It's getting hot, let's get cold!
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Eels, since ancient times, have been the ugly days of the summer soil, and every household uses it for the sake of strengthening the body.
In Japan, it is a flavorful and nutritious ingredient, but it is also imported from China, Taiwan and other places. Although the quality and quantity of farmed eels in Japan have improved, they are still unable to meet the demand as far as the current situation is concerned. In addition, there are sometimes rare wild eels caught, with quite different flavors.
There is a school of theory about the etymology of "unagi" in Japanese, which is taken from the "munaki" in the "Manba Collection" compiled in the Nara period, the poem "The Song of the Skinny Man" chanted by Ōtomo Ieyasha, "Ishimaru / Wu Wu Shen / Shassho / Yoshitsune Yunwu Zeng / Bunai Trick Takeo";
Another school of thought is that eels are elongated like the "munagi" on the roof of a house, and evolved into the name "unagi" in the Edo period.
The difference between "Guan Dongfeng" and "Kansai Wind"?
In the Kanto region, it is grilled from the back of the eel, steamed, and grilled again.
The Kansai region is different, where it is cut open from the abdomen and grilled without steaming.
Different cooking methods are used, the former is tender and tender, and the latter is refreshing and crisp, creating different flavors.
Sardines (鰯) are synonymous with the Japanese people's favorite blue fish. In the past, the catch was very large, accounting for 30% of Japan's total catch, which is a representative of cheap fish. However, in recent years, the catch has been greatly reduced, and the price has also risen. At present, most of Japan's traditional dried fish or whole dried fish processed products are california spotted sardines imported from the United States. Summer to autumn is the peak season, and around December to May, because the catch is unstable, not only the taste becomes worse, but the price also soars. As the weather gets hotter, the fat of the sardines increases and the taste becomes delicious. "Spotted Sardine (真鰯)", a Japanese name with the word "真", means that it is the most representative of sardine fish, and the word "鰯" is said to be a japanese "humble (translation: Japanese pronunciation similar to 鰯)". In addition, there is a saying that because this fish dies as soon as it is caught, the "fish" is a false rumor of "weak (pronounced tongka in Japanese)"; there is also a saying that this fish will be eaten by other fish, so it is too "weak".
Why is dried sardine called "Tianzuo"?
In Japan, dried sardines are nicknamed "field", because farmers boil and dry various sardines and mix them into the fields as fertilizer, especially in the Izumi-min area of Osaka Prefecture, which is a necessity for the cultivation of wooden wool. It is said that mixing sardines into the field will increase the harvest, so it is called "field work" or "50,000 meters (meaning to describe harvest)".
Ayu is a freshwater fish, known in Japanese as Ayu, and is named "Ayu" because of its unique fragrance. The flavors vary depending on the season, including juvenile ayu in spring (wakamata), early summer ayu (wakame), and autumn spawning ayu (ち鮎), and there are many ways to enjoy it. In addition, it is also processed to make mature sushi and other tributes to the imperial court, and it has long been a popular fish in Japan. Juveniles are omnivorous, but adults become vegans who only eat river moss. Because of eating river moss, it will have a unique aroma like a cucumber. In recent years, because the price of farming is cheaper, even supermarkets and so on can be bought, although it does not smell very fragrant, but it tastes very fat. In addition to salt grilling, it is also good to enjoy a variety of cooking methods such as braised or cream grilled. The salted ayu offal "Uruka" has a unique aroma, rich freshness and bitterness, and is best used as a appetizer.
Is there a specialty ayu all over Japan?
Salt-grilled ayu is a seasonal poem in summer. The taste of ayu also varies from river to river, and there are proud specialty ayu all over Japan.
For example, the ayu of Lake Biwa will not grow any bigger;
Mountain pepper ayu, which is boiled together with mountain pepper and others, has become a specialty of Shiga Prefecture.
Horse mackerel can be made into sashimi, salt-flavored fried horse mackerel, fried horse mackerel, salted fish and other dishes, and has been a popular fish since the past (fish that swim on the surface of the ocean and have a blue protective color on their backs). The Japanese word for "taste" is "aji", and it is said that because the horse mackerel tastes delicious, the name is taken as the homophone "aji". Horse mackerel can be caught off the coast of Japan all year round, and the taste is quite fat, and the most stable season is between spring and summer, using seine seines, fixed nets and other methods of catching. Chilean horse mackerel, which is distributed in Chile in South America, along the peruvian coast to New Zealand, and the yellow-banded trevally, which is distributed in the northeast of the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, are mainly imported to Japan as raw materials for salted fish. The so-called "horse mackerel" in the market generally refers to "Japanese horse mackerel", the smaller one is called "bean mameaji", and the larger one is called "big oaji". "大あじ(oaji)" is pronounced the same as "oaji", while "oaji" means "ordinary taste, not so tasty". Generally speaking, large fish are fatter, but in the case of "Japanese horse mackerel", the large one has less oil and is not so tasty, so the phrase "big oaji" actually implies "oaji".
Is it a local dish that is famous all over Japan?
Since a long time ago, the way horse mackerel is cooked has always been salted horse mackerel and made into salted fish, but around 1965, the chefs of Shinjuku Gakutei were so impressed that they tasted the local dish "tataki" around the Izu Peninsula, and they launched this dish in their shops, so that the way to eat raw horse mackerel was well known and spread to the whole country in one go. Since then, the price of the original civilian ingredient "horse mackerel" has also increased on an average basis.