Fried ── Fried dishes
Ebiten
Ebiten — a fried cake of ground shrimp, shell and all, worked into tofu
Small shrimp are ground shell and all, worked with white fish and tofu, and fried into a cake — a fish-paste product from eastern Ehime. The salt is kept light to let the tofu's sweetness and the shrimp's aroma come through, with the ground shell left in for a gritty bite.
- Origin: Ehime Niihama
- About 620 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
The chewy grit of ground shrimp shell lingers with the first bite, and it is said the sweetness of tofu and the scent of shrimp rise up right after. Small shrimp two to five centimeters long, caught abundantly along the Hiuchi Sea coast, are ground shell and all, then worked into a custom-pressed tofu and white fish before being deep-fried. The salt content is said to run notably lower than in other fish-paste products, a choice said to let the sweetness of the tofu and the aroma of the shrimp come through.
How it's made
Fresh fish from the Seto Inland Sea and a custom tofu pressed from domestic soybeans are kneaded together with a measured amount of whole shrimp, shell included. The mixture is ground by machine and seasoned with salt and sugar. Rapeseed oil is heated to a high temperature, and each piece is fried by hand and turned frequently while watching how the surface browns. Kneading in the tofu and shrimp shell is said to leave the finished piece both soft and pleasantly gritty at once.
Why it took this shape
The waters from the Hiuchi Sea to Niihama and Kawanoe are said to be prime grounds for this small shrimp, and it is said to have long found its way into home cooking there. Because the shrimp tastes good whether boiled or grilled, the practice of grinding it whole, shell included, aside from the head, is said to have taken hold as a way to use every part, and the dish is treasured as a fish cake that delivers calcium along with its flavor. Being a fish-paste product, it keeps well, and it is said to be a common choice for a winter homecoming gift or a year-end present.
Before You Go
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- How to use an antenna shopA guide to what's sold at an antenna shop, its restaurant or eat-in counters, its tourist-information role, the cluster of shops around Ginza and Yurakucho, and how to use one before a trip or for last-minute souvenirs.
Dishes in the same style
- Agemaki Yuba no NimonoFresh yuba sheets are layered, rolled into a log, sliced into rounds, and deep-fried before a slow simmer in a light broth — a Nikko dish built on the region's rippled yuba-making craft, served at New Year's and celebrations.
- Aji FryFilleted horse mackerel breaded in panko and fried. Chiba prefecture holds some of the richest mackerel fishing grounds in Japan, and frying is thought to have taken root as a quick way to eat regional brands like the oily 'golden aji' fresh.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Ehime
- Bote ChaRoasted tea is whisked to a froth with a salted bamboo whisk and poured over black-bean rice with toppings like bamboo shoot — a dish from Matsuyama. Said to have been devised by a domain lord's household during a period of enforced frugality, it's still served at a temple's springtime Buddha festival.
- Igisu DofuIgisu seaweed and raw soybean flour are simmered into stock and chilled firm like agar, a dish from Imabari. Its cool texture is meant to coax back a summer appetite, and households differ over whether to fold in shrimp or leave it plain.
- SatsumaGrilled fish is flaked and worked into barley miso, thinned with a stock from its own bones, and ladled over hot barley rice — a dish of southern Ehime. Said to have started as a fisherman's trick for making dry barley rice easier to eat, with the fish varying by area and household.
- Tai SomenA whole sea bream is simmered and set on a large platter of boiled somen noodles, the cooking broth doubling as a dipping sauce. The noodles are linked to the Tanabata weaver-star legend and the fish to good fortune, and the dish has long been served to family at weddings and milestone birthdays.
- TaimeshiEastern Ehime cooks a whole sea bream into the rice pot; the south instead lays raw fillets marinated in egg and soy over hot rice. Considered an auspicious fish, it appears at celebrations too, and which style a household follows tends to run by region.
- Ehime Tako MeshiOctopus from the Iyo Sea is cut into pieces and cooked into rice with kelp and root vegetables. It's said to have begun with fishermen simmering their catch right on board, and the finishing touch of mikan peel on top is distinctly Ehime.