In JCI, we conduct off-campus lessons depending on our students’ needs. Lesson about Ryoushimeshi (Fisherman dish) made by the captain of Atami port’s fishing boat is one of them.
Ryoushimeshi are dishes made by fisherman between fishing while they are on the boat or made back at the port. They use fresh fish just out from the ocean and cook them using their characteristics well into their dishes. It is a very rare and meaningful experience to learn about ryoushimeshi directly from the “Japanese professionals of fish”.
The cooking methods used on the boat and at the port brings out each fish’s umami and texture 100% making it feel dynamic.
One early Summer in 2024, we had a Ryoushimeshi experience day.
When the fish boat arrived at 5:30 in the morning, they first sorted out the fish on a conveyer belt depending on its quality. On this day, they caught round herrings, horse mackerels, Japanese parrot fish, mackerels, squids, and other fish.
From the fish they caught, they chose Japanese parrot fish, greater amberjack, round herrings and some other fish for us to bring back to JCI. They put them in a bucket with ice water. For the Japanese parrot fish, they let it brain dead at the port using the Ikejime method. We brought back the greater amberjack alive to have a lesson about Shinkei jime.
In our school, we seasoned the round herrings with miso and created a dish called namerou.
*Namerou is a dish made by seasoning a sashimi with miso instead of eating it with soy sauce since soy sauce might spill on the boat going through rough wave. The name of this dish contains meaning of “to lick”. It was named this wat since the dish was so delicious that it will make you want to lick the plate.
We made the Japanese parrot fish and greater amberjack into sashimi.
The fillet of the fresh fish had excellent texture and we used Japanese fermented seasonings such as soy sauce and miso, experiencing the traditional seasonings.
The purpose of this lesson was to understand the characteristics of the fresh fish and learning the way to maintain the quality long as possible.
In JCI Atami, you can experience the precious ingredients and techniques that are only available here and nowhere else.
The skills you can obtain from ryoushimeshi are to know the features, taste, and texture of the fish. These skills are part of the process to understand the authentic dish. It might be easy to just copy the luxurious plating skills, but to know the true fish dish you will have to experience more with your own skin.
In JCI Atami, we have prepared various experiences that you can only have at Japanese port town.
Enjoy the different taste each season brings from the ocean with us.
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