Seasoning Part 3

They say that dashi (stock) is the key to Japanese cuisine. It is a stock made by extracting goodness and flavor from kombu seaweed, dried bonito fish, small dried fish, dried shiitake mushrooms or the like. Dashi brings out the taste of the ingredients and is at the heart of the light flavor of Japanese food. These pages give a taste of two of the most important stock bases, kombu seaweed and bonito fish.

When heated in water, this variety of kombu seaweed, ma-kombu, makes a fine, light, clear stock ideal for suimono soup and other recipes calling for a see-through liquid. Kombu has a delectable flavor all its own and is used mainly to make a broth for clear soups or simmered dishes. The seaweed is harvested along the coast of Hokkaido and the Sanriku district of Tohoku (northern Honshu), then dried, often in the sun. The most common way to make kombu dashi is to cut the kombu into convenient lengths, place it in water in a pot, heat until the water is about to boil, then take it out right away. The wholesaler Fushitaka in Tokyo's Tsukiji Market caters to professional chefs who want high-quality kombu, bonito and other marine dashi products with an authentic, traditional flavor. Fushitaka also reaches out to a wider eating public, selling over the Internet as well. The company president, Nakano Katsuhiko, says “The flavor you get from kombu depends on where it comes from. But all production centers have one thing in common—they are near mountains. You see, kombu needs nutrients washed from a rich humus of decayed deciduous tree leaves. Rainwater washes those nutrients into streams, then out to the sea and the waiting seaweed.”

Above Left: Rausu-kombu is grouped among the oni-kombu type of seaweed. It grows to almost 3 meters long, 25 cm wide. Above Right: Kombu harvested offshore is brought by boat and unloaded on a beach to be sun-dried. Rausu-kombu is quite thick, so it is dried for two or three days.

Top: Blocks of authentic hon-bushi bonito, with the desired coating of mold. The fish is preserved through drying and a fermentation process that cleverly uses microorganisms. Above: Flakes of hon-bushi. The other common base for dashi is dried bonito fish (katsuo-bushi). When you see it you might not believe it is seafood, and this is even harder to believe when you bang two pieces together—they make a clear, high-pitched sound like wooden clappers. Katsuo-bushi is known as the world's hardest food. To make the dashi, first shave off thin flakes with a plane specially made for the job. Drop the shavings in boiling water, turn off the heat right away, let the flakes sit in the water for a while, and then remove them. Or you could drop them in the water just before it boils, and take them out as soon as it does. In either case, the result is a stock called ichi-ban dashi (“number-one stock”). This dashi is great for clear soups. The wet shavings can be reheated in water to extract more nutrients and flavor. This ni-ban dashi (“number-two stock”) is used for stews, miso soup and many other dishes. Chefs prefer to shave off flakes just before using them, but today it is common to buy packaged shavings. The wholesaler Nakano frowns on the easy way: “To get the best taste and fragrance you should shave off the flakes yourself from a bonito block. And the bonito should be prepared properly. That's how to get the authentic taste.” Nakano Katsuhiko's wholesale business is called Fushitaka. His outlet in the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo has a nice, freshly shaven katsuo-bushi fragrance. Japanese-language website: http://www.fushitaka.com Nakano's demand for authenticity is met by the katsuo-bushi maker Kubo Norihide in Makurazaki, Kagoshima Prefecture. The city produces more katsuo-bushi than anywhere else in Japan. Kubo's company has about 10 employees, and they are on the job soon after 6 a.m. The first step is to clean the fish and cut it into large pieces. The pieces are arranged neatly in sieves, then lowered into water that is kept at the right temperature—about 90°C—to prevent the fish from developing cracks. After simmering for some time, the fish comes out of the water, any remaining bones are removed, and the pieces are trimmed to form blocks. Next, the blocks are smoked over a smoldering wood fire, allowed to cool at air temperature, then smoked and cooled again several more times. At this stage the product is called ara-bushi. Most ara-bushi is flaked, packaged and sold as ready-to-use flakes, but to make authentic dashi a few more steps are needed. The ara-bushi should be dried in the sun, the natural tars shaved off the surface, and the blocks reshaped nicely. At this stage the blocks are called hadaka-bushi. Now it is time to cure the blocks with a mold. The dried hadaka-bushi is placed in a room with temperature and humidity controls until aspergillus mold develops on it. Next comes another bout of sun drying. Then the mold is scraped off, the fish goes back into the curing room, and then it is sun-dried again. This process is repeated about four times. The final result is authentic hon-bushi. The smoked bonito fillets, with their coating of mold, are dried in the sun. The sun and mold reduce the water content and enhance the flavor. The mold draws moisture slowly but surely from the fish, giving it the dry, hard finish it is famous for. The mold also breaks down fatty substances in the fish and builds up amino acids to give the final product extra flavor. This hon-bushi manufacturing process is complicated and repetitive, and takes about six months. For someone who puts productivity first the process makes little financial sense. But Kubo would disagree: “They sell cheap katsuo-bushi, but we would rather keep making it the traditional way—after all, the real thing tastes better.”

Above right: Freshly caught bonito fish are filleted. Knives are used to cut out and remove the blood-colored flesh, and this leaves upper and lower fillets to work with. Top: The fish has been simmered in hot water, and now it is being thoroughly smoked. The pieces will be cooled and then smoked again a few more times. The temperature and timing will determine the final taste and flavor. Above left: Kubo Norihide says there are about 70 katsuo-bushi makers in his city, Makurazaki, and about 20 of them still make authentic hon-bushi.

Seasoning Part 2

	Below left: Koi-kuchi, the most popular type of soy sauce. Has a dark color. Below middle: Usu-kuchi soy sauce. Has a lighter color and taste. Does not discolor foods. Below right: Tamari. Has a richer taste and less salt than regular soy sauce.

It would be hard to imagine Japanese cuisine without shoyu (soy sauce). It is such an easy-to-use seasoning, ideal for soups and broths, simmered foods and a full range of other dishes. It sits on the table until someone grabs it to sprinkle directly on food. To make it, first of all soybeans, wheat and salt are added to water. Brine and a fermenting agent (a koji mold cultivated on soybeans and wheat) are then mixed in. After the resulting mash, known as moromi, ferments for several months, it is squeezed through a cloth to obtain as much of the liquid as possible. The liquid is heated to kill bacteria, and the final result is soy sauce. There are three main types of soy sauce: ·koi-kuchi, with a dark color and a rich taste ·usu-kuchi, with a lighter color and taste ·tamari, with a higher concentration of soybean and less salt. Most people buy the first type, so that today the word koi-kuchi is practically synonymous with soy sauce. Usu-kuchi sauce is given a lighter color so that it will not discolor simmered foods and other ingredients. Tradition says that a Zen priest went to China in the 13th century and brought back the technique for making kinzanji miso. A liquid seeping out of vegetables pickled in this miso was a kind of soy sauce, and this, it is said, was the beginning of tamari, the third variety of soy sauce. Beginning in the 1500s, it was produced mainly in the Kyoto and Osaka region, but after the mid-1600s the population of Edo (present-day Tokyo) mushroomed and the main center of production shifted to an area just east of Edo, in what is now Chiba Prefecture. The older tamari manufacturing process, which produces a milder sauce, evolved to yield koi-kuchi, the dark-colored, salty sauce preferred by the people of Edo. Chiba Prefecture remains Japan's most important production center for soy sauce, even today. Miya Shoyu-ten is the only maker in Chiba that follows the old brewing process. Its soy sauce is sold under the trade name, Tamasa. Miya Keiichiro dips his hand in the vat to monitor the fermentation process. He smiles, “Once everything is in the vat, nature takes over.” Miya Keiichiro, the company's managing director, says, “When we make soy sauce, we aim for an excellent balance of fine fragrance and mild taste. When it comes out just right I feel glad I'm continuing my family's manufacturing traditions. I still have years to go before I can be proud of my record, though.” He has been managing his ancestors' business, which goes back 170 years, for 12 years so far. Miya's goal is to achieve the best possible taste, so he uses traditional brewing methods that take advantage of natural changes in temperature. His company could change over to mass production, but that is not his ambition—he is after a superior taste. That means, of course, starting with the best ingredients. “Our soybeans and wheat come from this prefecture. The water is ideal, from our own spring-fed well. We get the salt from Mexico, because of its higher amino acid content.” Miya is on to something, because many chefs prefer his variety of soy sauce. Miya Shoyu-ten's Japanese-language website

Above left: Miya Shoyu-ten manufactures and sells soy sauce the traditional way. The building in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, is from another era, too. Above right: Moromi is a mash containing soybeans, salt, water and a fermenting agent. After it has aged it is stuffed in a cotton bag and squeezed a lot to obtain the liquid. The liquid is heated, and when the fermentation process stops, the result is soy sauce.

Traditional Seasonings for Today's Tables Part 1

Seasonings make good food taste better, and Japanese kitchens use many. Soy sauce and miso production techniques take advantage of Japan's varied climate and its rich treasure house of ingredients. Kombu seaweed, dried bonito fish and other nutritious foods are used to make various types of stock that have become essential to Japanese cuisine. Seasonings have a long tradition and are still made with care and respect for the past.

Written by Torikai Shin-ichi and Sanada Kuniko

Photos by Sugawara Chiyoshi and Kono Toshihiko

	Below left: This shiro-miso has a yellowish color and a mildly salty (ama-kuchi) taste. Below middle: Mugi-miso made with malted barley. Below right: Shinshu-miso, a kome (rice) miso. Maruyama Miso Manufacturing began making shiro-miso and mugi-miso after the fourth-generation owner Maruyama Takashi took over.

Making miso the old-fashioned way. The ingredients are placed in a wooden barrel, covered with a cotton cloth, and then weighted down with round stones.

Like soy sauce, miso (fermented soybean paste) is a very common flavoring, so common today that it is still used almost every day to make miso soup. In the old days it was made by hand in many homes. It hides the smell of fish or meat while giving the food more punch, and this is why it is often used in pot dishes cooked at the table and in stews.

Miso is made by steaming soybeans, salting and crushing them, then mixing them with a fermenting agent called koji mold.

The koji is first cultivated on soybeans, rice, barley or some other grain. The mixture is fermented and aged for several months, or even a year or so.

Miso manufacturing techniques are said to have come from China more than 1,300 years ago, and over the centuries many varieties have been produced throughout Japan. Three major varieties are kome-miso (made from rice koji), mugi-miso (from barley koji), and mame-miso (from soybean koji).

Maruyama Takashi says his customers are free to buy as much or as little miso as they want. “The company has always sold like that.” Maruyama Miso Manufacturing's Japanese-language website

Kome-miso, the most common variety, comes in different colors and tastes, depending on the region. In colder parts of the country people tend to prefer a darker color and a higher salt content, while in the warmer south they go for a lighter color and a milder taste. Shinshu-miso, made in many places in Nagano Prefecture, sells throughout Japan and has the highest market share—it accounts for more than 30% of national production. It is favored for its pale color and light taste—lighter than you would expect for a fairly salty miso—and it goes well with other types of miso.

Maruyama Takashi is the fourth-generation owner of Maruyama Miso Manufacturing, a traditional maker in Azumino, Nagano Prefecture. He explains, “People say that Nagano's miso tastes best. I suppose that's because the water and air are pure, and because the climate is ideal—we are at a fairly high altitude and surrounded by mountains, so we have cold winters, warm summers, and excellent spring and fall weather.”

His company has followed the same manufacturing techniques since it was founded a century ago. The soybeans come from local farmers under contract, and are steamed over a wood fire burning in stoves made by the first owner—no gas or oil used here. “A wood fire gives off a soft, natural heat that lets the soybeans keep their nice flavor. We're just a small business, so I guess that's why we can do it the old-fashioned way,” he grins. “We give true value by offering our regular customers a product that has remained unchanged for a long time, something with our own unique taste.”

Temting Arts: Food Presentation

Ingredients:

Cutting and arranging for convenience and beauty

Horaku-yaki platter featuring plenty of seafood and vegetables all steamed and grilled together, on a plate made of unglazed pottery. Garnished with autumn leaves to savor the season.

So how about preparing the food? Murata says the first rule of thumb is: “Cut the ingredients so chopsticks can handle them easily. At the traditional table you won't use a knife, so the food is cut up beforehand in the kitchen. The standard for length, the norm you generally aim for, is 1 sun (about 3 cm). It is said that an ingredient sliced to about 3 × 2 × 1 cm gives the best eating experience. These dimensions are standard for sashimi (sliced raw fish). But there are exceptions, of course. For example, the distinctive flavor and texture of bamboo shoots are best enjoyed by biting into the fibers and chewing off half a piece—so we cut them into lengths of 2 sun (about 6 cm), not the general standard of 1 sun. This makes for two mouthfuls per piece.”

Kaiseki ryori traditional cuisine for guests sets the standard (it is served as part of the tea ceremony). The sashimi arrives nicely arranged on a plate called mukozuke. Odd numbers were customarily thought to be lucky, and it is still standard to serve an odd number of pieces of sashimi, perhaps five, so the size of the mukozuke plate takes this into account. The soy sauce dip comes in a flat dish big enough, but not too big, for one sashimi piece at a time.

Murata says, “It might seem that there are too many different sizes of tableware, but each piece is made for a certain purpose, and that decides the size.”

Tataki duck steak. The outside of the pieces of meat are quickly grilled, then removed from the heat and cut into lengths of about 1 sun (3 cm) to make each piece a convenient mouthful.

The food is arranged for convenience—the cut pieces are organized on the plate so that they can be managed easily, from right to left, with chopsticks held in the right hand. And the food is piled higher at the back of the plate than at the front, again to make it easy for chopsticks. A fish served whole will have the head on the left, with the thicker dorsal part away from you. The head can be stabilized with the left hand, giving the chopsticks in the other hand a steady plate to work on.

Another general rule is to select food that presents a combination of five colors. In nature, food ingredients tend to be greens, reds, yellows, browns and black. The chef uses combinations of these hues to present attractive color arrangements. Somehow, these combinations end up giving the meal a nutritional balance as well. Japanese cuisine offers visual beauty, and the beauty of convenience and experience.

Sea bream sashimi. Each piece is cut to dimensions of about 3 × 2 × 1 cm. The small shallow dish is just the right size for dipping the sashimi pieces in the soy sauce, one by one. This example of Kyo ryori cuisine was presented by Kikunoi restaurant (Tel: +81-75-561-0015). English-language website

Tempting Arts: Tableware and Food Presentation

A visitor to a Japanese home will see members of the family using their own bowls and their own chopsticks. They hold small bowls of food in the hand and bring them close to the mouth for the chopsticks to do their job. Bowls, plates and cups come in different shapes and sizes, and the food is arranged in a certain way. These dinner table customs are, in fact, closely related to one other.

Bowls and cups cradled in culture

The small bowl or plate is held in the left hand, the chopsticks in the right. This custom is rarely seen in other parts of the world. And the tableware comes in different shapes and sizes, and different materials. Why? “It's because for century after century the Japanese sat not on chairs but on the floor, even to eat,” explains Murata Yoshihiro, the owner of Kikunoi, a first-rate traditional restaurant in Kyoto.

This style of teacup is designed to be grasped by the whole hand. Sizes vary with hand size and gender. Porcelain cups are preferred in summer, pottery in the winter.

One striking thing about the small plates and bowls is that they are shaped to fit the hand, Murata says. “In the old days, meals were eaten on the floor. If the bowl or small plate were not held in the hand, the chopsticks would have to travel a long way. It is easier for the palm and fingers to cradle the bowl, close to the mouth. And since men generally have larger hands than women, the bowls are chosen to match the hand size of the user. We can say that this is how Japan's tableware culture began.”

Rice is a staple, so we will take rice bowls as an example. Using old units of length, the standard for men is a bowl diameter of 4 sun (about 12 cm), for women 3 sun 8 bu (11 cm). Because of differences in individual hand sizes, bowl sizes may vary slightly from these two standards.

Handle-less teacups are also cradled in the hand, and they too are differentiated by gender. The standard diameter for men is 2 sun 6 bu (about 8 cm), for women 2 sun 4 bu (7 cm).

Each member of the family generally has his or her own personal rice bowl, chopsticks and teacup. It would be considered unusual for the father, for example, to use his wife's or children's rice bowls or chopsticks. What is the right size for one person may be the wrong size for another. Not surprisingly, it became customary to buy children a new set of chopsticks every year.

Another tableware fact is that individual pieces may be pottery, porcelain, lacquer ware, wood or glass—the material is matched to the occasion. In summer the fingers may want a smooth surface with a cooling effect, and porcelain can give this. In winter, the warm touch of pottery is preferred.

The custom of cradling a bowl or teacup in the hand has brought an awareness of touch and texture, and has given us the wide variety in tableware today.

Bowls used at Kikunoi, a first-rate traditional restaurant in Kyoto. When arranging food in them, the idea is to leave enough space at the top to accentuate some of the artwork. Above and below left: Pottery by Kitaoji Rosanjin (rim diameters, 20 cm [above] and 21 cm). Bottom right: Porcelain by Sawamura Tosai (rim diameter, 20 cm).

Rice as main attraction

In ancient Japan, growing rice in wet paddy fields began around the 5th century B.C. Society came to be based on agriculture, with rice as the main crop and staple food.

The people of East and Southeast Asia look on a typical meal as one with rice as the main actor, and side dishes playing a secondary role. The typical Japanese meal is no exception. Rice is boiled and steamed, and goes straight from the pot into waiting bowls, with no flavor added. Fish and vegetable side dishes come with a variety of flavorings, but somehow their role seems to be to whet the appetite for more rice.

In Japanese, “eat breakfast” (or lunch or supper) is “go-han o taberu,” which literally means “eat rice.” The words go-han (rice) and shokuji (a meal) are used interchangeably.

In the past, poor people and those farming highland areas where productivity was low did not have access to much rice, so they would mix barley or some other cheaper grain with rice before boiling. But during festivals and formal occasions even poor people found a way to eat rice and mochi rice cakes without mixing in “inferior” grains.

Above Left: The New Year is a time to celebrate and eat a soup called zoni. Ingredients and seasonings depend on the region, but you are sure to find some mochi rice cake in the soup.

Above Right: Freshly boiled rice tastes oh so good.

Mochi are made by pounding cooked glutinous rice, using a large wooden mallet and receptacle. In the old days the Japanese—like the people of Southeast Asia—had a belief that the spirits of rice plants dwelled in the grains of rice. Sacred rice pounded into mochi was a food for festivals. Even today, on New Year's Day, the most important festival of the year, families eat mochi in a zoni soup, together with seafood and vegetables.

Saké is made from rice, and it too has a place of honor at festivals. Japanese festivals are a time to eat rice and mochi, and to drink saké—in other words, to enjoy plenty of tasty food and drink from the rice plant.

So we can say that the traditional Japanese meal is designed to bring out the best of rice and saké.

Terraced rice paddies in summer. Rice plants, growing taller by the day, sway in the wind. By autumn they will be a shimmering golden color, heavy with grains waiting for the harvest.

Intriguing Tastes, Naturally

If you want to savor food preserved the natural way—dried in the sun, treated with a yeast, or fermented with lactic acid bacteria—Japan is the place to do it. All of these foods have a pronounced and distinctive taste, are easy to store, and have nutrients important for good health. The taste and odor might put you off a little, but once you summon some courage and dig in you may be hooked for life.

Himono (sun-dried fish) Top: A sun-dried horse mackerel (kusaya). The Izu Seven Islands south of Tokyo are known for this type of dried fish. The fish is gutted and cleaned, then steeped in a fermented brine for several hours. Next, it is dried in the sun. It has a strong, distinctive odor, and is ideal to nibble on when drinking alcohol. Left: Sun-dried kinme red snapper. Right: Sun-dried squid. Below: Sun-dried tatami-iwashi (anchovies). Once the anchovy fry are ready, they are placed in an interlocking fashion on a bamboo screen to make a thin sheet that is dried in the sun. This process is reminiscent of the traditional method for making Japanese paper.

Tofu-yo (aged tofu) Tofu is salted, dried, then steeped in awamori (a clear liquor made from rice), to which beni-koji (monascus pilosus cultivated on rice) has been added. The tofu is then matured or fermented for about six months. This method of preserving tofu came from China, and tofu-yo is now considered a specialty of Okinawa. Because of the clinging texture and the full-bodied flavor from the koji yeast, some people consider tofu-yo to be an “Oriental cheese.”

Tsukemono (pickles) When vegetables are pickled they keep longer than when raw, and they have extra nutritional value because of the lactic acid bacteria that grow as part of the fermentation process. Each part of Japan favors its own combination of vegetables and seasonings to make tsukemono. The photo to the left shows three types: clockwise from left, daikon radish pickled in vinegar, beets pickled in sweet vinegar, and cucumber pickled in soy sauce. Above middle: Vegetables pickled in a salted rice bran paste. Above right top: Eggplant, cucumber, and turnip pickled in miso paste. Above right bottom: If the vegetables are pickled for too long, you can remove some of the salt by chopping them up fine and soaking them in water before eating.

Nare-zushi (fish pickled with rice) The sushi we know today has its roots in nare-zushi, which is fish or shellfish mixed with boiled rice and pickled by lactic acid bacteria fermentation to preserve it. The sushi in the photo, funa-zushi, is made from crucian carp caught in Lake Biwa, Shiga Prefecture. The female carp is salt-pickled for about one month with its roe inside, and then pickled in rice for about one year. This gives it a distinctive taste and strong aroma.

Shiokara (pickled fish innards) Fish or shellfish innards are mixed with pieces of the flesh, then pickled in salt and fermented. As the fermentation process advances, the salty taste will diminish, giving a milder, mellower flavor. Upper two photos: Sukugarasu (salt-pickled goma-aigo fry). Goma-aigo fish like the waters around coral reefs in Okinawa. The fish fry are neatly packed into bottles for sale, as seen in the far right photo. Below: Shiokara featuring finely chopped pieces of squid mixed with squid innards. Perhaps the most popular type of shiokara.

Gyosho (seasoned seafood-base sauce) This strong sauce is made by fermenting salt-pickled fish or shellfish. It is somewhat similar to the nampla and nuoc mam sauces of Southeast Asia. Two of the best gyosho in Japan are shottsuru from Akita Prefecture and ishiru from Ishikawa Prefecture. Photos: Ishiru made from sardines (left) and squid (right).

Natto (fermented soybeans) Natto is easy to eat—just mix it with chopped green onion and soy sauce, then serve as a topping on steamed rice. Natto is also cheap, and this is another reason it often appears on dining tables. It is made by steaming small soybeans, then adding a rice straw bacteria that promotes the fermentation process when the beans are kept at a certain temperature. The resulting natto has what appear to be sticky threads. Natto is rich in protein and contains ten times more vitamin B2 than boiled soybeans. It contains an enzyme, natto-kinaze, which improves blood circulation.

Sushi and Sashimi Part 2

How to clean and de-bone a sea bream

The phrase san-mai ni orosu is often used in association with preparing fish. It means to cut the fish into three pieces: two fillets of flesh and one piece with the backbone.
Before filleting, be sure to clean the fish well. First, remove the scales, then slit right through to the inside of the belly and remove the guts. Use plenty of running water to wash out the blood, any remaining scales and small bones. Drain off the water quickly, then wipe well with a dry cloth.

1 After gutting the fish, use a brush to clean out any remaining slime, etc.

2 Slit the underside by drawing the knife toward you.

3 Insert the tip of the blade first, and cut along the backbone joints to remove the backbone.

4 Use the tip of the blade to carefully cut down as far as the tail.

5 Finally, cut right through to the top of the fish.

Preserving fish the old-fashioned way Wasabi (Japanese horseradish) is an essential part of the sushi or sashimi eating experience. Its spicy taste brings out the flavor of the ingredients, and it acts as an antibacterial agent as well. Even in the old days before electric refrigeration, there were ways to slow down the deterioration of raw fish. Here are two ways. 1. Beta-jio: Place fillets in a container that contains plenty of salt. Make sure the fillets are completely surrounded by salt. Leave in a cool place (about 10°C). After the salt has absorbed the moisture from the fish, wash it off. Su-arai: Next, soak in vinegar. You can improve the fragrance by adding slices of a citrus fruit to the vinegar. For this example our chef used a mackerel. This and other fish with shiny bluish backs may cause a bad reaction when eaten raw, but you can prevent this by reducing the bacteria through long periods of salting and soaking in vinegar. 2. Kobu-jime: Measure out salt weighing about 2% of the filleted fish weight, and sprinkle it over the fillets. Leave for 5 to 6 hours. Moisten kombu seaweed with vinegar or saké then wrap it around the fillets.

Eat It Raw: How to Prepare Sushi and Sashimi

Some of the seafood displayed on this plate of sushi and sashimi: prawn, sea urchin, herring roe, tuna, sea bream, horse mackerel, squid. Chefs need a good eye for freshness and ingredients, and a skilled hand for cutting. That is the key to delicious and attractive servings. Japan is an archipelago in East Asia, surrounded by water where many varieties of fish thrive. It would be hard to talk about Japanese cuisine without mentioning fish, including, of course, the art of preparing it raw for the table. Fish has long been an important part of Japan's culinary culture, and this culture offers a treasure house of seafood knowledge to learn from. Raw fish—not an old tradition It was only about 150 years ago in Japan that it became common to eat fish that could be considered truly raw. Before then, fish was sometimes eaten uncooked, but it was salted and/or treated with vinegar to prevent deterioration through bacterial action. After soy sauce became available around the middle of the 16th century, some people would cut up raw fish, dip pieces in the sauce and eat it, but this practice spread to the common folk only around the middle of the 19th century. And actually, eating raw fish only became widespread after World War II, thanks to advances in electrical refrigeration, trucking, and urban sanitation, including garbage removal. The Japanese had always eaten seafood, however, and had developed a wide repertoire of culinary techniques, and this knowledge was adapted to preparing raw fish. One technique, ikejime, is an unusual way to kill the fish and ensure the ultimate in freshness and taste. A few years ago I showed this method to the famous French chef, Alain Ducasse, whom I am lucky enough to count among my friends. I used a sea bass caught off the Bretagne coast. Knives: Tools for the expert Japanese cuisine calls for a wide variety of knives, each one designed for a specific job and a certain type of ingredient. Here are just a few examples. From top right, down: hamo-giri bocho (blade 36 cm long; for cutting fish with many small bones); yanagi-ba bocho (for sashimi—the long blade is drawn toward you when cutting, so as not to crush the fish fibers); maguro-hiki bocho (for cutting fish that has little fiber—cut straight down); fugu-hiki bocho (for cutting very thin slices); deba bocho (thick heavy blade for filleting large fish); and usuba bocho (mainly for chopping vegetables up fine). In ikejime, as soon as the fish is taken out of the sea, a special hooked tool is used to crush its hindbrain. The heart keeps beating and pumping blood. The idea is to get the fish to pump out its own blood by cutting arteries in the gills and tail. You have to remove the blood because otherwise the fish will retain an unpleasant fishy smell. And you have to restrain the fish because otherwise it will flap about, making the flesh less tasty. A fish restrained the ikejime way is only half dead—it is so fresh that the muscles still move a little. That is the time to eat it. Monsieur Ducasse was amazed, and seemed very pleased with the taste. Sashimi and sushi Sashimi and sushi are the best known ways to serve raw fish. The word “sashimi” used to mean any sliced up food, including vegetables and tofu. The food is cut into bite-size pieces, either with the grain or against it, always with the aim of getting the best taste. Sashimi is cuisine made with knives. We have a saying, kasshu hoju (cutting is the most important, cooking comes second). We could interpret this to mean that sashimi is superior to cooked food. Because cutting is so important, we have a wide variety of knives to choose from. They are our most important tools, and I sharpen mine until I could shave with them. One of my daily routines is sharpening knives. Sushi is now popular worldwide. Hand-molded sushi consists of two parts—an easy-to-handle clump of rice seasoned with vinegar, and a topping of raw or cooked seafood. Years ago, sushi developed as a food that was treated to keep it fresh, but today the hand-molded version is rice with some topping. The vinegar is a preservative and helps prevent the ingredients from deteriorating. The photo shows some types of seafood ideal to be eaten raw: sea bream, prawns, horse mackerel, squid, turban shell, saury and abalone. Other types not shown here include: tuna, bonito, flatfish (flounder), yellowtail and sea bass. Choosing the fish, and preparation method It is hard to say which fish are best for your sushi because your country may not have the types I mention. One quick rule of thumb: larger fish like tuna are generally good to eat raw. Tuna blood is rich in iron and its amino acids break down slowly during the fermentation process, so tuna is ideal for eating raw. Small fish, especially those with shiny bluish backs, like sardines, tend to bruise easily, and even the Japanese will not eat them raw unless they are super fresh. Keep fish at about 0°C because the protein fibers are shorter than in meat, making it easier for microorganisms to propagate. Carefully remove all of the scales and inner organs. Cleaning the fish properly is even more important than true freshness. When cutting and cleaning the fish, keep your knives, the knife handles, the cutting board and your hands as clean as possible. Seafood suitable for sushi can be prepared in three ways: ·raw ·sprinkled with salt and/or allowed to sit in vinegar for a while ·cooked by simmering or grilling. Here are some examples of seafood eaten raw: tuna, sea bream, prawn, squid, sea bass, young yellowtail, and flatfish (flounder). Fish with shiny, bluish backs may cause an unpleasant or allergic reaction, so if you want to serve them, place them in salt first for a while to inhibit bacterial action. Again: your hands touch the raw fish at every step until the sushi reaches the table, so cleanliness is absolutely essential, even more than for sashimi. This is true not only for your hands but for the entire kitchen as well. Cleanliness is the law for the sushi chef. After all, the food we eat must be safe to eat. I hope people all over the world will come to truly appreciate the fine flavor of Japanese cuisine, especially the wealth of knowledge found in our many fish recipes. And I certainly hope readers will experience the profound enjoyment that comes from eating fish in its natural state. How to make sure the fish is fresh: Above left: Touch beside a gill lightly. It should be soft. Above center: The underside of the gills should be reddish in color. Above right: The eyes should be clear.