2024.08.08
DENKEN-TEST PRESS（Newsletter）weekly email newsletter “DENKEN-TEST PRESS” No. 19
We are pleased to present you with the 19th issue weekly email newsletter “DENKEN-TEST PRESS”
The top story in this issue is about food culture, reporting that imported fish are beginning to be used as ingredients for dried fish, in addition to locally produced fish.
“Warm-up Quiz” includes answers and explanations from the previous quiz, as well as questions from the fields of Metalwork / Wood Lacquerware.
We are also running promotion to give away 100 official textbook to those who sign up for the newsletter, which will run until the end of this month! Please tell people around you to sign up for the newsletter.
DENKEN-TEST textbook
https://bookpub.jiji.com/book/
table of contents
・ Filleted horse mackerel is from Korea, and Atka mackerel is from the United States - Imported fish are becoming more prevalent as raw materials for dried fish
・ “Warm-up Quiz” No. 19 (Metalwork / Wood Lacquerware) = "Rice scoop"
・News from the DENKEN-TEST Association
Filleted horse mackerel is from Korea, and Atka mackerel is from the US - Imported fish are becoming more prevalent as raw materials for dried fish
Daigo Kawamoto, Director of the Fisheries Department at Jiji Press
Horse mackerel filleted with dried fish. It is often made using ingredients from overseas, mainly Korea, as well as from Nagasaki Prefecture.
Tsukiji Outer Market, Chuo Ward, Tokyo, May 30, 2024 [Jiji Press]
Dried fish, a traditional Japanese food, is gradually being made more and more from overseas. Dried fish is produced by seafood processors all over the country, but the catch of fish that was once abundant locally is decreasing, making it difficult to secure raw materials, and the use of imported fish is on the rise.
◇ 70% of raw materials are imported from Korea and other countries
Yamayasu, a processing company in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, a famous production area for dried fish, has been making filleted horse mackerel for a long time. However, since it is no longer possible to procure horse mackerel from nearby fishing ports, "imported ingredients, mainly from Korea, but also from Northern Europe, now account for nearly 70% of the production."
Numazu City in Shizuoka Prefecture is also highly dependent on imported ingredients. According to a processor in the city, "There is very little horse mackerel caught locally. It is impossible to consistently purchase high-quality horse mackerel." In search of ingredients suitable for domestic dried fish, the processor deals in horse mackerel caught at fishing ports as far away as Nagasaki Prefecture, but still cannot secure enough ingredients, so the processor says, "In addition to horse mackerel from the Netherlands and Ireland, in recent years we often purchase horse mackerel from Korea."
◇Bunka boshi is Norwegian mackerel
Dried mackerel is also mainly imported from overseas. According to Maruyasu, a fishery processing company in Choshi City, Chiba Prefecture, the main mackerel production area, the raw material for the "culture-dried" mackerel, which is dried using a dryer, "because the landing of the Choshi Port is unstable, we have been using mackerel from Norway for quite some time." The company has used mackerel that was landed in Choshi more than a dozen years ago, but was unable to continue purchasing it due to the lack of quality and quantity suitable for processing. "We looked for mackerel from other places in Japan but could not find any, so we have been making culture-dried mackerel from Norway for a long time," they said.
Due to the sudden depreciation of the yen, the purchase price has risen. Nevertheless, Maruyasu explains that "Norwegian mackerel meets all the requirements for making good dried fish, such as being available in sufficient quantities and being rich in fat." It seems that domestic raw materials are no longer sufficient to stably produce high-quality dried mackerel.
◇American Atka Mackerel is Surging in Popularity
According to Marusen Chiyoda Suisan, a wholesaler specializing in processed foods in Toyosu Market (Koto Ward, Tokyo), the kitchen of the capital region, in addition to horse mackerel and mackerel, foreign-sourced Atka mackerel is prominent among the fish that are filleted and dried. In the past, domestic Mahokke was the norm for Atka mackerel, with American-sourced Shima Atka "there was a time when it was watery and unpopular." However, the company reveals that "recently, it has become popular because it is easy to eat when grilled and the flesh comes off easily, and it is fatty and delicious, so we are receiving a steady stream of orders from restaurants, especially izakayas." As a result, Shima Atka mackerel, not Mahokke, has become the norm when it comes to Atka mackerel.
Additionally, according to the company, "There is little domestically produced dried shishamo, so we use fish from Norway and Iceland. Although there is little domestic sandfish and barracuda, there are no alternative foreign ingredients, so they are in short supply."
◇Imported ingredients preserve traditional flavors
While the use of imported fish as raw materials for dried fish is increasing, there seems to be no need to use imported fish for dried fish such as sashimi (eye-skewered fish) made from anchovies, dried sardines, dried whitebait, and "kusaya" (dried fish) made from horse mackerel, because there is sufficient domestic raw material.
Processed seafood products are required to display the location of the manufacturer (processor) as well as the country of origin of the ingredients, so when buying dried fish, you can check the label to see if it uses imported fish. Even if a product is labeled "Processed in Odawara" or "Processed in Choshi," cases where the ingredients are from overseas are likely to continue to increase.
Due to the weak yen and the growing demand for fish worldwide, Japan is no longer in an environment where it is easy to import fish cheaply. Processors in various regions used to produce dried fish as a preserved food using local fish, but the situation has changed dramatically. They continue to preserve traditional methods by making the most of imported fish and producing their proud dried fish.
▼From the Jiji.com News series "Big Catch! Fisheries Director's Fish Topics"
“Warm-up Quiz” No. 19 (Metalwork / Wood Lacquerware) = "rice scoop"
~Questions will be categorized by genre from DENKEN-TEST textbook (pre-release scheduled for September 20th)~
The famous rice scoop Photo provided by Jiji Press
19th
Question: The summer Koshien high school baseball tournament has begun. In the cheering stands, you can often see high school students cheering while holding up large rice scoops with the words "Victory" written on them. Which prefecture in Japan is said to be the birthplace of these wooden rice scoops and has the highest production volume?
[Previous answer and explanation]
Question: Sparklers are a typical hand-held firework. Nowadays, they are generally made of gunpowder wrapped in washi paper, but they are said to have originated in the Edo period as something long and thin with gunpowder attached to the end. What is that long and thin object?
Answer: Straw
Explanation: Sparklers started as stick-shaped fireworks with gunpowder attached to the end of thin straw, and were born in the Kansai region during the Edo period, a rice-growing region where straw was easy to obtain. They are said to have been named after the resemblance of incense sticks when placed in an incense burner or brazier and enjoyed. They were later introduced to the Kanto region, where papermaking was popular and Japanese paper was used instead of straw, and long, colorful pieces of paper wrapped around gunpowder became popular.
News from DENKEN-TEST Association
I visited the "Monozukuri and Craftsmanship Festival 2024" (sponsored by Tokyo Metropolitan Government) held at the Tokyo International Forum in Marunouchi, Tokyo for three days from August 2nd. There were also demonstrations and experience programs of traditional skills of craftsmen involved in Japan's food, clothing and shelter, and the event was crowded with many visitors, including foreigners. At each exhibition booth, there were traditional Tokyo crafts such as Edo Kiriko glass and Tokyo umbrellas, as well as a Hokuriku craft corner supporting the recovery from the Noto Peninsula earthquake and products from all over the country. The material used for the tatami mats used in the judo tatami mats at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, "Kunisaki Shichitoi Omo," a specialty of the Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita Prefecture, is said to be produced by only a few farms, and I thought that it was also the role of DENKEN-TEST to pass on such valuable local assets.
Editor's Note
What did you think of the 19th DENKEN-TEST PRESS? Every issue is "hot" and "hot"
Category: DENKEN-TEST PRESS