The aunt of the guide center won the award for the best assist of this trip.
In order to eat a bite of the legendary squid that is extremely fresh, I changed to a bus all the way to Yobuko in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. As soon as I got out of the car, I saw a slogan on the side of the harbor that read: Japan's three major markets - Yoko Chao Market.
Just as there are five of the Four Heavenly Kings, there are also four of the three major Japanese courts. If you go to Wajima Asa in Ishikawa Prefecture, Takayama Asa in Gifu Prefecture, or Katsuura Asa in Chiba Prefecture, you will see that it is also written there. Unfortunately, the Noto Peninsula earthquake at the beginning of the year severely affected Wajima Asahi City, and I don't know if it will be able to recover.
Maybe it's because of the late arrival time, compared to the Takayama Asaha market I visited earlier, the Yoruko Asahi market is relatively deserted. Most of the shops along the street are closed, and only a few small vendors are operating. The squid shop I wanted to go to hadn't opened yet, so I had to buy some abalone and salamander snails from the nearby vendor aunt and roast them to eat.
Until the opening time has passed, the door is still locked. After chatting with my aunt for a few words, I learned that the number of fresh squid brought back by fishing boats recently is very small, and many stores can't get the goods, so they simply don't open stores. Walking around the city, there is a line written in Chinese directly on the door of a restaurant: There are no live squid today.
There are no living, there are always dead, right? I couldn't help it, so I found a small shop and bought some squid tempura made from stock, but I still didn't feel like it was enjoyable. Or go and ask the guide box near the station?
There were not many tourists on this day, and the aunt in the case was wearing glasses and looking drowsy. I asked hopelessly, "Is there still a place where I can eat squid live today?" ”
My aunt held the mirror frame, reflecting a light of wisdom that shot directly into my eyes, and then first took out a piece of paper, which seemed to be the information of the fishing boats that arrived at the port that day, and then took out a map of Yoko's sightseeing, and drew a few red circles on the map.
"Yes, the supply has not been enough recently, and these are probably the ones that can be eaten at noon today." The aunt pointed to the red circle on the map, helped the glasses that shone with wisdom, and added: "If you want to go, it's better to go now, and it may be sold out if it's late." ”
I took the squid foraging map from Aunt Savior, and the only few shops were quite far away, and the nearest one, Kawataro, was about a 20-minute walk away. "Thank you so much! I'll try it at this one. ”
"You're welcome." The glow of wisdom in Auntie's eyes gradually faded, and she returned to her sleepy appearance.
It was a fine day, and the port road from the station to the restaurant was full of fishing boats. One of them uses the most cutting-edge technology, the Doraemon automatic vertigo spinning machine, to air dry the squid, so that the squid can be quickly dehydrated and increase the umami of the meat. I stood here and watched for half a minute, feeling that it was not the squid that was drying but myself.
Kawataro is located in the open area of Huzi Port, and when he arrives at the store, there are twenty or thirty tables of customers lined up in front of him. After more than half an hour of sea breeze blowing at the door of the store, I finally got to the position, and quickly entered the store to open the menu, and the squid was still in stock!
The so-called squid is actually a somewhat cruel dish. The restaurant uses fresh squid caught that day, cuts it into thin strips with a flower knife while the squid is still alive, and serves it directly to the guests, while the squid is still conscious, and even its tentacles can be seen moving.
I don't know if it's because the squid species is wrong in season or other reasons, I always feel that the buyer show and the seller show here look a little different. In all kinds of promotional pictures, the squid is cut into thin strips in a complete state, and this plate is cut so that the original shape is not visible at all, but the sweet and thick taste of the squid is still good.
After eating the sashimi on top, there is a whole squid underneath, and the big eyes are so cute that you can't help but wonder if it is better to cut it into sashimi or fry it to make tempura.
If you choose the set meal, it will also come with squid siu mai. It is said that it is a new method developed in the local area due to the excessive production of squid in the early days, and it is made by mashing and mixing squid meat and steaming it to maintain the sweetness of squid and fish.
After a full meal, when I walked out of the door of the restaurant, there was a notice at the door that "the squid live has been sold out today".
Walking back to the station along the seaside path, a squid fishing boat is slowly departing from Yobuko Port.
Kotaro Yoko
Phone: 050-5456-2680
Address: 1744-17 Yoko, Yoko-cho, Karatsu-shi, Saga
-End-
Travel food columnist, from time to time write some travel foraging journals and drunk gibberish. Halfway idiot, you won't get lost in Latin America, but you will get lost in Guangzhou. I like good food, and I have eaten more than 100 Michelin restaurants but I don't (basically) gain weight.
Original article classification tags
Food tour in Guangdong | Dining in Hong Kong and Macau| Dining in China
Dining in Japan | Dining in Asia
Dining in Europe | Dining in the Americas
Food Travel Essay | Eat, drink, and gossip
All article index links (updated irregularly)
The records of what I eat, drink and have been doing are here