Murakami City in Niigata Prefecture is a salmon town that has lived together with salmon. The “Sennen Salmon Kikkawa” has been making salmon dishes that have been passed down through the generations in Murakami.
There are more than 100 salmon dishes that have been created over the millennium of Murakami’s salmon history.
We are passing on the culinary culture of Murakami to the present day through salmon dishes made with fermentation and aging techniques that take full advantage of the climate of Murakami City and the time and effort that goes into making them.

Salmon Culture Preserved by Murakami’s “Sennen Salmon Kikkawa

 Murakami City, located in the northernmost part of Niigata Prefecture and facing the Sea of Japan, has a history of delivering salmon as tax to the Imperial Court in Kyoto during the Heian period. Salmon were often caught and during the Edo period, salmon fishing was an important source of income for the Murakami clan. In the latter part of the Edo period, the fishing season gradually became poor, and the clan’s finances began to run out. Then, Buheiji Aoto, a samurai of the clan, noticed the “recurring nature” of salmon and created an environment for propagation, which led to the world’s first successful natural hatching and propagation of salmon. The town once again became prosperous, and even in years when the rice harvest was poor, a good catch of salmon helped the people. This is why the people of Murakami still respect salmon and treat it with great care. In Murakami, salmon is the only fish, not any other fish.

Even today, salmon runs up the Miomotegawa River that runs through the center of town, and the salmon culture has been carefully passed down through the millennia. The first company in Murakami to commercialize this traditional salmon dish was Sennen Salmon Kikkawa, which was founded in 1626 as a rice wholesaler. In the postwar period of the 1950s, when Murakami’s salmon cuisine was in decline, the company decided that it must not let Murakami’s salmon culture die out, and began producing and selling salmon dishes.

Product creation focusing on “natural” products

More than 1,000 salted salmon are hung from the ceiling beams in the machiya-style store built in the Meiji period. The sight is breathtaking. The process is simple: salt the fish and then dry it. This simple method has never changed. No food additives such as preservatives, chemical seasonings, or yeast extracts are used.

The “Shinmaki Salmon,” a similarly well-known salted salmon, is made to preserve the flavor of freshly caught salmon for a long period of time, while Murakami’s salted salmon is subjected to the cold northwest wind for one month to allow the enzymes in the salmon to break down the proteins and produce amino acids as a catalyst with the salt, giving it a special flavor unique to Murakami. This gives the salmon a special flavor unique to Murakami. The people of Murakami have always cherished and savored salmon. Looking up at the hanging salmon, it is clear that salmon is at the center of people’s lives. In this family, the salmon, not the people, are the most important,” says 15th generation owner Masatsugu Yoshikawa. Everyone in town makes it in their own homes, and each father brags to the other about how good it is. In Kikkawa, preparation begins in mid-November when a cold northwesterly wind blows and the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius. When you feel the clean, dignified wind on your skin, that’s when it’s time to start.

The first thing I do is to bow my palms in gratitude to the salmon in front of me. The salmon is carefully selected and wild-caught domestic male salmon. After about five days, the salmon are washed under running water and dried for three to four weeks. The Murakami style is to hang the salmon with the head down by attaching a string to the base of the tail fin, as it would be unbearable to put a string on the head of the salmon, which is a precious gift from Murakami. Mr. Yoshikawa is particular about the shape of the dried fish, even the fins are held up to give it a “manly” appearance. The enzymes work to produce a unique flavor. It is a deep flavor that can only be expressed by the wind that blows in Murakami. While drying the salmon, the artisans watch over the salmon as if they were their own children.

Appreciate everything about salmon and eat it.

The most popular recipe that everyone imagines using salmon is grilled salmon served with hot white rice. Salt-baked salmon is also a great accompaniment to rice, and of course, if you lightly grill the fillet, you can enjoy the skin as well. It is delicious freshly grilled, but the charm of salted salmon is that it can be enjoyed even after it has cooled down.

But that is not all there is to Murakami’s salmon cuisine. Because of their respect for the salmon, they carefully eat every part of the salmon, from the entrails and bones to the head and gills. As a result, more than a hundred different salmon dishes have been created. Inside Kikkawa’s restaurant, you will find a wide variety of salmon dishes. In addition to salted salmon fillets, grilled salmon marinated in secret broth and soy sauce, cured salmon ham cured slowly at low temperature, and harako (roe) marinated in soy sauce using the best large roe are all regular favorites. Salmon with sake is a great snack to accompany alcoholic drinks. There is a unique culture of celebrating a boy turning 5 years old by preparing a salmon dish at home when he wears his hakama. It is said that this is a way of saying, “Come back strong and strong,” just like the salmon. In Murakami, ” Salmon rice sushi” is an important New Year’s dish, and Kikkawa has been making its own koji since the Edo period. The pride of Kikkawa, which used to be a sake brewer, is also reflected in its desire to preserve Murakami’s important food culture.

Murakami’s respect for salmon has led to the development of an unparalleled salmon food culture. Mr. Yoshikawa says, ” The important thing is to put love into it. It is made by fermentation and ripening, so by watching over the changes in nature, and taking the time and effort to make it with love, you can create a delicious product, ” he says, looking up at the hanging salted salmon and narrowing his eyes. The supreme taste passed down through a thousand years of history will continue to be passed down as a part of the town’s living food culture for years to come.

First, we choose the best. We do not use any food additives, but rather we use human hands and spend a lot of time in nature to produce the “real thing”. We will continue to pursue the “one and only best taste” that only we can make.

The post Traditional culture of Echigo Murakami, lovingly produced “Sennen Salmon Kikkawa” salted salmon / Murakami City, Niigata Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

At the northern tip of Niigata Prefecture, near the border with Yamagata Prefecture, there is a scenic spot called Sasagawa Nagare (Sasagawa Stream). The beautiful 11-km-long rocky coastline, named after the central village, has caves and rocks of unusual shapes in the shallows near the shore. It is also a place rich in nature, where rock oysters, turban shells, and many fish live. Mr. Hisashi Kobayashi of the ” Sasakawaryu Salt Studio ” uses the clear seawater of the Sasakawaryu Stream to make salt.

Careful salt making at “Sasakawaregawa-nagare,” utilizing the know-how of the time

There are two main methods of salt production. One is to find rock salt in the soil, and the other is to extract salt from the sea or lakes by boiling it. In Japan, rock salt is not available and there are no salty lakes, so salt has long been produced using water from the sea, but salt production by pumping up seawater was very labor intensive and unproductive. However, salt production was not very productive due to the labor-intensive process of salt production. Around 1971, a new process was introduced to produce salt by electrolyzing seawater to extract sodium ions from the water and boiling it to produce a dense brine of at least 99.5%, which enabled a more efficient and stable supply of salt. In 1997, the monopoly system for salt in Japan, which had existed for more than 90 years, was abolished in response to the diverse needs of consumers for salt. This was the opportunity for Mr. Kobayashi to take up the challenge of salt production at his workshop, which is located right next to the Sea of Japan. Just before retiring from the construction company where he had worked for many years, he saw a TV program introducing people making salt and thought, “That sounds interesting. I thought, “This could be something I could do. Originally, salt was made from seawater in the area around Sasakawagare until before World War II. Although salt production in the area ceased when the monopoly system was introduced, the know-how from that time still remained.

Although he started salt production with a light heart, thinking that he could do it himself, it was more difficult than he had imagined to make salt from seawater. In addition to the fact that seawater has a salt concentration of only 3%, it is difficult to produce salt from seawater by evaporating it in the sun all year round in Japan, where there is much rain and humidity. The only way to produce salt is to boil it down to extract the salt crystals, and only 18 kg can be obtained from 1,000 liters of seawater. Even so, Mr. Kobayashi insists on using a careful manufacturing method to produce a high-quality product. The Sasakawaryu River is naturally clear, but Mr. Kobayashi chooses particularly clear days to pump up the seawater. He then waits for sand and shells to settle in a tank, and filters the supernatant through a sarashi before pouring it into a salt cauldron. The temperature of the steam kettle is over 100 degrees Celsius. Wood is always kept burning, and the seawater is boiled down while carefully removing the lye. When the water is boiled down, it is transferred to the left and right kettles and boiled down again. Finally, the calcium sulfate, which is the source of the faint bitterness, is carefully removed. The resulting highly pure salt crystals are then poured into a conical device called a “bract,” which was made in the manner of the “warazuto” used in the past to wrap and transport food, and the bittern is removed. The process takes about 15 hours. This is the traditional way of making salt, using only natural ingredients.

What are the characteristics of “Sasagawa-nagare-no-salt”?

Compared to refined salt, the salt handmade from 100% seawater over a fire lit by firewood is rich in minerals and has no harshness or roughness, and the far-infrared rays from the firewood also help to produce a mild saltiness. The size of the crystals is another feature. Mr. Kobayashi produces four types of salt: Umi no Isoshio (salt from the Sasagawa Stream), Shio no Hana (flower of salt), Sasa no Shizuku, and Tamamoshio (seaweed salt). Umi no Isoshio” is a representative product of the workshop, made by carefully boiling down the seawater of the Sasagawa Stream over a long period of time in exactly the way described above. It has a mild taste with no bitterness and is just right for everyday use, and it goes well with any dish. Salt Flower is made by collecting salt crystals at a low temperature of about 60°C (140°F) for one day and night, and each grain is very large. The salt is used not only for seasoning, but also for toppings, and its texture and flavor accentuate your taste buds. Sasa-no Shizuku,” which is made by combining the powder of locally harvested Kumazasa bamboo, is characterized by its bright green color and fresh aroma, and is expected to have health and beauty benefits. We recommend topping vanilla ice cream and other sweet foods with it to enjoy the color. Especially popular is tamamo salt, which is made by boiling down the extract of hondawara (seaweed) with seawater. Rich in seaweed flavor and iodine, it enhances the taste of the ingredients. It goes well with onigiri (rice balls) and tempura, but a pinch added to soup will give it a flavor as if dashi had been added. Kobayashi is proud of the salt he carefully and painstakingly produces.

There is a terrace at the back of the salt factory and a cafeteria, Salt & Cafe, right next door. It is a popular stop for tourists visiting the area. In addition to coffee and drinks, visitors can enjoy “salt musubi (rice ball) sets” and “salt ice cream” made with salt from the Sasakawaryu River. The shop is only open from April to November, except during the rough winter months, but visitors can enjoy the panoramic view of the vast Sea of Japan and the natural seawater salt produced by Mr. Kobayashi.

Since ancient times, mankind has been making natural salt as a form of wisdom to survive. It will continue to be carefully passed down through the hands of artisans who love salt as much as Mr. Kobayashi does.

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The post Sasagawa Nagare no Salt” (salt from the Sasagawa Stream), made by boiling down the beautiful ocean water in a scenic spot using traditional methods / Murakami City, Niigata Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.