Home-style ── Gohan no otomo (rice companions)
Ika no Shiokara
Ika no shiokara — salted, fermented squid
Squid flesh and innards salted together and left to ferment, its heavy salt said to hold concentrated umami. Depending on the method, there are named types like aka-zukuri, shiro-zukuri, and kuro-zukuri.
Lineage
What it's made of
Ika no shiokara is squid flesh sliced thin, mixed with its innards and salt, and left to ferment. Under the heavy salt, the squid's own sweetness and the richness of the innards are said to seep through. Depending on the method, there are three named types — aka-zukuri, shiro-zukuri, and kuro-zukuri — each said to differ in flavor and color.
How it's made
Fresh squid is separated into flesh and innards; the flesh is sliced thin and mixed well with the innards and salt. Left to age in the refrigerator for days to weeks, enzymes from the innards are said to build up both umami and stickiness over that time. Shiro-zukuri uses skinned flesh, kuro-zukuri adds squid ink — the method and region are said to steer the flavor in different directions.
Why it took this shape
It's thought to have grown out of a preservation instinct in seafood-rich regions — salting flesh and innards together so nothing from the catch went to waste. A similar product, shuto, is said to differ in using only the innards, where shiokara uses both flesh and innards. Before refrigeration, it's said to have taken root region by region as a way to keep eating a heavy catch long after it came in.
Before You Go
- How to use a convenience storeA quick guide to choosing rice balls and hot snacks, buying coffee, paying by cash, IC card, or tap payment, using the eat-in corner, and sorting your trash — the basics for a first visit.
- 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.
- Food for Obon and the harvest moon (tsukimi)A guide to the meat-free shojin ryori and somen served at Obon, and the tsukimi dango offered on the night of the harvest moon.
Dishes in the same style
- Ajitsuke NoriSheet nori brushed with a soy-and-sugar seasoning and toasted crisp, said to have been devised as a gift for an imperial visit to Kyoto in the Meiji era. Its snap gives way to a burst of flavor and aroma.
- Chirimen JakoYoung sardine fry, boiled in salted water and sun-dried, with the name shifting according to how far the drying goes. Western Japan tends to call it chirimen-jako, eastern Japan shirasu-boshi.