Processed staples ── Nerimono (fish-paste products)
Surimi
Surimi — the frozen fish paste that remade the industry
Surimi is ground fish paste, the base material for every fish-paste product. A freezing technique established in Hokkaido around 1959 is said to have made it possible to process fish from distant waters year-round, anywhere in the country.
- Origin: Hokkaido
Lineage
What it's made of
Ground fish -- often walleye pollock -- rinsed in water to strip away excess fat and dark meat, left as a white paste. It's the base material behind every fish-paste product, from kamaboko to chikuwa. Before freezing was worked out, surimi kept for only a short time and could only be processed near where the fish was landed.
How it's made
Fish flesh is ground fine, rinsed, mixed with sugar and polyphosphate, then frozen. That process is said to be what let the paste keep its quality without protein breakdown, making long storage and shipping over distance possible. The sugar and phosphate are said to protect the fish protein so it keeps its bounce even after thawing.
Why it took this shape
Around 1959, Hokkaido's fisheries research institute is said to have worked out and patented a way to freeze walleye pollock into surimi. Fish-paste products that once could only be made near where the fish was landed could now, thanks to that technique, be made year-round anywhere in the country -- laying the ground for the industry's nationwide growth, it's said. Fish caught in distant waters could now become the main raw material for fish-paste products too, a significant shift.
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 in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
Dishes in the same style
- Ago ChikuwaChikuwa made from the surimi of flying fish, called "ago" in Tottori. A knife through the firm grilled skin sends up a fragrant crackle, and it turns out darker than ordinary chikuwa. It's a taste of early summer, in season through the fish's spawning run from spring into summer.
- Ago-yakiAgo-yaki is Izumo noyaki made from flying-fish paste, fire-baked without a skewer. Its crackling surface and refined sweetness make it a favorite travel souvenir from Shimane.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Root style
- KamabokoKamaboko is white fish paste mounded on a wooden board and steamed into a springy cake with a faint sweetness. Regions differ mainly in whether they steam it or fire-bake it without steaming.
- Gyoniku SausageFish sausage packs frozen surimi, pork fat, and spices into a sausage casing. It's said to have spread after the war as a way to use surplus tuna, becoming a school-lunch staple.
- Kani KamabokoKani kamaboko is fish paste bound with alginate and worked into crab-like fibers. Sugiyo of Nanao, Ishikawa, is said to have released the world's first version in 1972, now a global export.
Also from Hokkaido
- Asahikawa RamenSoy-sauce broth built on seafood and pork bones, topped with lard so it stays hot. A response to the region's severe winters.
- Asahikawa HorumenA local dish that crosses Asahikawa's two soul foods — soy-sauce ramen and grilled pork offal. Pork offal, cleaned and prepped to remove its odor, sits on a soy-based broth. It was devised in Asahikawa in the 2010s.
- Gatatan RamenAshibetsu's local dish gatatan, turned into ramen: a salt broth thickened with potato starch, loaded with vegetables, meat and seafood, and finished with a stream of beaten egg.
- Bibai no TorimeshiChicken and onion are cooked into rice with soy sauce, sugar, and sake — said to trace back to a Meiji-era landowner in Bibai's Nakamura district who had tenant farmers raise chickens, then served them to guests.
- Bibai YakitoriOne skewer carries the whole bird — offal, skin and all.
- Biratori WagyuJapanese Black raised in Biratori, Hidaka, founded on breeding cattle brought from Shimane in 1962 — finished slowly through harsh winters, said to give the meat a notably deep flavor.