Rice dishes ── Sushi toppings
Kisu (Kawashimo-jitate)
sillago given a quick pass of heat on the skin before it's sliced
Sillago given a quick pass of heat on its skin, then cooled in ice water before being butterflied. It's a way of adding the skin's faint richness and bite to an otherwise very plain white fish — a fish once served daily even to the shogun, and known for its many small bones.
Lineage
What it's made of
Sillago is a very plain, low-fat white fish with delicate, thin skin. Giving just the skin a quick pass of heat, then chilling it in ice water — the 'kawashimo' treatment — leaves the flesh raw while only the skin's edge is cooked. The result is said to draw out the richness sitting just under the skin and give an otherwise plain fish some depth.
How it's made
After the fish is filleted into three pieces, hot water is poured over the skin, or it's lightly seared, then plunged into ice water to firm the flesh. This treatment is used on fish with thick skin or skin that carries flavor, a logic said to connect it to the vinegar work done on kohada and other oily 'hikarimono.' Fine scoring cuts close to honeboné work are sometimes added too.
Why it took this shape
With its many small bones and thin skin, the practice of applying heat before chilling is thought to have been refined as a way to keep the skin's flavor while still making the fish easy to eat. Because the fish itself is so plain, the difference this work makes is said to show clearly in the taste.
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.
- Station food and ekiben (station bento)Where and when to find ekiben (station bento) before it sells out, etiquette for eating on board, how standing soba and udon stalls work, and where to find souvenirs sold inside the station.
- Soraben and airport diningA guide to what soraben means and how it differs from ekiben, whether to buy before or after security, etiquette for eating on board, airport restaurants, and things to check before buying food souvenirs to take home.
Dishes in the same style
- AkagaiA clam named for its red flesh, colored by blood that carries an iron-based pigment rather than the copper most mollusks use. Prized for its crisp bite, it's a premium topping often substituted commercially with the smaller ark shell relative sarubō-gai, and freshness shapes the work more than almost anything else.
- Akami no ZukeLean tuna cured in a soy-based marinade. Born as a way to keep the fish from spoiling before refrigeration existed, it's said to survive today as its own deliberate preparation even now that fattier cuts get the attention — one of the founding techniques of Edomae sushi itself.