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Igirisu
Igirisu — dissolved igisu seaweed set into a jelly block with mixed vegetables and peanuts
Dried igisu seaweed is dissolved and poured over mixed ingredients like wood ear mushroom, tofu, and carrot to set into a firm, agar-like block — said to be rooted in Imabari's igisu-doufu, brought by settlers who moved from Shikoku after the Shimabara Rebellion.
- Origin: Nagasaki
- About 920 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Dried igisu seaweed is simmered until it dissolves, then set with ingredients in a mold into a firm, jelly-like block, sliced and eaten as is. The dish is said to be prized for the savory flavor of its fillings and its smooth texture going down; a plain version without filling, served for Buddhist rites, is thinly sliced and eaten with sesame-soy sauce or tofu dressing. As the seaweed itself has become a pricier ingredient, the dish is said to have shifted from everyday food toward something for special occasions.
How it's made
Dried igisu seaweed is rehydrated and simmered until it dissolves, then mixed with simmered or stir-fried wood ear mushroom, firm tofu, carrot and peanuts. This is poured into a mold, chilled until set, and sliced to serve. A version without any filling, called 'white igirisu,' is thinly sliced and served with sesame-soy sauce or tofu dressing. Judging the right moment to pour the mixture as it starts to set is said to be where a cook's skill shows.
Why it took this shape
The dish is said to trace back to 'igisu tofu,' a dish from the Imabari region of Shikoku; after the Shimabara Rebellion, farmers relocated from Shikoku as part of the recovery effort and reportedly discovered that igisu seaweed grew in the Ariake Sea just as it did in the Seto Inland Sea, which is thought to have spread the cooking method. The name is said to have nothing to do with the country of England, instead coming from a shift in the seaweed's own name. As the seaweed has grown pricier, fewer households make it, and it's said to be drifting toward a dish for special occasions.
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.
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- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
Dishes in the same style
- Agonoko UmaniThe roe of egg-bearing flying fish, caught only in early summer, is simmered in stock and soy sauce as an Oki bar snack. Its large grains and dense, sticky texture are prized as a delicacy said to be scarcer even than the fish's flesh.
- Funa MisoCrucian carp is simmered slowly with soybeans for around five hours, then finished in a sauce of red miso and coarse sugar. A freshwater fish dish of the Kiso rivers' lower basin, made with fatty winter carp simmered until the bones soften through.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Nagasaki
- ArumadoA hard-boiled egg dyed pink is wrapped in fish paste and steamed into a kamaboko log that shows a pink-rimmed cross-section when cut — a Hirado specialty, with kin dishes called "arimado" in Sasebo and "ryugan" in Nagasaki.
- Goto UdonA hand-pulled noodle from Shinkamigoto, Nagasaki. Its technique is thought to trace back to envoys returning from Tang China, and the island's camellia oil is worked into the dough for a smooth, elastic bite.
- HanahajikiCucumber, carrot, deep-fried tofu, and shrimp are cut into strips and fanned out on a plate to be dipped in a hot mustard vinegar-miso — a dish from Isahaya said to be named for how the mustard "flicks the nose," traditionally served at Buddhist memorial services.
- HatoshiShrimp and squid paste sandwiched in bread and deep-fried, a Nagasaki specialty said to have arrived from China in the Meiji era, growing from a shippoku banquet course into a food loved across the city.
- HikadoFish or chicken and vegetables like daikon and carrot are diced fine and simmered, thickened at the end with grated sweet potato — said to originate in a meat stew eaten by Portuguese residents of Nagasaki, its name from the Portuguese word for "minced."
- HikitoshiChicken raised at home is butchered for this Iki hot pot, typically enriched with iki-doufu, a rich local tofu, and firm-boiled somen — said to have begun as a dish served to guests in the inner parlor, its name tracing to "hiki-toshi," leading a guest through.