List of the most terrifyingly tempting dishes from Japan

Author: Rediska

25 December 2013 13:19

Tags: Japan delicacies food cuisine fish

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Are you already fed up with standard Japanese cuisine and want to try something new, exciting and different? I present to you a list of the strangest seafood delicacies: potentially life-threatening, with a pungent odor, or simply especially exotic

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"Shirako" Milk

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In Japanese it sounds like “shirako” - nothing more than the male equivalent of caviar. If caviar is fish eggs, then “shirako” is the seminal fluid. Shirako tastes like cream or whipped cream. Cooking methods are varied - you can stew, fry in a pan or deep-fry. But despite the wide range of possibilities in cooking this dish, nothing will save you from the awkward silence among your friends when you tell them that you ate in Japan.

Tai - sea bream

Sea bream meat is milky white and breaks down into flakes when cooked, which is why it is used to make soboro (fish flakes). It is also used to prepare sashimi and sushi , such as oshizushi (pressed sushi), as well as soups and rice dishes. Sea bream, or tai , is a fish for holiday dishes. The length of tai can reach 1 m, but specimens 30-50 cm long are fried whole.

For especially special occasions, the fish is skewered so that it appears alive, trembling, bravely overcoming stormy waters. Red tai is reddish-silver in color and turns red when fried, and the color red is considered a symbol of celebration and joy in Japan .

How to cut round fish:

Clean the fish from scales and entrails, cut off the head. Rinse the carcass under running water, dry with a paper towel and place on a cutting board.

Insert the blade of a sharp knife close to the spinal bone of the fish and make a cut along the spine, from head to tail, keeping the knife parallel to the spinal bone.

Turn the fish over on the other side and cut the second fillet as described above.

Place one fillet on a cutting board, skin side down, and insert the blade of a knife between the skin and the meat near the tail. Press the skin against the board with your fingers and run the blade from the tail to the head, separating the skin. Do the same with the other fillet.

Puffer fish

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Some may have heard that this fish contains poison; the highest concentration of deadly substances is located in the liver. This is probably the only fish that needs to be touched very professionally. Typically, fugu is served raw in thinly sliced sashimi, or stewed with vegetables. In fact, there have not been many deaths from puffer fish recorded in modern history. The most famous person to die from it was the actor Bando Mitsugoro, this happened in 1975. Many will tell you that what attracts you about this dish is not the taste itself, which is rather bland and does not evoke any delight, but the state of awe from the fact that you have challenged death itself.

Hirama

This is one of the most commonly used types of fish in Japanese cooking: hirame is fried, steamed and stewed, salads and vegetable dishes with vinegar are prepared with it, as well as sushi and sashimi . Hirame is a genus of sole, a flat fish with eyes located on its back. The back of the hirame is shiny black, and the belly is matte white. The thin, wide, chain-like fins that line the sides of this fish, called engawa, are considered a delicacy; They are used for sashimi, grilled and stewed.

How to cut flat fish:

Place the fish on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to make cuts: in the middle (to the bone) and on the sides, under the fins.

Inserting the blade horizontally between the meat and the ridge, gently run the tip of the blade along the ridge, separating the meat from the bones. At the same time, carefully pull the edge of the fillet back.

Using the same method, separate the three remaining fillets: one more from the top and two from the bottom of the fish.

Place the fillet on a cutting board, skin side down, and insert the blade of a knife between the meat and the skin. Press the skin firmly against the cutting board with your fingers and run a knife from the tail to the front of the fillet, separating the skin from the meat. Using the same method, remove the skin from the remaining three fillets.

"Ikizukuri." Live sashimi

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This dish is definitely not for the faint of heart, as it is usually prepared from live fish, shrimp or lobster. And when you are served sashimi, your dish is still alive. It is believed that this way the food looks fresher, and the same goes for the taste. It goes without saying that feasting on fish while watching it die before your eyes is not a pleasant experience.

Karey - flounder - halibut

This is the name of a family that includes more than a hundred species of fish. Externally, the karei are very similar to the hirame (see below), but the brown eyes are located on the right side of the body, and the hirame on the left; In addition, brownies have smaller mouths. The structure and taste of meat of different types of curry can be very different. The best fish in this family is considered to be flounder with dense, tender and remarkably tasty meat, but not everyone recognizes its primacy. Some prefer halibut for its excellent meaty texture.

It is usually sold whole, although larger specimens may be sold cut into steaks or fillets. The meat of the sole is more loose, and the taste is not so pronounced. The curry season begins at different times, depending on the specific type of fish. The most desirable prey for fishermen is brown fish, ready for spawning. Karei is a universal fish ; they can be fried in a frying pan and on the grill, stewed, and also made into sashimi.

"Funazuashi." Fermented sushi

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Funazuashi is a dish of Japanese carp that is marinated in rice for four years. The fermented fish is cut into slices and served as sushi. This is one of the oldest methods of preparing sushi and is still practiced in the Shiga Prefecture area. As you can already imagine, the smell of this dish is incredibly pungent, and the taste is quite sour.

Iwashi sardines

Sardines. Application in Japanese cuisine

Fresh iwashi is pan-fried and grilled, marinated, used in mixed sushi, and minced iwashi is used to make fish balls. However, most of the iwashi is used to make canned food and various dried fish products, such as niboshi , which is used for dashi , and mezashi (4-6 small, semi-cured iwashi, tied into bundles with straws). Small iwashi, up to 3 cm long, are usually dried and then shirasu-boshi .

In the past, the export of these products was restricted by laws, but some are now produced in the West. Iwashi (sardines) are among the fish most commonly consumed in Japanese cuisine and account for 25% of all Japanese fisheries production. In addition to the sardine itself, there are many other species belonging to the same family, including the ma-iwashi (Japanese sardine), urume-iwashi (big-eyed sardine) and the smaller katakuchi-iwashi (Japanese anchovy). The ma-iwasi has a blue-green back, a silvery-white belly, and dark spots on its sides. This fish reaches 25-30 cm. Katakuchi-iwashi is approximately 15 cm long. Iwashi is available for sale all year round.

"Kujira." Whale meat

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Despite the opinion of the international community, “in the name of science” the Japanese still continue the annual hunt for whales, whose meat is partly openly sold in local markets. And to everyone's surprise, this is one of the generally accepted dishes in educational institutions, but it is not very common in restaurants. You might think that whale meat is amazing given the amount of outrage against whaling, but let me tell you, it tastes a little bland. Therefore, in the school canteen it is often deep-fried.

Tartar - a geometric pleasure

If carpaccio is a method of cutting into thin slices, then tartare is small cubes, no more than 1 cm. It is also simple to prepare and is one of the favorite dishes of the French. Initially, it contained raw meat, but now tartare is prepared from fish, shellfish, vegetables and even fruits.

You can imagine and come up with new recipes for this snack endlessly; we will offer you only one of the options!

Ingredients:

salmon or salmon - 200 g
avocado - 1 pc.
red onion - 1/2 pcs.
olive oil - 1 tbsp. l.
lemon juice - 1 tsp.
salt, pepper - to taste

Cut the fish and avocado into small equal cubes. Sprinkle avocado with lemon juice. Finely chop the onion and season with spices to taste, mix with fish. Now take a molding ring, add a layer of avocado, then fish and onions. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and the tartare is ready! If you wish, you can add a little capers; they will add a pleasant sourness to the dish.

"Kurage." Jellyfish*

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As a rule, jellyfish are first dried, since without water they quickly deteriorate. Before serving, it is soaked in water and sprinkled with vinegar. Some argue that eating jellyfish is the same as chewing rubber, while others compare it to boiled squid. By itself, it is tasteless, so the key to success lies solely in the sauce.

How to cook it?

We must immediately make a reservation that there is no classical recipe. Therefore, you can easily adapt any recipe to suit your tastes. The traditional northern method of preparation is as follows: you need to take a large fish carcass, clean and gut it, and remove the head. Be very careful not to crush the bile. Otherwise, all the meat will become bitter.

If you cook sugudai from frozen mackerel, do not defrost it completely. Otherwise, all the insides will simply turn into mush during processing. Using a teaspoon, remove all the innards from the carcass. It is not necessary to remove the skin. Once you have cleaned the fish, cut it into finger-width pieces. Place the prepared slices in an enamel bowl, add the onion, cut into rings, and mix everything well with your hands. Calculate the proportions something like this: take 2-3 onions for one large fish carcass. After this, you need to add quite a lot of ground black pepper and salt (one teaspoon and about two tablespoons, respectively). Mix everything again by pouring two tablespoons of any vegetable oil and adding a few drops of vinegar, shake the container well. Place in a cool place for a long time: from half an hour to 3 hours.

On kefir

Battered fish, which can be prepared very quickly, is a universal dish that can be combined with various side dishes.

Using kefir as a base for the dough, you can fry any type of fish, but it is better to choose fillets of large species. The ideal solution would be catfish or trout.

What ingredients will you need?

To fry fish with kefir you need:

fish fillet;
1.5 tbsp. kefir;
salt (for pickling and dough);
black pepper (for pickling and dough);
paprika (for marinating and dough);
0.75 tbsp. flour;
rapeseed oil or another type of odorless oil.

Step-by-step cooking process

To fry white or red fish fillets in kefir batter, you will need to follow these steps:

Wash the fish fillet and set it aside.
Kefir must be mixed with salt, pepper and paprika and whipped until a homogeneous mass is formed in a large bowl.
Place the fish fillet in a container with the kefir mixture, cover with a lid and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, turning the pieces periodically.
Next, you need to add flour and additional salt, pepper and paprika to the fish in the marinade, mix very well to avoid the formation of lumps.
In a large frying pan, heat the oil, place the fillet pieces in one layer, shaking off excess flour, and fry until golden brown.

How to serve this dish

Serve this dish with tartar sauce, lemon wedges or chopped dill. You can lightly sprinkle the pieces with vinegar. Boiled or baked potatoes, stewed cabbage or boiled rice are ideal as a side dish.