Seafood ── Fish
Managatsuo
butterfish — a flat, silvery fish for Kansai's New Year table
A flat, diamond-shaped white-fleshed fish. In the Kansai region it serves as a celebratory fish, miso-glazed or featured at New Year — easy to prepare thanks to few bones and delicate fat, long valued as an auspicious catch along the Seto Inland Sea.
- White fish
What it's made of
A flat, near-diamond-shaped fish with soft white flesh. Fat gathers just under the skin and is said to turn mellow and sweet once cooked. With few bones, it is easy to eat and easy to handle as fillets. Its season runs from winter into early spring, when the fat is said to be at its richest and the flesh firmest. Raw, its sweetness is said to stand out; cooked, it turns soft and yields easily apart.
How it's made
It is mostly taken by gillnet in the Seto Inland Sea and Harima Sea, and is said to spoil quickly, so freshness management right after landing is treated as important. It is often miso-marinated and grilled as saikyo-yaki, or served as part of New Year cooking, and its low bone count is said to make it easy to prepare into fillets, suiting it well to sale as cut portions. The salt and sugar in a miso marinade are also said to firm the flesh and help it keep longer.
Why it took this shape
In the Kansai region along the Seto Inland Sea, it is said to have long been treated as a celebratory fish for New Year and other festive occasions. The "mana" in its name is said to echo "true fish" (真魚), possibly reflecting a history as a byword for edible fish in general. Its refined white flesh and low bone count are thought to be part of why it has been favored at ceremonial tables. Being easy to portion without worrying about bones is also said to have suited it to shared, festive meals.
Before you go
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- Roadside stations, direct-sale stands, and marketsHow to enjoy buying food near where it's produced, visiting and shopping at morning markets and fish markets, what to expect at farm stands, and finding local food at roadside stations (michi-no-eki).
- Foods to look for in springA guide to foods often seen in Japan around spring — early bonito, bamboo shoots, sakura mochi, hanami bento, new-season tea, and butterbur sprouts — with rough pointers for finding them.
Dishes in the same style
- AinameA white-fleshed fish of rocky shores, served raw or simmered in old Edomae style. Sedentary by nature, it varies by region, and in some Tohoku ports its liver is eaten too — a fish long prized as a local catch.
- AmadaiA pink-skinned fish with a subtle sweetness, known in Kyoto as 'guji'. Fish caught in Wakasa Bay were lightly salted and carried inland along the old Saba Kaido route, a history that made lightly-salted Wakasa amadai prized in Kyoto cuisine.