Fried ── Fried dishes
Sakura Ebi no Kakiage
Sakura ebi no kakiage — a fritter of raw sakura shrimp from Suruga Bay
Raw sakura shrimp is bound in a batter of flour and water, then deep-fried. Sakura shrimp are landed only in Suruga Bay, and the fritter is said to be made widely across the prefecture's homes and restaurants, not just near the fishing ports.
- Origin: Shizuoka City, Shizuoka
- About 150 km southwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Sakura ebi kakiage is made by binding raw sakura shrimp in a batter of flour and water and deep-frying it. All the sakura shrimp landed in Japan reportedly come from Suruga Bay, where the shrimp are said to live in schools at depths of 400 to 600 meters. To protect the population, fishing is closed during the June-to-August spawning season, with the season limited to a spring and an autumn run.
How it's made
Raw sakura shrimp are bound in a batter of flour and water and deep-fried in oil heated to 180 degrees Celsius. It is eaten as is, over rice as a bowl dish, or on top of soba or udon noodles. Beyond raw shrimp, it is also reportedly made with sun-dried sakura shrimp, and sometimes combined with dried whitebait in the same fritter.
Why it took this shape
The fishing method reportedly targets only shrimp that rise near the surface at night, and fishing outside the two set seasons is closed to protect the stock. The dish is said to be made widely across Shizuoka, not just near the fishing ports, and served at restaurants throughout the prefecture, making it one of its best-known local dishes. The Yui fishing cooperative reportedly holds cooking classes and a yearly sakura shrimp festival.
Before You Go
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 Shizuoka
- Abekawa MochiFresh-pounded rice cake is dusted in soybean flour mixed with sugar. Named for the Abe River, it's said to have been famous among Tokaido travelers as a teahouse specialty and to appear in the travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige.
- BokumeshiSteamed eel and shaved burdock are simmered together and folded into freshly cooked rice. Its name is said to trace to oversized eels unfit for sale, used in staff meals at eel farms along the Oi River — a mixed rice dish of the region.
- Fuji KinkaBred by Shizuoka Prefecture by crossing its own Duroc line, Fujirock, with Jinhua, a rare breed from China's Zhejiang province — found only in Shizuoka. Said to combine Jinhua's tenderness with Fujirock's marbling.
- Fujieda Asa RamenA town that eats ramen at breakfast — often a hot bowl followed by a cold one.
- Fujinomiya YakisobaIt grew up as a postwar snack at Fujinomiya's candy shops and okonomiyaki stalls. Its identity rests on three local staples: chewy steamed noodles, pork-lard cracklings called nikukasu, and a sardine-powder topping called dashiko.
- GawaRaw bonito is minced and mixed into a chilled miso broth with cucumber, pickled plum, and shiso. Its name is said to come from the "gawa-gawa" sound of stirring miso into ice water aboard a fishing boat — originally a summer meal made at sea.