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Text: Bowl pills
From eel rice and star eel sushi to moray eel soup, Japanese eel dishes are always heartwarming. Although they are all called "eels" and have similar appearances, river eels, star eels, and moray eels are actually different species, with very different flavors and different practices in Japanese cuisine.
Conger. via：kyotoliving.co.jp
Moray eel is a summer poem in Kyoto, and is also an indispensable food for the three major festivals in Japan, the Gion Festival and the Tenjin Festival, so this time we will talk about the moray eel that Kansai people love to see.
Remember the moray eel Quanzhou water eggplant that came out of the limelight at the G20 Osaka Summit? via：asahi.com
1 Moray eel with Apo dance
Muraenesox cinereus, also known Chinese as grey moray eels, tiger eels, wolf-toothed eels, is written in Japanese as "鱧" (ハモ, hamo). Moray eels come from the moray eel genus of the family Moray eels, which belong to the same eel family as river eels and star eels, but belong to different families. The "bass" in Chinese refers to the blackfish and other perch fish, which is completely different from the Japanese "bass".
a sea raven via:Present Recommended.jp
Moray eels can have a maximum lifespan of up to 15 years, but 80% of the moray eels circulating in the market are under the age of 5. The average adult male moray eel is about 70 cm long, the female is taller than the male of the same age, and with age, the difference in the body of the male and female moray eel will become more and more obvious. The moray eel can reach a length of up to 2.2 meters, and it is a little scary to think about...
The weight of the female and male seas became unfathy. via: "Tokushima Mizuken Day 59", pref.tokushima.
Moray eels have brown backs and white abdomen, with female moray eels having a reddish copper back and male moray eels with a yellowish-blue back. Why bother identifying the sex of a moray eel? Because
Female moray eels are fatter and more expensive than male moray eels.
"Hey, can you tell if I'm male or female?" via：minato-daizo.hatenadiary.com
Moray eels are carnivorous marine animals that are ferocious in nature and feed on small fish, shrimp, crabs and squid. Compared with river eels and star eels, moray eels have larger mouths and sharper teeth.
Moray eels have sharp teeth. via：aminomegumi.co.jp
From left: river eel, moray eel, star eel. Moray eels look noticeably more ferocious. via：hayabusa8.5ch.net
In Japan, the main production areas of moray eels are concentrated in the Seto Inland Sea and Kii Waterway in western Japan, and the main production counties include Hyogo, Ehime, Tokushima, Oita, Yamaguchi, Nagasaki, and Wakayama Prefectures.
Moray eel catches from the Seto Inland Sea coast from 2014 to 2017 (2017 is speculative). via：minato-yama
In recent years, many Japanese producers have branded moray eels, including "Betsumi Moray Eel" (べっぴぴ鱧) on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture, "Golden Moray Eel" (Golden Moray), "Tatsumi Eel" (Tatsumi Eel) on Awatsuji Island in Hyogo Prefecture, "Island Moray" (Shima Moray Eel) on Shodo Island in Kagawa Prefecture, "Golden Moray Eel" (Golden Moundy) in Miyazaki Prefecture, and so on.
A variety of dishes made from moray eels. via：umemaru.co.jp
Interestingly, the Moray Brand in Tokushima Prefecture is called "Dancing Fools" (る阿呆呆). Because Tokushima Prefecture has a special and fun traditional dance, the Awa Dance (also known as the Dumb Dance).
There is a folk song about Awa Dance that says: "The fool who dances and the fool who watches the dance are also fools, and it is too much to lose not to dance together!" "(踊る阿呆に見る阿呆、同じ阿呆なら踊らにゃ損損)。 Every year in August, at the Awa Dance Festival on Tokushima, you can see a large-scale Awa dance performance full of magic.
via：Akai Photo Life
via:GIFMAGAZINE
Like the author, as interested in learning Apo dance, please see the following details of the movements, the essence of the movement is: the same hands and feet... (Do you think Awa dances a bit like a moray eel swimming in the water?) ）
Male version of the action
Female version of the action
In addition to the origin and brand, the method of harvesting can also affect the price of moray eels. When caught in the form of sea fishing, moray eels that have been killed alive can be sold at a high price, while moray eels caught in the form of bottom dragging nets will be relatively cheap.
Although Japan's moray eel brand is cute, the catch of Japanese moray eel has decreased sharply in the past half century, so Japan imports a large number of moray eels from South Korea and China to meet domestic consumer demand, and live moray eels imported from South Korea are also highly praised in Japan.
Moray eels from Japan and moray eels from Korea. via：kyoto-ichiba.jp
What is the difference between Japanese moray eels and imported moray eels? Aquatic researchers in Tokushima Prefecture conducted a moray eel tasting in 2007. The tasting staff were 23 Japanese foodies aged 20-60, and the tasting objects were longline moray eels from Tokushima Prefecture in Japan and Yeosu City, South Korea, presented in two ways: soup introduction (see below) and sashimi.
Moray dishes in Yeosu, South Korea. via：ameblo.jp/korealululu
The result?
Of the two species of moray eels that are sashimi, the flesh of the Japanese moray eel is white and the color from Korea is pink. In terms of taste preferences, I like the Japanese moray eel sashimi slightly prevailed, foodies think that the Japanese moray eel taste is more elegant, the skin of the periphery with a sweet flavor, while the Korean moray eel sashimi texture is viscous, strong grease.
But for the moray eels that are used in soup, people who like Korean moray eels actually account for the majority, and foodies think that the skin of Korean moray eels is very soft, while Japanese moray eels are more chewy.
Results of tokushima and Korean moray eel tastings in 2007. via: pref.tokushima.jp
2 Moray eel and Gion Festival
The history of Japanese moray eel consumption began in the Jomon period, and there are records of nobles eating dried moray eels in the Heian period. By the Edo period, Kyoto became the center of moray eel food culture.
The reason is that Kyoto is surrounded by mountains and distant seas, and many fish and shellfish need to cross mountains and mountains to be sent to Kyoto from the sea. In an era when transport and preservation technology was underdeveloped, many fish were salted or dried before being shipped to Kyoto, such as mackerel and flounder from Wakasa Bay.
Wakasa Bay has a tradition of producing dried flounder. via：kagimago.co.jp
Only a few fish, as powerful as moray eels, can still be brought to Kyoto in the summer (from Osaka Bay and Akashi Strait), so moray eels have become a summer delicacy of ancient Kyotoers.
"Ah, oops, caught by humans, SOS..." via：awanavi.jp
There are two best seasons for moray eels to eat each year, one is june-July, and the Japanese consider moray eels to drink the water of plum rain the most delicious. After that, moray eels enter the spawning period, and moray eel meat becomes unpalatable. Another food season is from October to November, when the moray eels after spawning are back out of the rivers and lakes, frantically foraging, and fat is gradually enriched, and the moray eels at this time are called "golden moray eels" (金ハモ), "matsutake moray eels" (matsutake moray eels) or "falling moray eels" (落ちハモ).
Golden moray eel and tanba matsutake pot. via：project.nikkeibp.co.jp
Kyoto's "Gion Festival", one of japan's three major festivals, happens to be the time when the moray eel is in July, so since ancient times, there has been a custom of eating moray eels in the "Gion Festival", and the "Gion Festival" is also called the "Gion Festival". At this time, the purchase volume of moray eels in the Kyoto Seafood Market will also reach about 10 times that of the average month, and the price is also at a high level throughout the year. Moray eel soup, moray sushi, moray eel rice bowl, etc., are all popular foods during the Gion Festival.
Moray eels speak for the Gion Festival. via：kaiseiken.or.jp
The Osaka Tenjin Festival, one of Japan's three major festivals, is also held in July, and moray eels are also an indispensable food during the festival. People eat moray eel soup or ganxin, octopus vinegar, daytime radish sprout soup, and umeboshi white steaming (steamed glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo skin with dried plum) and other foods.
Turnip sprout soup during the day. via：yobi.jp
The so-called "daytime" does not mean "daytime", but in Keihanshin, especially in the Osaka area, it refers to a low-temperature fried, pale-colored white fish dish, which means "white tempura". Moray eel meat is used during the "Tenjin Festival" during the day.
Added fungus during the day. via：nikkama.jp
3 Moray eels with X-rays
Ancient Kyoto people were ecstatic when they got live moray eels from afar for the first time, but when they opened it, they couldn't help but be stunned: "There are too many small thorns in this meat!" this...... Is this for people to eat? In addition to the common fish bones, moray eels also have many small Y-shaped spines hidden in the flesh of the fish.
Small thorns in the shape of a Y. via：backnumber.dailyportalz.jp
In order to understand the skeletal structure of moray eels, some modern aquatic researchers and Japanese chefs (such as Seiji Yamamoto, the head chef of Ryuin), like to give moray eels X-rays and CT scans, from which we can clearly see the distribution of Y-shaped spines (called "inter-flesh bones" in Japanese) (as a small number of fish with X-rays, moray eels can also smile at the Nine Springs).
CT diagram of the moray eel appearing in the dragon chant video. via：nihonryori-ryugin.com
Sea eel x-rays studied by Tokushima Fisheries researchers. C and D are the interspectoral bone states before and after transossection. via：pref.tokush
However, Kyoto people are not like Zhang Ailing, because the anchovies are more stingy and hateful. Chefs in Kyoto use a moray eel knife with a heavy knife and a wide blade (鱧包丁) to process moray eel meat in the form of "bone cutting", the knife is fine, the bone is broken and the skin is connected, and it is said that between one inch (3.03 cm), about 25 knives are cut, that is, only more than 1 mm is spaced between the incisions.
Although it is time-consuming and laborious to handle, moray eels have turned decay into magic, retained their delicious flavor, and have no worries about fish bones, and have achieved ingredients with skill and ingenuity under limited conditions, which is the wisdom of ancient Kyoto cooks.
Pleasant bone drops cut ing, click ~ via: TSURI HACK
Seiji Yamamoto, a Japanese chef known for his "love of science", believes that if the bone is cut vertically at 90 degrees, the small spines in the moray eel meat will protrude and appear sharp, which is not the most ideal bone cutting effect. The cutting board should be tilted at a 25-degree angle so that the kitchen knife is slightly inclined to cut into the moray eel meat, and the section of the moray eel's small bone is smoother.
The moray eel bone cut of the dragon chant begins by tilting the cutting board at an angle of 25 degrees. via:nihonryori-ryugin.com (you can move to the official account to view the video)
In the Kanto region, moray eels have long been unpopular. The Kanto people think that there are other fish that are easy to handle and delicious, so why compete with moray eels? Therefore, in the past, moray eel was a high-priced ingredient in the Kansai region, but it was inexpensive in the Kanto region. But in recent years, with the invention of the electric bone cutter, kanto people have also loved the Shanghai eel
Simple and rough and smooth moray eel electric bone cutting, and the above hand cutting is completely two rhythms ~ via: youtube .com (you can move to the public number to view the video)
4 Moray Eel and The Hundred Treasures of the Moray Eel
In Kyoto, the most common practice of moray eel is "yuin", also known as "falling とし", "ハモちり", that is, the bone-cut moray eel is quickly blanched in hot water and then added to ice water (you can also wrap the fish with kudzu powder or sliced chestnut powder before blanching). This method should choose about 500g of small moray eels, and some chefs like to use about 800g, too large to thick skin and hard bones.
Moray eel soup is served with plum meat. via: asp.hotel-story.ne.jp
The fish shrinks under heat and takes on a flower-like shape, and can be eaten with plum meat or vinegar miso, or as an ingredient in the sorghum. Moray eels produced in this way are also known as "peony moray eels" because they resemble peony flowers, especially when used as a bass.
Flower-like moray eel meat. via：project.nikkeibp.co.jp
When using moray eels to make a bass, the soup base can be used to hang the umami flavor with moray bone and kelp, and then add wine and salt to taste, in addition to adding soup to attract moray eels, summer can also be accompanied by eggplant, lettuce and other vegetables.
Dragon yin's moray eggplant lettuce lettuce. via：nihonryori-ryugin.com
In autumn, matsutake mushrooms and moray eels become a perfect match, in the form of tangers or earthen vase steaming (earthen bottle steaming dishes), which are full of autumn warmth and comfort.
Steamed in a clay bottle of Matsutake sea clams. via：gontaro.co.jp
Moray eels are also often used to make pots, such as moray suki pots, sucking pots, assorted pots (ちり鍋), Yanagawa pots, etc. Moray sukiyaki is a traditional dish in Osaka, with moray eels paired with onions from the Quanzhou region of southern Osaka, doubling the umami flavor and making the best side dishes.
Moray eel Sukiyaki pot. via：awajishima-kanko.jp
Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture is also an important producer of moray eels and onions, and the locals also love moray eel Sukiyaki pot, first adding moray eels and onions in the pot, then adding moray eel ovaries, and finally adding Awaji Island's specialty hand-nomosa noodles, sucking in delicious moray eel soup with Udon, ending the perfect meal. Moray sukiyaky pot should use about 1500 -2000 grams of tarpaulin, which has a rich sense of flesh and fat.
Awaji Island's moray sukiyaki pot is finished and can be put into the hand-extended udon. via：shima-life.jp
Another common practice of moray eels is roasting, such as white roast, pu roast, etc. Among them, kabuya morayaki is a representative dish in Kyoto. The method is similar to that of roasted eels, but because moray eels are thorny, they need to be bone-cut first. In order to avoid the loss of juice and the over-drying of the fish, some chefs will also compact the skewered moray eel to the middle first, and then grill it.
Grilled moray eels can be eaten directly, or they can be made into moray rice bowl or moray eel sushi. Moray eel sushi is also one of Kyoto's traditional dishes, and it is also a pleasure to make a whole slice of kaki grilled moray eel meat on rice and make it into stick sushi or box sushi, and then cut it and eat it separately.
Moray eel stick sushi. via：izuu.jp
In addition to stick sushi and box sushi, moray eels can also be made into grip sushi.
Raw moray eels hold sushi. via：tobikome.jp
Soup leads moray eels to hold sushi. via：sushi.zukan-bouz.com
Grilled moray eel grip sushi. via：sushi.zukan-bouz.com
If you present the white-roasted moray eel and the pu-roasted moray eel together, it is the Genpei-yaki moray eel. Because at the end of the Heian period, during the Genpei War, Genji used a white flag and Hei used a red flag, so "Genpei" refers to the red and white colors.
Moray eel source flat burn. via：sangenan.jp
Osaka and Kyotoites also like to make moray eel meat into fish cakes, either steamed to a crisp white state or steamed and then grilled with a charred yellow skin.
Moray eel fish cake. via：ibarakiya.net
In addition, moray eel meat can also be made into sashimi, boiled, tempura, cooking rice, stir-fry, rice dumplings and so on.
Moray eel sashimi. via：nushima-kimuraya.com
Moray eel cooking. via：umemaru.co.jp
Rice dumplings stuffed with moray eels, bamboo shoots and burdock. via：kokochiyo.jp
Other parts other than moray eel meat can also be added to the dish, such as the highly malleable moray eel skin. The roasted moray eel can be finely cut and blanched in water, mixed with cucumbers to make vinegar, preferably with wine. Moray eel skin can also be rolled on bamboo sticks and baked into a moray eel skin bamboo wheel, highlighting the caramel flavor and full of chewy taste.
Moray eel skin cucumber vinegar. via：mikage-madame.cocolog-nifty.com
Moray eel skin bamboo wheel. via：amazon.co.jp
Moray eels during spawning are fragrant and can be simmered to taste, added to a sukiyaki pot, or boiled with eggs (oocytes). In addition, moray eel stomach, maw, liver can also be boiled and eaten. Don't waste the roasted moray eel head, soak it in spicy sake and make it into eel head wine, which also has a unique flavor.
Moray eel ovarian egg rice bowl. via：dot.asahi.com
In addition to these common moray eel dishes, there have been many magical moray eel dishes in history. In the late Edo period, there were a series of cooking books of "xx hundred treasures", such as "Tofu Hundred Treasures", "Sea Bream Hundred Treasures", "White Radish Hundred Treasures", "Egg Hundred Treasures" and so on. In 1795, "Moray Eel Hundred Treasures" was also published.
via:umemaru.co.jp
The book introduces more than 100 kinds of moray eel dishes (that is, more than 100 ways to die moray eel), such as moray eel steamed buns, mountain pepper miso grilled moray eel, egg yolk sauce roasted moray eel, sea urchin grilled moray eel and so on. Kyoto's restaurant "Kyo Cuisine Kinomi" once reproduced a moray dish called "Kikuyamachi yaki" in the book.
Kiya-cho 烧. via：ews.line.me
"Wooden house-machi yaki" is made by brushing two pieces of bone-cut, stringed moray eel meat with kudzu powder, then grilling the two moray eel skins with one side facing outwards and one side of the meat together and brushing them with soy sauce. Wrapped in fish skin, moray eel meat can be kept tender. Moray eel meat is sandwiched between two pieces of fish skin, just as Kyoto's Kisenmachi is sandwiched between the Kamogawa and Takase rivers, hence the name. Isn't that great?
The town of Kiya is sandwiched between the Kamogawa Andose River. via: "The Land of Color"
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