July Seasonal Japanese Seafood ７月旬の魚

Some of our personal favorites include ayu (salted and grilled), shitabirame(meuniere), shijimi (miso soup), benisake (salted and grilled), and for sashimi – surumeika, kinmedai, takabe, and isaki. Most of the seafood have links to photos.

Ainame 鮎並 fat greenling (Hexagrammos otakii)

Akashita birame 赤舌鮃  red-tongued sole (Cynoglossus joyneri)

Awabi 鮑 abalone (Haliotis sorenseni)

Ayu 鮎 sweetfish (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis)

Benisake べにさけ　紅鮭 sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

Dojou 泥鰌 loach (Misgurnus Anguillicaudatus)

Hamo  鱧pike eel or pike conger (Muraenesox cinereus)

Inada イナダ young Japanese amberjack (Seriola quinqueradiata)

Isaki 伊佐幾 chicken grunt  (Parapristipoma trilineatum)

Ishidai 石鯛  barred knifejaw (Oplegnathus fasciatus)

Ishimochi イシモチ nibe croaker (Nibea mitsukurii)

Iwana 日光岩魚 whitespotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis pluvius)

Kamasu 大和叺 barracuda (Sphyraena japonica)

Kanpachi  間八amberjack or yellowtail (Seriola dumerili)

Katsuo 鰹  skipjack tuna or oceanic bonito (Katsuwonus pelamis)

Kawahagi 皮剥 thread-sail filefish (Stephanolepis cirrhifer)

Kihada maguro 黄肌鮪 yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares)

Kinmedai 金目鯛 splendid alfonsino (Beryx splendens)

Kisu 鱚 Japanese whiting (Sillago japonica)*or shirogisu

Kochi 鯒bartail flathead (Platycephalus)

Kuro maguro 黒鮪 bluefin tuna (Thunus thynnus)

Maaji 真鯵 Japanese jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus)

Maanago 真穴子 whitespotted conger (Conger myriaster)

Maiwashi 真鰯  Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus)

Makogarei 真子鰈 marbled sole (Pleuronectes yokohamae)

Masaba 真鯖 Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus)

Mejimaguro めじまぐろ young tuna (genus Thunnus) if it is a young bluefin tuna it will be called honmeji, if it is a young yellowfin tuna it will be called kinmeji.

Niji masu 虹鱒 rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Oni okoze  鬼虎魚 spiny devilfish (Inimicus japonicus)

Shijimi – 大和蜆 corbicula clams or water clams (Corbicula japonica)

Shima aji  島鯵striped jack or white trevally (Pseudocaranx dentex)

Shiro ika 白いか  swordtip squid (Loligo (Photololigo) edulis)* or kensaki ika

Shitabirame 舌平目 (or ushinoshita) four line tongue sole(Arelia bilineat)

Surumeika 鯣烏賊  Japanese common or flying squid (Todarodes pacificus)

Suzuki 鱸  Japanese sea perch (Lateolabrax japonicus)

Tachiuo 太刀魚 cutlassfish (Trichiurus lepturus)

Takabe たかべyellow-striped butterfish (Labracoglossa argentiventris)

Tobiuo 飛魚 Japanese flying fish (Cypselurus agoo agoo)

Unagi 鰻 Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica)

Celery Kinpira

Debra Samuels' book, My Japanese Table, is filled with great recipes. One recipe in particular is a dish I make when I come to my last few stalks of celery. Celery kinpira. Simply cut up the celery, saute in a bit of oil, and then add some sugar, sake, and soy sauce. For a little kick add some togarashi (dried red chili pepper) or shichimi togarashi. It's a great side dish to any meal with rice.

Nancy Singleton Hachisu

My interview with Nancy Singleton Hachisu in Metropolis magazine.

tastemaker

Nancy Singleton Hachisu

Sourcing up farm food

Food provenance has received a lot of attention in Japan over the last year. A good way to be sure of what you are eating—as well as have a healthier diet—is to source your own vegetables and learn how to cook them. Take full advantage of your seasonal greens via a new recipe book by Californian Nancy Singleton Hachisu.

Hachisu came to Japan in the late ’80s to study Japanese and never left. Now, she is resident of a farm in Kamikawa-machi, Gunma, where her husband grew up. There, she runs an English immersion program in an 85-year-old farmhouse for kids aged from 18 months to teenage. The students help to grow and harvest fresh produce from the farm that they then enjoy every day for lunch. This idyllic life living off the fat of the land led Hachisu to write Japanese Farm Food, to be published this fall.
Her mother-in-law often made udon noodles from scratch using wheat from the farm, while her husband Tadaaki, an inspired cook, raises free-range chickens and eggs. In her book, Hachisu has adapted old family secrets and introduced her own to compile this compendium of 160 recipes, displayed alongside lush photos of her countryside home and surroundings by Kenji Miura.

SIMPLE STIR-FRY

Heat a small amount of good quality canola oil in a large pan with a couple of broken dried red peppers, add julienned or sliced vegetables such as carrots, lotus root, green peppers, celery, or okra with a little slivered ginger and stir-fry for a few minutes until just done. Flavor at the end with a little soy sauce, sea salt, shottsuru (Japanese fish sauce), or miso thinned with sake.

Though some dishes include bonito-based dashi, most recipes are vegetarian, and place a heavy focus on “fresh and thoughtfully sourced ingredients.” Easy seasonal recipes include the simple kinpira—sautéed and simmered root vegetables—or a carrot salad dressed with canola oil and yuzu. Another crunchy option is a crudite of fresh radish, bell peppers, cucumbers, and thin green onions dipped in miso. See the sidebar for her quick and easy stir-fry recipe, to tide you over until the book’s publication.

• Japanese Farm Food, Andrews McNeel Publishing, September 2012, pp.400, ¥2,951. Available at major bookstores, or buy through Amazon.
• www.nancysingletonhachisu.com
• Link to the Metropolis article.

Gotta Get: Yuzu Tabasco - Yuzusco

I am a condiment addict. I need to get things in order as our fridge is overflowing with tubes and jars. When working for a travel company I remember having lunch with an automotive executive on our way to the airport. This well-dressed, worldly man pulled out a small bottle of Tobasco from his briefcase. I couldn't believe it. He was probably on the road 2-3 weeks a month and he said he always carried Tobasco with him. I am not that committed to my condiments, but here is one to put on your radar. Yuzusco, think Tobasco with the citrusy aromatics and bite of yuzu.

It was so good the bottle went quickly. It went with everything I paired it with. Grilled chicken, grilled fish, gyoza, steamed vegetables, pizza, and pasta. Too hot now to make nabe (hot pots) but I am sure it would have been perfect for that as well.

The Yuzusco website (in English) has the perfect tagline: Once you use it, you won't want to stop - it'll become a habit. So true. The company also makes a red yuzu sauce as well as a ginger sauce. I haven't seen it around much. Found it at our local depachika. The company website is in several languages so I imagine they are working hard to export this. 

Kiriboshi Daikon Furikake

Kiriboshi daikon 切り干し大根  is something I always have in our pantry. Dried strips of daikon can be quickly reconstituted in water and is a simple way to add another vegetable dish to the table. 

However, I get into the routine of always making the same dish time after time. Kiriboshi daikon simmered with some carrots and abura-age (deep-fried tofu) in a sweet soy broth. Sometimes I'll switch out the abura-age for some Satsuma-age (deep-fried fish cakes). Good, but not an exciting change from our old ways.

Today I had just a little bit of kiriboshi daikon left in a packet. I quickly rehydrated it in water, squeezed it of excess water, and cut it into small pieces. In a pan I sauteed it with some sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and salt. It was a nice change-up from the typical nimono (simmered dish) we have. I had it as furikake over rice, but will try it next time over a salad.

June Seasonal Japanese Seafood

June Seasonal Seafood

The arrival of ayu is a sign that summer has arrived. Simply salted and grilled is the most popular way of serving this tender-fleshed fish. Kawahagi is a funny looking fish. The skin is so thick, hence the name kawahagi, or leather jacket. We love this fish as sashimi. If we’re lucky, the fresh fish will have its liver, which we mix with ponzu and serve with the sashimi.

Katsuo simply seared on the edges, sliced thickly, and served with some soy sauce and garlic. Katsuo tataki is particularly nice if you can garnish it with fresh myoga. Karei is lovely when deep-fried whole, a dish called karei no kara-age.

As for octopus, which is one of my favorite seafood if cooked properly, there are so many recipes. Shinji and I visited an octopus-processing factory and the staff there suggested putting boiled octopus on top of Japanese curry. It’s so easy as boiled octopus is often sold in Japanese supermarkets. And, it’s yummy.

Suzuki is a nice fish to sauté meuniere style. Tobiuo we love as sashimi. As for saba, there are so many different preparations, including simmered in miso, salted and grilled, deep-fried, or sautéed.

If you are in Tokyo, be sure to visit Tamai in Nihonbashi, near Takashimaya, for anago which is in season now.

And, while wakame is not a seafood, this sea vegetable is in season now. If you have the opportunity to have some you are in for a treat to enjoy its texture and flavor this time of year.

If you click on the Japanese name of the seafood you should be directed to a link with a photo.

Ainame鮎並 fat greenling(Hexagrammos otakii)

Aji鰺Japanese horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicus)

Aka isaki 赤伊佐幾 Schlegel's red bass (Caprodon schlegelii)

Akashita birame 赤舌鮃  red-tongued sole (Cynoglossus joyneri)

Anago  穴子 conger eels (Conger myriaster)

Aodai 青鯛Blue fusiller  (Paracaesio caeruleus (Katayama))

Aori ika 障泥烏賊big fin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana)

Awabi 鮑  abalone (Haliotis (Nordotis) discus discus)

Ayu鮎 sweetfish (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis)

Bai 貝 Japanese ivory shell  (Balylonia japonica)

Benisake べにさけ　紅鮭 sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

Buri鰤Japanese amberjack (Seriola quinqueradiata)

Hamo  鱧 pike eel or pike conger (Muraenesox cinereus)

Hanafuedai - 花笛鯛   (Pristipomoidae argrogrammicus)

Horagai or boushuubora  房州法螺  Japanese triton (Charonia lampas sauliae)

Hoya 海鞘 sea squirt (Halocynthia roretzi)

Isaki 伊佐幾 chicken grunt  (Parapristipoma trilineatum)

Ishimochi- イシモチ  honnibe croaker (Nibea mitsukurii)

Iwana -    (Salvelinus leucomaenis pluvius)

Iwashi鰯  spotline sardine (Sardinops melanostictus)

Jindou ika 神頭烏賊 Japanese dwarf squid (Loliolus (Nipponololig) japonica)

Kamasu 叺barracuda (Sphyraena japonica)

Kanpachi  間八 amberjack or yellowtail (Seriola dumerili)

Karei  鰈littlemouth flounder (Pleuronectes yokohamae)

Katsuo鰹skipjack tuna or oceanic bonito (Katsuwonus pelamis)

Kawahagi 皮剥 thread-sail filefish (Stephanolepis cirrhifer)

Kensaki ika 剣先烏賊 swordtip squid (Loligo edulis)

Kibinago黍魚子banded blue sprat (Spratelloides gracilis)

Kihada maguro 黄肌鮪yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares)

Kijihata or akahata 雉子羽太  redspotted grouper (Epinephelus akaara)

Kisu or shirogisu 鱚 Japanese whiting (Sillago japonica)

Kochi 鯒 bartail flathead (Platycephalus)

Konoshiroor shinko 鰶dotted gizzard shad (Konosirus punctatus)

Kuro maguro 黒鮪 bluefin tuna (Thunus thynnus)

Kurumaebi車海老Japanese tiger prawn(Penaeus (Melicertus) japonicus)

Madaior tai 真鯛seabream (Pagurus major)

Makogarei 真子鰈 marbled sole (Pleuronectes yokohamae)

Oni okoze  鬼虎魚spiny devilfish (Inimicus japonicus)

Ooasari 蜊蝦夷忘 Japanese littleneck clam (Callista berevisiphonata)

Saba鯖Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus)

Sazae栄螺horned turban shell (Turbo cornutus)

Shijimi– 大和蜆corbicula clams or water clams (Corbicula japonica)

Shima aji or striped jack or white trevally 島鯵(Pseudocaranx dentex)

Shira ebi 白海老 glass shrimp (Pasiphaea japonica)

Suzuki 鱸  Japanese sea perch (Lateolabrax japonicus)

Tako 蛸  common octopus (Octopus vulgaris)

Tobiuo 飛魚 Japanese flying fish (Cypselurus agoo agoo)

Torigai 鳥貝 heart clam(Fulvia mutica)

Uchimurasaki ウチムラサキ  butter clam (Saxidomus purpurata)

Uni –  sea urchin

Wakame

Yamameヤマメcherry salmon (Oncorhynchus masou maso)