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Koayu no Sansho Ni
Koayu no sansho ni — small Lake Biwa ayu simmered with sansho pepper
Koayu, small ayu that never grow large because of Lake Biwa's limited feed, are simmered sweet-savory with ginger and sansho pepper to tame the freshwater fish's aroma. Cooks avoid stirring too roughly so the delicate fish stay whole.
- Origin: Shiga
- About 360 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Koayu no sansho-ni simmers small ayu, about seven centimeters long and caught in Lake Biwa, sweet and salty with whole sansho peppercorns and pickled plum. Only the ayu that swim up rivers reportedly grow to about twenty centimeters; those that stay in the lake remain small and tender. Ginger and sansho pepper are often simmered alongside them to mask the particular smell of freshwater fish, and techniques like using starch syrup or avoiding tossing the pot are said to help keep the delicate fish from falling apart.
How it's made
Washed small ayu go into a pot with soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and other seasonings, then are heated. Once it boils, the heat is lowered and pickled plum and whole sansho peppercorns are added, and the fish simmer slowly under a drop lid. Mirin is stirred in at the end for a final steam-simmer, then the fish are moved to a dish to cool. Some processors reportedly use more seasoning and cook it down firmer to bring out a glossy shine.
Why it took this shape
Ayu in Lake Biwa are said to grow no larger than about seven centimeters because of what's available for them to eat, which is why they're called koayu, or small ayu. Once they swim upstream, they feed on river moss and grow to about twenty centimeters, which is reportedly why the young fish have long been shipped out and released into rivers across the country. Because freshwater fish carry a distinctive smell, simmering them with ginger and sansho pepper is thought to have developed as a fix, resulting in a preserve whose exact preparation still varies by region and household today.
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.
- 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.
- At teishoku diners, shokudo, and machi-chukaA guide to the teishoku set-meal format, free rice refills, table placement, and paying at a shokudo-style diner.
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 Shiga
- Aka Konnyaku NiKonjac dyed reddish with iron oxide, a specialty of Omi-Hachiman, is pan-simmered with bonito flakes and soy sauce. The color holds even after cooking, and the dish is a fixture at ceremonial meals and school lunches alike.
- Amenoio GohanA whole Lake Biwa trout, migrating upstream to spawn, is set atop rice and cooked together; "amenoio" means "rain fish," a name tied to the trout's autumn run after rainfall. The flesh and roe are flaked and mixed through the rice, traditionally made in large pots for gatherings.
- Biwamasu SashimiBiwamasu, a trout found only in Lake Biwa, is filleted and served raw as sashimi. The fish grows richest from early to midsummer and is prized locally as "the jewel of Lake Biwa" — a fish so scarce that it rarely reaches markets beyond the lakeshore.
- Chojifu no Karashi AeChojifu, a square baked wheat gluten unique to Shiga, is paired with cucumber and dressed in mustard-miso vinegar. The gluten also appears in Buddhist vegetarian meals, and its chewy texture with a refreshing tang makes the dish a staple at family gatherings.
- Dongame JiruEggplant scored with a crosshatch pattern is simmered in dashi, then finished with miso and ground sesame. Said to originate in the merchant town of Gokasho, the name compares the muddy look of the sesame in the broth and the eggplant's scored skin to a turtle's shell.
- Ebi MameFreshwater shrimp from Lake Biwa are simmered sweet-savory with soybeans. Inexpensive and long-keeping, the dish is eaten as everyday fare, but is also served at New Year's with a wish for long life — that one might live, like the bent-backed shrimp, into old age.