I Like It Raw

Most people would probably loose their appetite if they saw something like this…

Fresh and tasty!

From the Table of Adam Guy: Japanese Stone Flounder

Recently I received this great email from Adam Guy, who also runs a great Japanese blog- The Compleat Tsuribito, it makes a great appetizer for Japanese fishing and cooking in a nice bite sized package.

Adam Guy writes:

One of my fishing buddies volunteered to drive, so we decided to go fishing for a flatfish known locally as ‘ishigarei’ (Stone flounder; Kareius bicoloratus) from the port of Kashima, which is on the Pacific coast of Japan, in Ibaragi Prefecture. My mate and I took three each, including one good-sized fish each; since this was the first attempt at this kind of fishing for both of us, we did quite well.

Unusually the ishigarei does not have scales, but instead a few bony protrusions (the Japanese refer to them as ’stones’ hence the name) on the skin on its dorsal surface, that produce copious amounts of a rather foul-smelling fish slime. However, if one removes these the fillet of the fish possesses a firm, white yet oily flesh that is quite delicious. Also, unlike most flatfish, they grow quite large and can prove quite amusing to catch; the largest one I took was 47cm long and put up a tremendous fight. To ensure their anglers enjoy the eating of their catch as much as the fishing, most boathouses will kill, bleed and de-stone the fish that you catch for you when you get back to port, and give you salt to rub into their skin to reduce the slime, before packing the fish in ice and going home.

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Indoor Fishing

You gotta hand it to the Japanese for coming up with original ideas like indoor fishing. They even have restaurants that allow you to catch your own dinner!

From The Table of Adam Guy – Japanese Flounder

Adam Guy, one of our favorite contributors, has brought us yet another great article and meal from the seas of Japan. You may remember Adam’s previous “From The Table” article on Japanese Cuttlefish, well today we have a great feature of Japanese Flounder prepared to perfection utilizing every part of the fish in true Japanese fashion.

As always, fantastic work from Adam Guy. So long as Adam’s catching and eating, this should become a regular column.

The approach of spring means one thing for the Tokyo fisherman: Japanese flounder. The fish spawn in shallows during the coldest months of the year, and during this time do not feed, leaving the fish with a great appetite when winter comes to an end and the water temperature rises. I headed off recently with some friends to Yokohama and despite the foul weather, was lucky enough to snag a brace. These flounder are highly prized in Japan for their sweet flesh and command a high price in traditional sushi restaurants.

Like all flatfish, the flounder are cut into four fillets, rather than two as for normal fish. Then the fish pieces are skinned, and the ‘wings’ separated from the meat. The best part of the flounder are the fatty wings which are delicious as sashimi, and the fact that they comprise so little of the total meat of the fish makes them a rare treat. The skin is also tasty deep-fried or parboiled. But the fillets themselves are also quite delicious in their own right, here I have salted and pressed them between konbu kelp leaves, and then cut and served them just like sashimi. The flesh of the flounder is quite sweet and firm, and is complemented perfectly by the perfumed flavour of the kelp.

Lastly, in keeping with my general aim of wasting as little of the fish I catch as possible, I made the treat known in Japanese as ‘hone senbei’, or deep-fried bones. The flounder bones, with fins and head still left on (I removed the head from one of the fish I caught, as the hook was set deep in its gullet and I couldn’t remove it) are first cured in saltwater, then wind-dried till completely dessicated. After chopping the bones into manageable pieces, they are deep-fried until crisp and golden, given a good shake of salt and served. A most delicious and nutritious accompaniment to beer or sake!

Cheers,
Adam Guy

From the Table of Adam Guy – Japanese Cuttlefish

Because I really enjoy Adam’s great articles from Japan I’ve asked if he can write us more often with some of the great meals that he creates from his personal fishing trips. Adam’s most recent article Fugu is a great voyage into the myths and reality of catching and eating fresh Fugu. Today Adam is dining on freshly caught Cuttlefish, which despite their name, are not fish but related to squid and other Cephalopods.

Without further delay, start salivating now..

On Monday I went fishing on the Miura Peninsula. It was a wonderful ‘Japanese’ winter’s day, very crisp and dry but also sunny, so when the wind died down it was actually quite warm and pleasant. It was a bit hazy over Yokohama (the best views being of course, from Sagami Bay) but even from where we were Mt Fuji was in fine form, dusted bone-white and regal, keeping an eye on us at sea. Anyway, it was a rather pleasant outing and I secured some quite delicious food for the next few days: three large Japanese Cuttlefish (common name: Golden Cuttlefish, scientific name: Sepia Esculenta). In Japanese they are known as sumiika, or ‘Ink Squid’. One look at the photograph of the squid in my kitchen sink should make the reason for this obvious: they are absolutely brimming with ink, and spew it about most liberally when upset, such as when yanked out of the sea by the eager fisherman.

Cuttlefish have been prized since the Edo Period in Japan, primarily as an ingredient for tenpura, but almost every part of the animal can be eaten. Only the stomach, ink sac (after removing and freezing the ink, perhaps for a pasta sauce) and beak is discarded; even the cuttlefish’s bony plate can be fed to pet birds or terrestrial molluscs. The most obvious dish is tenpura: my own batter is a half-half mixture of flour and cornflour, folded into cold water in which an egg yolk has been whisked, and deep-fried in sesame oil. The next dish is cuttlefish sashimi, that has been cut into thin strips and mixed with finely chopped garlic, ginger, onion, rice vinegar, brown sugar and Korean chilli paste (go chu jang) that gives it its wonderful blood-red colour and a fierce chilli heat. It becomes especially good when left in the fridge for a day or two for all the flavours to blend into each other, but this time sadly none survived the first night.

The curious things wrapped in foil are the livers of the cuttlefish, grilled with nothing more than a shake of sea salt, and served with lemon. The surrounding white flesh is also delicious. The rather stumpy and short tentacles are excellent when par-boiled (then chilled rapidly in icewater) and then tossed in an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. I served mine with a mixture of crunchy vegetables – red and yellow peppers, spring onions, watercress and cherry tomatoes – and plenty of black pepper and crushed garlic.

I hope you enjoy the pictures; I certainly enjoyed the eating, Adam Guy.