Raw
Same Namasu
Same namasu — thinly sliced shark blanched and dressed in fermented miso
Shark meat, sliced thin, is briefly blanched and dressed in a strongly fermented, salty miso sauce distinctive to the Shima area. Because the character for shark contains the character for "intersection," the fish is considered auspicious and traditionally served at weddings and other celebrations.
- Origin: Mie Shima
- About 310 km southwest of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Same-namasu is shark meat sliced thinner than sashimi, briefly blanched, and then chilled firm in cold water. It's served with a distinctively pungent, strongly fermented miso sauce found only in the Shima area. The character used for shark is said to carry the meaning of crossing or bonding, which is considered auspicious, and the dish has reportedly been a fixture at life-cycle celebrations such as betrothal gift exchanges, weddings, yakudoshi, and beiju longevity celebrations.
How it's made
Shark meat is sliced thinner than sashimi, passed briefly through boiling water, and then firmed up in cold water. It's served with the Shima area's distinctive miso sauce, strongly fermented and salty. In the Futami area of Ise, gelatin rendered from shark skin is reportedly combined with vegetables simmered in soy sauce and chilled into a firm nikogori, while in the Uji area shark meat salted or marinated in soy and mirin is sun-dried halfway and then grilled as same-dare.
Why it took this shape
Sharks were reportedly called wani or fuka in ancient times and appear in myths and wooden tablets, suggesting they were a fish close to daily life for a long time. In the Shima area, sharks are said to have been kept alive in tanks and prepared on the day of a celebration, served as one dish among many on large platters in a spread called tebiki-ryori or sahachi-ryori. Same-namasu is thought to have taken shape as a fitting, auspicious dish made carefully from a familiar catch of the sea for occasions worth celebrating.
Before you go
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- 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.
- Food for Hinamatsuri and Tango no SekkuA guide to the chirashi sushi and hina-arare eaten at Hinamatsuri, and the kashiwa mochi and chimaki eaten at Tango no Sekku — festivals wishing for children's healthy growth.
Dishes in the same style
- Akagarei no KomaburiRoe-bearing red flounder is sliced into sashimi and tossed with its own boiled, crumbled eggs, a dish from around the Amijiro area of Iwami Town. Said to have descended from a similar dish made with crucian carp roe, it pairs rich eggs with mild, fatty winter flounder for festivals and New Year's.
- Amagi no KawatakeA rare wild freshwater algae, found only in the Kogane River in Asakura, is dressed with sweet or three-flavor vinegar — said to have once been presented to the shogun, and now conservation efforts continue as it's listed as endangered.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Contrast
- Sakana no TatakiSmall fish such as horse mackerel or grunt, bones and skin included, are minced fine with a knife and finished with shiso leaf, a dish from the Kumano-nada coast. Born from a fisherman's way of enjoying the day's catch at its freshest, in parts of the Shima area it is also called "namero."
- Manbo Sumiso AeOcean sunfish, torn by hand into pieces, is briefly boiled and dressed in vinegar-miso, a dish from the Higashi-Kishu coast. The trick is a short boil, since the flesh shrinks away with prolonged cooking, leaving a texture said to resemble chicken tenderloin.
Also from Mie
- AhodakiOld takuan pickle, once its flavor and aroma have faded, is desalted and simmered again in soy sauce, a pantry staple from the Hokusei area. Its name — playfully self-deprecating, roughly "doing a foolish thing" — nods to eating it well past its prime, a frugal way to waste nothing.
- Arame MakiRehydrated arame, a brown seaweed once offered to Ise Shrine, is wrapped several times around sardine or saury and simmered in soy sauce and sugar. The choice of fish shifts by locality along the Toba coast.
- Bon JiruA miso soup packed with seasonal vegetables such as burdock, eggplant, and pumpkin. Following Zen Buddhist practice of avoiding killing during Obon, it skips bonito or dried-fish stock, relying instead on fried tofu and a generous mix of vegetables for its savor.
- ChagayuRice is cooked in water steeped with a bag of roasted tea leaves. Born in Iga, where farmland was scarce and rice precious, the extra water was a way to stretch the grain further; in summer some households chill the porridge before eating.
- ChatsuJulienned daikon, carrot, lotus root, kelp, and fried tofu are simmered in vinegar and sugar, a dish from Asahi town. Its name is said to come from "chatsu," the red-lacquered vessel once used to serve vegetarian temple food, and soy sauce is deliberately left out to keep the dish pale.
- Fuki DawaraRice cooked with soybeans is wrapped in butterbur leaves into a small rice-bale shape, an Iga-area harvest offering. It is set before the rice-paddy deity at planting time to pray for a good crop, and doubles as a portable snack for breaks between farm work.