Fermented & preserved
Fugu no Ko no Kasuzuke
Fugu no ko no kasuzuke — puffer fish roe cured in salt and sake lees
A rare Sado delicacy in which puffer fish ovaries are salt-cured for two years or more, then aged for a long stretch in Sado's sake lees. Only ovaries processed by licensed fugu chefs are sold, and the practice is said to date back to the Edo period.
- Origin: Niigata Sado
- About 290 km northwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Blowfish ovaries are salted for more than two years, then aged further for a long stretch in sake lees, producing a rare delicacy. Though the part is naturally toxic, the long process of salting and lees-curing renders it safe to eat, softening the sharp saltiness into something mellow. A sticky, dense texture layers with the rich fragrance of the sake lees in this labor-intensive dish.
How it's made
Ovaries processed by someone holding the required special license are packed carefully and firmly into fine sake lees from this sake-brewing region. Before eating, the lees clinging to the surface are wiped off gently with gauze, and the flesh is sliced thin and eaten as is. Lightly grilling it brings out even more aroma. It's enjoyed many ways, with grated daikon, as a filling for rice balls, or stirred into a bowl of rice with tea.
Why it took this shape
The method of slowly curing the toxic ovaries in salt and then sake lees over a long span of time, transforming them into something safe to eat, is said to have developed through careful trial. Using the fine sake lees produced in this brewing region gave a mellower result than salt-curing alone, and the wisdom of turning a dangerous ingredient into a delicacy through painstaking effort has been carried down through the generations.
Dishes in the same style
- Achara ZukeWhite melon, eggplant, and lotus root are pickled in a sweet vinegar spiked with red chili — the name is said to trace to the Portuguese 'achar', carried in through Hakata Bay's old trade, and an odd number of vegetables is used for Obon hospitality.
- AhodakiOld takuan pickle, once its flavor and aroma have faded, is desalted and simmered again in soy sauce, a pantry staple from the Hokusei area. Its name — playfully self-deprecating, roughly "doing a foolish thing" — nods to eating it well past its prime, a frugal way to waste nothing.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Niigata
- AnboA Chuetsu-region dish of steamed rice-flour dumplings filled with sweet bean paste, pickled greens or eggplant. Similar in spirit to Nagano's oyaki but distinguished by its rice-flour skin, reflecting land suited to rice rather than wheat.
- Echigo misoA red, savory miso from Niigata, also called 'ukikoji miso' (floating-koji miso) because its polished whole-grain rice koji appears to float within the paste. Its style is said to vary across Niigata's Joetsu, Chuetsu, Kaetsu, and Sado districts, each shaped by local climate.
- Fukashi NasuA Niigata dish of kinchaku eggplant halved, steamed, chilled and eaten with mustard or ginger soy sauce. In a prefecture among Japan's top eggplant producers, it is said to have been valued as a cooling dish through the summer.
- Hegi SobaA soba from Ojiya, Niigata, that uses funori seaweed, the same binder once used to size thread for the region's textiles, as a noodle binder. It is arranged in small bite-sized portions on a wooden box called a hegi.
- Hiyashijiru Miso JitateA chilled soup from the Chuetsu region, dashi thinned with miso and studded with chopped cucumber and shiso. Devised to stay appetizing through the summer heat, it is said to be eaten on its own or poured over rice or noodles.
- IgoneriA Sado specialty made by simmering and kneading igo seaweed until it sets into a firm sheet, then slicing it thin to eat with ginger soy sauce or vinegar miso. Chewy with a faint sea-breeze aroma, it is said to trace back to Kyushu cuisine carried north by kitamae-bune ships.