title: Hokuriku Tales vol.3

Summary

A book of five stories about Fukui, Ishikawa and Toyama with useful data vol.3

dialect). It goes very well with a bowl of steamed rice or a cup of sake. It can beeaten in different ways. Some prefer eating it just by cutting it into slices withno further treatment. Others like to warm it up over a charcoal fire. The ricebran can be either rinsed off or eaten together with the fish. Find out yourpreferred style by trying out all of the possibilities. It can even be used as aningredient in Western dishes, like as a substitute foranchovy. And what is good about this fermented foodis its long life. You can buy it all year around. Thepreparation method is essentially the same for allkinds of fish. First, the fish guts and head areremoved and the fish body is washed. Then, it issalted and is left to“rest”for six months to one yearin a bed of rice bran paste seasoned by hot peppersand other“secret ingredients.”Rice bran pickled fish is called different things inthe three Hokuriku prefectures. It is called Heshikoin Fukui, and either Konka-zuke or Nuka-zuke inIshikawa and Toyama. The fish also varies widely.The most representative may be the Saba-no-Heshiko(mackerel) for which the Wakasa region of FukuiPrefecture enjoys national fame. The mackerel headSake lovers find it difficult to refuse Saba-no-Heshikois not chopped off and the whole fish is soaked in ricebran paste. Large ones are over 30 centimeters inlength. This product is available in department stores, local specialty stores andeven at highway rest area shops. You may want to buy a whole or a half fishpack. Perhaps first you might try a rice ball with pieces of Heshiko inside.Famous in Ishikawa and Toyama is Konka-Iwashi (pickled sardine in rice branpaste). It is reasonably priced and is enjoyed as a fermented food by everybody.Locals in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture prepare a Bega-nabe pot dish,cooking Konka-Iwashi with vegetables and mushrooms in a stew of sake lees.People who live at the foot of Mt. Hakusan in Ishikawa Prefecture enjoy a winterpot dish called Ijiiji-nabe, stewingvegetable pickles with Konka-Iwashi.The fermented fish was a precioussource of protein when the sea gotrough or among the villagers inremote mountain areas.Heshiko is also good if made intoIn addition to mackerels andan Oshi-zushi (pressed sushi)sardines, people in Hokuriku useblowfish, herrings, filefish and squidto make rice bran paste-basedpickles. They all produce theintricate harmony of fish umami andfermentation richness that is soKonka-Iwashi sold with rice bran paste on it unique to Hokuriku.Chapter III Culinary quest in Hokuriku Enjoy your first experience with Hokuriku food to the fullest extentSalt produces delicacies and seasonal dishesAnd we cannot forget salt, the most basic material for preserved foods. Therice malt- and rice bran paste-based pickles we mentioned above are prepared,as a first step, by salting the raw material.The best-known fermented food based on salt is Shiokara (heavily salted,fermented viscera of marine animals). Shiokara made of squid viscera is the mostHokuriku Tales vol.3 21