When you think about Japanese food culture, a lot of people might think of sushi.
Sushi is one of the main dishes in Washoku which has been selected as an Intangible Cultural Heritage and the freshness of the fish is very important. To allow students to understand the significance and characteristics of fresh fish, we provide off-campus lessons at the Atami port where you can experience “Ryoushi-meshi (fisherman dish)”. By learning from the real situation, not only you can experience the Japanese food culture with your eyes, but you can also stimulate your five-senses and be inspired by the true Washoku chefs making the lesson a valuable part of the course.
In this lesson, we first visit the port early in the morning to see the seasonal fresh fish. Then, we will use the five-ways of cooking in Japanese cuisine and cook the fish with the fisherman.
１Raw: Sashimi
２Simmering: Simmered fish
３Grilling: Fish grilled on charcoal
４Steaming: Steamed rice with other ingredients
５rying: Fish tempura, etc.
The Close Relationships Between Lives of Japanese People and Marine Products
Why do people in Japan consume a lot of fish?
Majority of Japanese people would probably have the image that fish has become a significant part of Japanese culture.
The reason of this is because there is always one dish using fish in every seasonal dishes.
For the New Year’s there are simmered small fish, tazukuri (candied sardines), and salmon kombu roll for osechi dish. For celebration such as coming of age ceremony and weddings, the whole sea bream is cooked with the head and tail on which is told that it brings in good luck.
Knowledge of Japanese using the “blessings of the nature” without creating waste
Japan is surrounded by ocean which brought in various seafoods to each area and season. Japanese people have used these since the Jomon period (BC8000~2000). There is shell heap that contained asari clams and bones of sea bream founded around Japan.
Japanese people have come up with ways to store fresh fish keeping its quality and eating them deliciously. Dried food made by using salt to create a unique texture and to bring out the umami, kamaboko created with the goal of using small fish caught in near sea, and chikuwai are some of the ways Japanese people invented to reduce waste. Imitation crabs have even become popular outside of Japan as well. Bonito flakes and dried kelp are used as dashi to add umami. Like these examples, we have used the abundant marine products without creating any waste.
Fisherman Supporting the Fish-dish
One of the main reason sushi is loved around the world might be because there is an understanding that sushi is healthy.
Cutting the raw fish with a slight curve fitting perfectly on top of the rice.
It is low calory and high in protein making it a nutritious food. The pickled ginger aside has a lot of dietary fiber in them creating a good balance of nutrition.
However, the unique smell of raw fish cannot be removed even if they are fresh out from the ocean. Even if you use the expensive, professional knife and cut the sashimi with enough skills, you cannot make a delicious sushi that does not have the unique smell on. Fisherman has the key to control the amount of odor because the way they catch the fish will change the finishing result.
The techniques to catch fish, ways to process fish, figure out the quality of the fish, manufacturing, storing, kitchen utensils… These are all evolving even now using the knowledge passed down through generations.
In JCI, we provide lessons that you can only experience in Atami to let the students understand the true umami of fish itself.
The experts that know everything about fish will create the good old simple yet delicious traditional fish dish using the fish’s characteristics to its full potential.
By knowing about fish and learning the right way to process them will allow you to use that knowledge and implement to create a delicious sushi using the fish in their own country, spreading the delicious fish dish around the world.
Join our JCI Ryoushimeshi Training and meet the authentic umami of fish.
Experience a day that start and end with fish.
This journey will bring you new findings and surprises to you.
Let’s learn about Japanese fish, knowledge of the fisherman, and ways to be healthy without being friendly to the environment and make your own fish dish.
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