Seafood ── Fish
Namazu
catfish — a whiskered river fish revived as a regional specialty
A whiskered river fish, long associated in folklore with causing earthquakes. Served as tempura or grilled kabayaki-style, sometimes as an eel substitute — canal-laced water towns offer easy farming conditions, spurring local revival efforts.
- Freshwater fish
What it's made of
A whiskered river fish, long tied in folklore to causing earthquakes. The flesh is white and mild; fried, it turns light and airy, and grilled kabayaki-style, the fragrant glaze gives it a satisfaction close to eel, which is part of why it has served as an eel substitute. Its skin is slippery, and scraping it clean is said to be one of the more laborious steps in prep.
How it's made
Filleted and boned, it's standardly fried or grilled kabayaki-style. It's also skewered and grilled the way eel is, and getting the glaze's aroma to match the flesh's tenderness is said to take a careful hand. Because the flesh itself is so mild, the glaze does most of the work. In a few places it's also served raw or chilled, letting that plainness stand on its own.
Why it took this shape
The canal networks laced through this water-town region make easy conditions for raising catfish, or so it's said. Yoshikawa in Saitama has taken up farming under the banner 'namazu no sato', helped along by demand for it as an eel substitute, building both a revival industry and a food culture around it. The tangle of waterways itself is said to suit both farmed and wild fish equally well.
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
- AyuA river fish that grazes algae off clean streambed stones, giving it a distinct watermelon-like scent. Salt-grilled and famously caught by tomo-zuri decoy fishing — the clearer the river, the more that scent is said to stand out.
- DojoA slender fish of paddy mud and streams, simmered whole in yanagawa-nabe hot pot or skewered plain and glazed sweet-savory. Hardy enough to survive poor water quality, it has long been an everyday fish even from canals near cities.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Known for it here
- Known for it here: Saitama, Yoshikawa
Carrying on the river-fish food culture of this canal-laced region along the Naka River, the city farms catfish under the banner 'namazu no sato'.
Contrast
- UnagiGrilled and glazed as kabayaki, traditionally eaten on the midsummer Day of the Ox for stamina. Eastern Japan steams before grilling while the west grills straight through — towns by brackish lakes rich in glass eels built eel-farming into local fame.
- DojoA slender fish of paddy mud and streams, simmered whole in yanagawa-nabe hot pot or skewered plain and glazed sweet-savory. Hardy enough to survive poor water quality, it has long been an everyday fish even from canals near cities.
- FunaA river fish including the Lake Biwa-endemic nigorobuna, fermented with rice into funazushi, often called the ancestor of all sushi. Its true flavor is said to come only from the lake the endemic species calls home, sustaining an ancient narezushi craft.