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Jun. 2016 issue No.150

Segoshi figure sashimi of Ayu

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This month's issue is trying to pick up the ayu of river fish to represent the early summer.

Ayu was born in the river in the autumn, falling to the sea to grow in the sea during the winter, to run-up the river from spring to summer, from to finish the life and spawning in the fall, that the life of as long as one year It called the year fish.

Also, when Ayu will be time to run up the river, now eat the moss attached to the stone of the river, the unsaturated fatty acids accumulated in fish body to eat the moss is decomposed by the enzyme, the smell is like a watermelon since become sweet fragrance, the alias is also referred to as "fragrant fish".

Although the lifting of the ban natural ayu fishing is nationally there are many places that from getting in June and July, Oita Prefecture Mikumagawa May 20 days is the lifting of the ban on fishing, the author May 27 (Fri. ) to visit the Syunkoen of the restaurant, which is located along Mikumagawa flowing through the Hita, it has been enjoy the full course of Ayu.

Beside the Syunkoen is flowing is Mikumagawa, it is in the best location that can look at the scene, such as the following.

 

And just when I visited Syunkoen, were able to present sure a person with a fishing with decoys of ayu in the Mikumagawa.

 

The following images were greatly expanded the sight of fishing with decoys which had a long pole.

 

In Syunkoen, purchasing such natural ayu that has been picked in the from the angler, a Japanese restaurant that provides this as a cuisine. In a magazine, a well-established store Koizumi foodie Takeo is expressed as "stubborn shops that do not provide to the customer only to further carefully selected natural Ayu was caught in this river" that of Syunkoen.

Let me introduce the contents of a full course of Ayu cuisine fullness one person 5,000 yen Syunkoen.

Syunkoen Ayu cuisine
Sweetened and boiled figure of ayu	Segoshi sashimi of ayu
Ayu the baked without salt, low heat in a fragrant baked, that boiled down by drying the baked ayu about half a day. The egg is not closely packed into the inside of the belly, is a preserved food of Ochiayu feel like if I were to eat the ovaries.	This is a way to eat in sashimi by utilizing the fact that bone of ayu is soft, it is relatively to the small size of freshness excellent Ayu to Kirikake, had been relatively thick sliced.
Grilled ayu	Miso Dengaku grilled ayu
This is a representative of Ayu cooking, but cooking is ranked higher than the sashimi. It had been provided in Odori skewer.	A dengaku grilled smeared the red miso on the surface of grilled ayu, the savory sweet taste and flavor of the miso.
Meat Uruka	Ovary Uruka
Scales and eyes and mouth, and all of the sites except such as fins, internal organs and bones that omitting the undigested part of the stomach and intestines be rubbed with a mortar together, preserved food was added to salt. Taste salty there is a somewhat bitter taste.	Which was mixed with milt salted in ovary, easy to eat if there is a slight sweet taste compared to the meat Uruka.
Ayusushi and Ayu grilled rice ball	tempura
In the state of opening the Ayu, then remove the skin, then it marinated in vinegar, and the cuisine was to oshisushi this, a combination of cuisine you rice balls baked rice cooked of Ayu. Grilled rice balls are fragrant smell.	Which was the tempura with a relatively small Ayu in two cutting, it will be eat whole the ayu from the head. Bitterness of the internal organs also is one of taste.
State the grilled with salt and grilled dengaku was plugged to the straw bundles

 

I was able to eat the natural ayu cuisine like this in the time of "the beginning of the season." The author also does not have the opportunity to eat the almost river fish recently, touch the real thrill of this again, "eat a smallish river fish whole from the head", was supposed to fit taste the taste enough.

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When it comes to time past the June in the supermarket fish sales floor, Ayu is often farmed ayu are lined up in that it's in season. However, when the time leave, ayu fish sales floor is it is remarkably less to see the being sold as a commodity until around June of next year.

In other words, in retail stores, such as supermarkets, fish that Ayu is not a standard products to be sold throughout the year, not only seen as a seasonal fish it was only limited the season just one point in the year. Even fish that the year can purchase at any time that farming Ayu, there is a difficult reality that the consumer to buy the Ayu at the store in out of season.

I wonder so much of it is difficult to Ayu purchase. According to the survey, which examined its production volume, in fiscal 2014, in the farming ayu nationwide are 5,163t production, was the first place in Aichi Prefecture 1,114t, 2 of Wakayama Prefecture 992t, 3 of Gifu Prefecture order of 984t. And natural ayu is catch is 2,395t in the nation, it was in the order of first place Ibaraki Prefecture 467t, 2 place Kanagawa Prefecture 372t, 3 of Gifu Prefecture 218t.

By the way, Oita Prefecture, but was 12th of 22t, for example, natural ayu that anglers were delivered to Syunkoen fishing in Mikumagawa felt also question of the wonder is just how accurately counted in the statistics.

Chart below, in Gifu Prefecture, with both the national 3-position of the production volume in the natural ayu and farmed ayu catch, run-up the Nagara River estuary weir between about three months up to May 26 from February 17 of this year the number of the Ayu, are those counted by the monitor running for 24 hours.

Is a mechanical reported that 687,782 fish were run-up to this period, when the size of one fish is assumed that it is 60g, it made the calculation that Ayu of approximately 40t during this period has run-up.

However, Ayu, which has been run-up is not that natural all, there are the ayu that fishermen's cooperative association has released the fry, natural Ayu, which has been run up from the sea. Furthermore released the ayu There are two types, it is the Lake Biwa Ayu was released the fry ayu of Lake Biwa, which is the artificial seed Ayu.

And when anglers caught both natural Ayu and released ayu, speaking of whether these can be clearly distinguished, ordinary anglers is that of a can not be so, they are lumped together as a natural ayu in the market It is being treated.

By the way, Ayu market in 2016 May 28 (Saturday) of the current Tsukiji market, living farming ayu is average at 3,000 yen / kg, Ayu living of natural about 6,000 yen / kg twice farmed ayu , and the relative trading wholesale price of domestic farming ayu of refrigerated interference is 1,620 yen at a higher price / kg, low price was 1,188 yen / kg.

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The following image is a relatively large size of the farming Ayu of becoming a 1kg box 7 fish entering the purchase for this month's issue of photography, would retail price is not about 1,980 yen because of this purchase cost 1,300 yen.

This is a farming Ayu, natural ayu has a long dorsal fin than Ayu of this image, have pointed face, because they grew up eating a lot of algae, dye is out strong, whole body when probed thing with shining gold. Also the body color greenish gray-green in time to the still young fish of the summer, to change to a unique marriage colors of bitter orange and black that when sexual maturity in the fall called "Sabiayu".

Ayu belongs to the Osmerus eperlanus mordax family Ayu subfamily ayu genus, smelt, capelin, such as Shirauo close as relatives. Ayu character of Sen of Chinese characters, is said to be derived from the fact that ayu is to monopolize a certain territory. However, in the Chinese character of Ayu is something interesting seems to mean that the catfish.

Generally, fish in Japan is to eat in the sashimi are the best, but exceptionally grilled with salt are the best for Ayu. This is by natural ayu has been said that it is better to avoid raw food because the intermediate host of the parasite that Yokogawa fluke (If a person in this is there is almost no symptoms even if the infection is the majority, sometimes somewhat also seems certain symptoms of diarrhea). But farming ayu is not basically the worry, if the ayu in sashimi, there is a method to Arai and segoshi cooled himself with cold water.

Let me introduce how to make segoshi of Ayu below.

Process of segoshi figure sashimi of Ayu
1, facing up the abdomen to take the scales, press the gills with a kitchen knife.	8, the state has been removed all the fins except the caudal fin.
2, returns back to the top, remove and hold with a kitchen knife the gills.	9, thinly slice every bone and skin in the form of a circle.
3, cut off the head.	10, put in ice water the fish was to slice, to ice wash.
4, holding the abdomen from both sides, scrape out the internal organs with a kitchen knife.	11, get rid of the water out of the sliced fish meat from the ice water.
5, scrape out the remaining internal organs to the inside of the abdomen with your fingers or chopsticks.	12, put a slice on top of the water-absorbent paper.
6, to remove the dorsal fin and the fat fin.	13, to remove the water covered with a water-absorbent paper from above.
7, to remove the pelvic fin and ass fin.	14, add the Ashirai, such as in the bamboo on a tray with a feeling of coolness.
15, the part of the head and the tail fin in the decoration, on top of the segoshi, is completed after making seaweed, cucumber, needle ginger and the like.

 

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This month may want a little more said about the ayu, because this remains in the 1 page is too long, trying to be referred them to the next page.

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Continued on next page

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An opinion and the communication are to iinfo@fish food times

Date of updating Jun.1, 2016