The beginning of Nara-zuke

Nara-zuke is made by pickling salted vegetables and fruits in sake lees. This pickle has a strong impact with its tortoiseshell-colored visual and strong alcoholic flavor when you taste it. It is said to have originated more than 1,300 years ago when vegetables were pickled in doburoku, the prototype of sake, as a preserved food. At that time, sake made from rice was a luxury item, and there are documents that show that it was consumed by aristocrats in the Heijo-kyo Capital, making it a traditional Nara food. Later, in the Muromachi period (1333-1573), when the method of making sake was established in Nara, the process was changed to marinating in “sakekasu” (sake lees), and by the end of the Edo period (1603-1868), it was being sold as a commodity. At that time, Nara’s reputation for good sake attracted tourists, and it is said that the product became popular as a souvenir when they visited Nara and became “Nara-zuke,” named after the place where it was made. Mori Narazuke Shop, founded in 1869, is one of the inheritors of the Nara pickle making tradition that began with Nara’s sake culture. The store is located in front of the Nandaimon gate of Todaiji Temple and still receives enthusiastic support from tourists as a souvenir and from lovers and locals alike.

As with most pickles, the vegetables are first pickled with salt alone to remove the water from the vegetables. Once the water is sufficiently removed, the vegetables are next pickled in sake-kasu (sake lees). When the vegetables are soaked in sake-kasu, the salt is removed and the flavor of the sake-kasu soaks into the vegetables. The process of changing the sake lees is repeated two or more times. Incidentally, if this process is done only once, it is classified as “pickling with sakekasu. The color and flavor of the sakekasu is deepened and the taste is deepened by changing the blend of the sakekasu each time it is pickled and aged. The number of times the sake lees is changed differs from store to store, and the process of stepping in and the timing of changing the sake lees is all based on the longtime intuition of the artisan, who carefully carries out each step by hand, which is probably how Nara pickles with deep flavor are made. Sakekasu contains alcohol, and the alcohol content remaining after pickling is about 8%. One of the characteristics of Nara pickles is that the unique flavor and aroma of sakekasu can be enjoyed. If you feel the flavor of sakekasu is too strong, let it sit in the refrigerator for half a day after cutting, and the alcohol will dissipate and the original sweetness of sakekasu will increase, making it easier to eat.

How to make Nara-zuke

Furthermore, Mori Narazuke is characterized by the use of nothing but salt and sakekasu (sake lees). The sake lees is changed about five times, depending on the material to be pickled. The salt content is lower than that of ordinary pickles. The sweet aftertaste comes from the rice malt and is a completely natural fermented food. Therefore, it is a little spicy and goes well with rice and sake. There are 13 kinds of vegetables to be pickled. All of them are selected from contracted farmers. They have tried their hand at Nara-zuke, a traditional vegetable from Yamato called “Yamato Sanjaku Cucumber,” or pickling in an old-fashioned jar, and they never stop trying new things while keeping the traditional methods handed down from generation to generation.

Spreading Nara-zuke to the world

Mariko Mori, the fifth president of the company, is working on how to brand this traditional food and promote it, especially to young people who do not eat Nara pickles, from her unique female perspective.
　She is already working on an initiative to introduce new recipes using Nara pickles. She has already introduced new recipes using Nara pickles, such as “Narazuke Toast with Melted Cheese,” “Carpaccio with Narazuke Sake Kasu Dressing,” and “Basque Cheese Cake with Additive-Free Nara Pickles,” on her website and through social networking services. In addition to these efforts, she also uses the media to promote Nara-zuke and its beauty benefits.

It may not be long before the new generation of Nara pickles that Mr. Mori is promoting will be noticed around the world.

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“Parma Ham”, one of the world’s three most famous hams

Prosciutto di Parma. Parma ham, also known as Parma ham, is one of the world’s three most famous hams, along with China’s Kinhua ham and Spain’s Jamon Serrano. It is produced in Langhirano, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, northeastern Italy. Most of the Parma hams distributed around the world are produced in about 200 factories located in a village with a population of about 10,000, about 10 km away from the center of Parma, known as the gourmet capital of the world. And it has been there for more than 2,000 years. But how did this small town come to produce the world’s leading ham?

It is the “wind. Parma ham is made without any additives such as nitrous acid, and the only processes are salting and dry aging. The taste of the meat varies considerably depending on the quality of the wind, but the Parma wind that blows in from the clear streams flowing in the beautiful mountains and the indigenous bacteria that exist in Parma make the ham delicious,” says Masayo Tada, the first Japanese to be recognized as a Parma ham craftsman. When he was a university student, he could not forget the taste of Parma ham he had tasted by chance, and at the age of 30, he decided to become a ham craftsman and went to Italy by himself. He went to Italy on his own and knocked on the door of a ham factory in Langhirano, but since he could not speak Italian and had no idea what to expect, he was naturally turned down at the doorstep.
At the time, Mr. Hide was active in Rome, and I saw him as my rival (laughs). After eight months of visiting ham factories, he was finally able to overcome his passion and became an employee of a genuine ham factory, where he worked as a Parma ham craftsman for about 10 years.

When he was finally able to work as a full-fledged craftsman, American capital came in and the wave of mass production arrived in Parma. Productivity came to take precedence over craftsmanship. Mr. Tada decided to return to Japan because he could no longer produce the Parma ham that impressed him so much. After considering various possibilities, he decided to try his hand at making Parma ham in Japan. He spent about three years traveling around Japan in search of a place with a climate and environment similar to that of Parma. Finally, they arrived at Seki-City in Gifu Prefecture, where there were beautiful mountains, clean rivers, and winds similar to those of Parma.

We want to spread “Parma Ham” in Japan.

However, making Parma ham, which has no precedent in Japan, was extremely difficult. In order to be recognized as Parma ham, the ham must be made from pigs that have been fattened for nine months and weigh more than 150 kg. In Japanese pigs, this would mean pigs over 120 kg raised for more than 6 months. Parma ham requires a large pig to produce a delicious ham, so the size of the pig is regulated by law. It is also an absolute requirement that the pork be salted and prepared within 48 hours with the skin still on. In Japan, it is common to remove the skin at the time of slaughter, so it was difficult to purchase and prepare pigs with the skin still on.

After some twists and turns, they were able to obtain pigs, but this time they could not produce the yeast necessary for aging. He thought about bringing yeast from Italy, but he believed his colleagues when they told him, “If you can make it from scratch, you should definitely do it yourself,” and continued to make prototypes. After working in the factory for a long time, miraculously, the moment came when I was able to make it. From there, little by little, I began to be able to express the ham I imagined. I realized that five years had passed since I started ham production in Japan.
It may be cheeky of me to challenge Parma Ham, which has a history of more than 2,000 years, with only about 10 years of experience, but I would like to see Parma Ham regain the good old days and establish a “Japanese ham” to speak to Parma. He says that he would like to establish “Japanese ham” and talk to Parma.
The ham made by a man who was once laughed at as having nothing but passion in Italy brings smiles to people’s faces and speaks more eloquently than words.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

本当に美味しい飛騨牛を見極める・料理人 深尾公則／岐阜県岐阜市 – NIHONMONO 世界からも愛される和牛 牛の味は血統で決まる。その理由は、歴史が物語る。もともと農耕のために飼育されていた和牛

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

和牛を知り尽くした職人ならではの定番洋食・洋食つばき／岐阜県岐阜市 – NIHONMONO 完全予約制レストラン「洋食つばき」 岐阜県南部に位置する岐阜市。玄関口であるJR岐阜駅周辺には高層ビルが並

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Have you ever heard of “Nama-Takiki-Shirasu,” a product of Minamichita-cho, Aichi Prefecture, a major producer of shirasu (baby sardines)? It is a tsukudani (food boiled in soy sauce) made with the original flavor of shirasu, which is difficult to handle in its raw state, and sweetened with sauce, and has won the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award. The taste is different from both kama-age shirasu and dried shirasu. Shiro Sakashita, president of Marui-Shouten, the company that developed the product, told us the secret.

What You Need to Know about Mikawa Bay Shirasu

Minamichita Town is located in Chita County, Aichi Prefecture. Located in the southern part of the Chita Peninsula, the town consists of the tip of the peninsula and the islands of Shinojima and Himakajima, which lie offshore from the tip of the peninsula. Marui-Shouten, a seafood processing and wholesale company, is located in this region surrounded on three sides by the sea, where the fishing industry is thriving. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries’ 2021 statistics on fisheries and aquaculture production, Aichi indeed accounts for about 14% of the total share, which is the second largest in Japan. Furthermore, on a municipal basis, Minamichita boasts the largest catch of shirasu (baby sardines) in Japan.

How did Minami-Chita become a major catch center for shirasu? The reason is the spawning season of sardines, the parents of young sardines. Ise Bay and Mikawa Bay intersect here on the inner side of the bay, and the Pacific Ocean lies on the outer side of the Atsumi Peninsula. Because the water temperature and other growing conditions differ between the inner bay and the open ocean, the sardines spawn at different times of the year. This is why the fishing season for sardines is longer than in other areas.

Every minute counts. Freshness is the lifeblood of Shirasu.

The shirasu (baby sardines) that Marui-Shouten now mainly handles are brought to the company’s factory as soon as they are landed at the local Morozaki Fishing Port. Shirasu are quick to catch, and those landed in the morning are not very fresh by the evening, and they start to smell bad. In Minamichita, where the catch is large, it is difficult to consume all the fresh shirasu on the same day, so it was necessary to process them into dried shirasu, tsukudani, and other products that would last for a long time before shipping. The company, too, only handled fresh shirasu to the extent that it could sell it immediately, and manufactured processed products such as kama-age shirasu, dried shirasu, and chirimen-jako (dried young sardines) for distribution to supermarkets throughout the country.

Nama-Suikki Shirasu” is a tsukudani (food boiled in soy sauce) that brings out the texture and umami of the shirasu.

Marui Shoten is a marine products processing company established in 1908. The company processes and sells marine products caught in the local Mikawa Bay, nearby Ise Bay, and the Pacific Ocean, and opened a direct sales office in 1991. Since then, the company has also focused on developing its own brand products. One of its signature products is “Nama-Takiki-Shirasu” (fresh-cooked baby sardines), which is not a familiar name. The name may be unfamiliar, but it refers to the tsukudani (boiled and seasoned young sardines) made by cooking them raw, and in 2009 it won the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Award.

Generally, shirasu tsukudani is made by boiling down cooked shirasu with sauce, as in the case of kama-age shirasu. However, in the case of nama-kaki shirasu, the shirasu is not cooked, but literally “raw,” and is boiled down with the sauce. This allows the original flavor of the shirasu to be preserved. Once boiled, the fish will inevitably release its flavor,” he says. By cooking it from raw, the original flavor of the fish remains. It doesn’t have an odor, and its soft texture is well received,” Sakashita says proudly.

Learn about the process of making tsukudani, which is different from “common tsukudani”

It is said that it is difficult to cook small fish such as shirasu from raw. The reason is that in its raw state, the fish contains a lot of water and tends to lose its shape. When we first tried making tsukudani from raw fish using ikanago, which is larger and fresher than shirasu and is available in abundance in Minamichita, we succeeded without incident. However, the fishing season for ikanago was short and not suitable for mass production. So, they decided to make a tsukudani using shirasu, which is caught in large quantities and has a long fishing season.

However, the initial development of the product was a series of failures. They started with a small household pot and made trial and error until they were satisfied that the shirasu would not collapse and that the flavor of the tsukudani sauce would be retained. He says that while proper heat is necessary to cook the shirasu without losing its shape, the most important factor is freshness. Freshness is the most important factor, he says, because fish that loses its freshness quickly loses its shape. That is why he has to process fresh shirasu caught right in front of his eyes as quickly as possible, even if it is only a minute or a second.

A gem born from trial and error

The result of this trial-and-error process is the fresh-cooked shirasu. The sauce is made from soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, and only the amount used that day is added. No thickening agents commonly used in tsukudani (food boiled down in soy sauce) or syrup are used. This is to preserve the natural taste and texture of the fish. They also insist on using no additives, and do not use any coloring agents or preservatives. The sugar in the sauce acts as a preservative, so the fish can be refrigerated for up to two months.

When you put it in your mouth, you will be surprised at its tenderness. The softness of the fish in the mouth is surprising, and the sweetness of the sauce preserves the original flavor of the fish, and each piece retains its shape and firmness. The ease of eating and the sweetness of the seasoning have made it popular with a wide range of people, from children to adults.

Climate change, rising fuel prices. Fisheries Entering a Transitional Period

Marui Shoten not only processes and sells fish landed locally in Minamichita, but also exports fish using freezing technology. Since Mr. Sakashita took over the business as the fourth generation, the company has been purchasing fish from outside Minamichita. This is due to the effects of recent climate change. Mr. Sakashita says, “Some of the fish we used to be able to catch are no longer being caught, and there are fish mixed in that we could not catch before. I think this will change further in the next 10 years,” he said, describing the current situation in which fish are gradually moving. The fish move, but the fishermen cannot move from their fishing grounds. For processors, too, they cannot immediately renew large equipment that they once put in place.

Considering the future of fisheries-related businesses

Climate change is an unavoidable problem for the fishing industry, which deals with nature, and the fish processing industry, which does business with the fish it lands. At the same time, the rising cost of fuel due to soaring energy prices is also putting pressure on business. Against this backdrop, Mr. Sakashita believes that “aquaculture” will be one of the keywords for the future of fisheries-related businesses.

Mr. Sakashita says, “More and more large, well-financed companies are entering the aquaculture business. Even companies that were not involved in the fishery industry are now entering the business,” he says. Although the amount of fish caught is decreasing, Mr. Sakashita’s analysis suggests that they may be anticipating an increase in demand for fish as the world’s population continues to grow. From a fishery that catches what is available to a fishery that makes its own fish. Such a future may be just around the corner.

Breaking through difficult situations is the best part of running a business.

Although the fishing industry seems to be in a constant state of distress, Mr. Sakashita is proud of his work. The catch changes every year, with some years having good catches and some years having poor catches. Even so, he believes that the best part of running a business is figuring out how to make the best use of the product in front of him and meet the demand. Sakashita laughs, “The fun part is figuring out what kind of fish to use and what kind of business to do with them when the local fish market stops producing them.

And the fresh-cooked shirasu supports his mindset. Our products are not something that anyone else can produce,” he says. It is because we are the only ones who can make them that we feel a strong sense of satisfaction when we see the reaction of our customers when they try our products. It is precisely because we are in difficult times that we shine. We would like to see what kind of ideas Mr. Sakashita has in store for us.

The post Marui-Shouten, the creator of “fresh-cooked shirasu” that locks in the flavor of shirasu. first appeared on NIHONMONO.