Sardine ― 2010/06/26
JPY80 a fish
Tired of frying tiny tiny baby horse mackerels nearly every day, I went to a fishmonger to get somehing bigger than my husband's catches.
Then I came acorss sardines which were nearly 20 cm long. Huge, by my current standard.
It is said sardines become particularly tasty during rainy season. I don’t know why, though. In fact, regardless of season, sashimi of fresh sardines literally melts in your mouth and doesn’t smell at all.
Local fishmongers are so kind as to fillet the humbly priced fish for you to make sashimi later.
If you wish, they may make sashimi for you, but the surface of each piece of sashimi would discolour and looks less appetising by the time of your dinner.
Goldlined Seabream ― 2010/05/27
JPY800
Today’s choice at a fishermen’s market was a goldlined seabream. I think I mentioned before that it would be a gamble to choose a fish at this market as unlike fishmongers, nobody would suggest recommendation of the day and how to eat it. You have to decide what fish is the best and how you will cook it very quickly because while you are thinking, somebody will get what you may need. You have to be decisive and creative. But if you come across what you like, shopping here is a real bargain since the price of the fish here is truly competitive.
Anyway, assuming that I could cook this huge fish in the same way as I cook other light-meat fishes. Sashimi, stew, baked fish, marinated fish, etc. I bought this and get it cut into two pieces lengthways. The head were also cut into two pieces so that it would be cooked quicker than as a whole.
I have just had the sashimi for dinner this evening. The flesh was soft and not fishy at all. So I can say in a way it has a very sophisticated taste. But to be honest I found it rather like eating tofu or something, not feeling I was having animal protein; too soft and with no distinctive flavour or taste. Maybe my poor sashimi-slicing skill has spoiled the flesh, or the fish was designed to be eaten cooked and seasoned. Or maybe I haven't become an experienced shopper who can make a spontaneous decision at this kind of shopping establishment.
Grunt Fish ― 2010/05/22
Just in case you assume that we have only horsemackerels in the seashores around
I’m not sure to what extent I can explain the real thing with my hopeless ability to describe food (see how hopeless I am in my previous posts on food), though.
Today, my fishmonger confidently recommended Grunt Fish. So I simply followed the master of fish, which I assume the best way to get nice fish as long as you think your fishmonger is reliable.
This fish is known as Isaki in
Grunt is one of summer fish. It tastes like chicken fillet (though the flesh is smoother and juicier than chicken) and can be eaten sashimi or simply baked if it has a good quality. But don’t be disappointed even if yours is dry or not fresh enough to eat uncooked, a deep-fried grunt makes a big dish for your dinner. You can relish the delicate taste with soup stock seasoned with soy sauce and mirin (don’t forget to add grated Daikon radish!), or with sweet-and-sour sauce thickened with corn starch, or simply few drops of lemon would do. Ask your fishmonger which way is the best for your grunt.
This time, as the fishmonger suggested, the fish I bought was cut into two along the backbone to make two dishes. The boneless side became sashimi for dinner this evening, and the other side and the roes were lightly salted and will be baked tomorrow.
Note on Tiny Fish ― 2010/05/11
We treat all fish equally: we guzzle not only huge tunas but also minute fishes like this.
They can be a good source of calcium, and give tastiness when added to vegetable dishes.
The master of a dried food specialist store where I sometimes go is a real enthusiast about dried tiny fishes. He will keep getting out his treasured commodities to show off once you show any interest.
Here, I’d like to share some information from him on the little fishes:
· Dried baby fishes on the market are in general dried baby anchovies, but from March to May, dried baby sand lances, called Kanagi in this region (Ikanago in different regions), are also available;
· Compared to anchovies, lances taste deeper and intense;
· Points to distinguish the quality of the lances: red belly (result of red shrimp-like planktons that they eat) whereas dried anchovies should be as white as snow (bleaching them in order to get them whiter is a huge embarrassment in his trade);
· About the size of the lances, the smaller the better, but more expensive;
· After four years’ poor catches, this year there have been surprisingly good catch;.
· So the price has been lower than usual this year;
· You can get good dried baby lances at JPY500/100 grams, but they can be as expensive as JPY1,000 or more depending on the quality and where you buy them;
· You can enjoy the adult fish as well, also dried, by lightly grilling.
Grilled dried adult lances can make a good nibble to accompany Sake, or a punchy side dish when you have Onigiri (this is my personal opinion).
Clam Picking ― 2010/03/02
What do you think they are doing? Committing suicide? Actually, they are gathering clams, a blessing of the sea.
Our picking and gathering season has started.
While walking along a beach, I found there were the clam pickers and thought I might pick some clams. I squatted down and tried to pick up barehanded at the water’s edge. There are some rules and regulations in clam picking, one of which is that you mustn’t pick up clams smaller than 3 centimetres. So I chose them carefully not to get the underage clams and not get arrested.
After a 30-minute attempt, I managed to get a handful of small but not illicitly small clams. Enough for 2 bowls of miso-soup.
Now they are going to be soaked in salty water overnight to spit out sand. Ideally, the water should be seawater so that the clams literally feel at home in the water and spit out as much sand as possible…not knowing their fate.
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