams of cooked rice 4 1/2 cups of water 4-6 pieces of mochi 1/2 tsp. salt
In a pot add the water and cooked rice. Cook over medium heat. Cut the mochi into halves and add to the pot. While the mochi and rice are cooking cut up the greens into small pieces. Save the turnip and radish for another dish.
When the mochi is soft add the salt (add more to taste). Add the herbs and stir briefly. Remove from heat and serve. As the herbs are quite delicate and cut into small pieces it does not need to cook too long.
* Chef Yanagihara suggests still making this dish if you can only get two or three of the herbs. If you are not in Japan, look for young turnips or radishes with their leaves and use just the leaves, reserving the roots for other dishes.
The miso soup in both meals is made with fish heads and bones for a meaty broth.
Here is everything a Japanese fishmonger (Shinji) wants you to know about buri and hamachi:
Yellowtail (鰤 Buri) is a very popular fish in Japan for sushi and sashimi. There are many recipes to enjoy this precious protein gifted from the ocean.
The wild fish swim up from the south to the north along the main island of Japan. Yellowtail eat a lot of seafood to obtain as much fat as possible in their flesh for energy to bear the cold waters in the north. The best season is from December to February, when the flesh color turns gradationally pink to white. In March, it ends its peak season after spawning.
Although the wild fish season ends in March, farmed fish is available all-year long. Farmed yellowtail has white flesh with a lot of fat and it is usually delicious. It is called hamachi (farmed yellowtail in Japanese, wild fish=buri, farmed fish=hamachi) and exported all over the world to fill the demand for sashimi, sushi, and grilled as teriyaki.
Wild fish in winter gets as fatty or fattier than farmed fish, and its gorgeous flavor is unbelievably amazing. If you have any chance to try wild fish sized more than 10 kg, from Hokkaido (Tenjyo-buri) in Nov to Dec, Ishikawa (Noto-buri) and Toyama (Himi-buri) in Dec to Feb, you must try it.
You can find frozen yellowtail fillets in the US or other countries, but there is no frozen yellowtail distributed in Japan, so when you buy steaks or sashimi loins in the local supermarkets, they should be fresh. Here are some tips to help you when shopping for yellowtail.
Yellowtail has different names depending on its size. The name also changes regionally.
Kanto Region Names for Yellowtail Wakashi 10-20 cm Inada 30-40 cm Warasa 50-60 cm Buri 80 cm or more
Kansai Region Names for Yellowtail Tsubasa or Wakana 10-15 cm Hamachi 20-40 cm Mejiro or Inada 50-60 cm Buri 80 cm or more
Wild or Farmed
The label does not need to show if it is wild, but labeling is required for farmed fish. So Ifyou see the sign ‘養殖’ (Youshoku, farmed) on the label, it is a farmed fish. Retailers sometimes label the fish as ‘天然’ (Tennen, wild) on the package for wild caught fish, usually with a sticker. If you can tell if the fish is wild or farmed without seeing the sign, it means that you have completed the first step to becoming a fish foodie in Japan.
The label must show ‘刺身用’ (Sashimi-you, for sashimi-grade fish), ’生食用’ (Namashoku-you, if it can be consumed raw) or ‘加熱用’ (Kanetsu-you, for if it needs to be cooked). It is better to check the labeling before you buy the fish. Though it is easy for Japanese people to recognize the usage by checking the portion appearance, but just in case, you should check the label. The ‘刺身用’ label does not mean how fresh the fish is, it just means that the fish was cut under careful hygiene standards for sashimi, using sanitized cutting boards and sashimi knives (yanagiba knife), and the freshness is suitable to consume as raw. So Kanetsu-you ‘加熱用’ labeled fish can be as fresh as Sashimi-you ‘刺身用’ labeled fish. When they cut steaks, they usually use fillet knife (deba knife) which is not usually sanitized very often.
Portions
-Steaks (kirimi 切身)
It is easy to know which part of the fish that the steak cuts come from. You can check the skin color, if black, it is back loin (less fat) and if white, it is belly loin (fattier).
Firstly, fillets are roughly divided into 2 loins, back or belly. But when the loins are too big to sell, they are cut into upper (head side) portion and lower (tail side) portion. Personally I love the fatty portions, and chose in this order: 1. upper belly 2. upper back 3. lower belly 4. lower back. Usually it is sold without the skin, so that you should learn to know which part is which by the appearance.
This is a classic winter dish in Japan. Buri (yellowtail) is in season at the moment. The dish is actually best when made with ara, which are the small bits and pieces near the head and tail that are often packaged up and sold at a cheaper price than filets. In this dish we used filets as it was all that was at the market and we were craving this dish. The yellowtail pieces are delicate and fall apart. The daikon is also tender and juicy. A bit of ginger adds a gentle heat to the dish. We love this with a warm saké.
1 kg yellowtail
1.5 kg daikon
stock:
3 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin (look for hon-mirin)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce (reserved to add later)
ginger, julienned for garnish
Peel the daikon and cut into bite-size pieces. If using ara, it needs to be blanched quickly in hot water and then shocked in ice water. If using filets, so need to do this step. The blanching in hot water helps to rid it of some of its fishiness, which we don't see too much in filets.
Put the yellowtail, daikon, and stock in a large pot and simmer. Remove any scum as it comes up. Simmer for about 30 minutes. It is done when you can push a toothpick through the daikon and it is tender.
Turn off the heat and let is cool down in the broth. It is during this time that the flavor seeps into the daikon and yellowtail.
Just before serving, turn the heat onto high. With a spoon, pour some of the stock over the daikon and yellowtail. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Turn off the heat and put in a serving bowl.
