What I learned about fish in Japan
I came across a moment where I became very interested in cooking fish. I came back to Japan, bought myself a kitchen knife in Kappabashi, then I've been studying the craft.
I had the opportunity to work in Tsukiji, and now I even moved to a fish city Karatsu, spending time cooking local fish. The experience has been amazing and I understand fish a lot better than when I started.
I wanted to organize what I learned so far, so that it helps me to navigate what I should study next.
So, here is what I learned about fish in Japan.
1. Ideal environment for the best seafood
Japan attracts fish as it is a natural, nutritious buffet. Japan is known to be industrial but it's actually very green. We have very green mountains close to the ocean, and the rivers push nutrients to the sea.
Planktons and small food develops in the sea surrounding the islands of Japan. Fish take in these nutrients and become fatty.
One interesting experience in Tsukiji was the fish shop I worked for loved selling fatty bonito. Bonito is known to be very dry and lean, but the bonito caught in between Chiba and Sendai are silky and fatty. Autumn is the best time to eat fatty bonito, and many customers were amazed by the taste of it, some preferred it much more than the blue fin tuna also sold in the shop.
2. How the fish is maintained is more important
I learned that it's a challenge to teach people that "the fish caught today" doesn't necessarily mean, "taste good."
Yes, fish caught today won't have the bad fish smell.
But what's more important is that it's kept in good condition.
Ideally, as soon as it's fished it should go through the process of shinkeijime, which will make the fish braindead and also drain out the blood.
The stress and the blood is the result of the bad fish smell and the fish to rot faster.
After the shinkeijime process, it should be kept in ice sea water.
3. For best taste age the fish
This is related to how fresh the fish isn't as important as how it's maintained. When you catch the fish and eat it straight away, it does "taste fresh," but maintaining it properly and aging it enhances the original umami of the fish.
It's also a difficult process to age fish. The typical household fridge isn't cool enough to age the fish, while the freezer will change its texture and taste.
It's much easier to age the fish in the fish shops as the fridge can be adjusted to the ideal temperature to age, or have enough space to have tanks filled with ice to store.
The ideal aging period depends on the type and size of the fish, from 3 days up to even months.
These take a lot of care and time, which results in labor and facility costs.
This is one of the reasons why the Edomae higher end sushi restaurants tend to be priced higher than chained kaiten sushi restaurants.
4. Tsukiji is the Olympics of seafood
Another thing I learned while working in Tsukiji is that Tokyo (where the Tsukiji Market is) attracts the best seafood from across Japan. (Even from the world)
The fish shop I worked for sold the best oysters on market, and can be sold every day all year as it arrives from across Japan.
Where I am now in Karatsu, Kyushu pacific oysters are only eaten from mid November to April, and rock oysters from June to August and is seasonal.
Only the northern parts of Japan like Akkeshi in Hokkaido or Sanriku in Miyagi Prefecture can produce oysters in warmer seasons.
An interesting experience I had in Tsukiji was when I sold gigantic wild rock oysters that came from Mie Prefecture. 1 big oyster costs 1500JPY which isn't the cheapest oyster at all, but one customer said,
"I'm glad I stopped by Tsukiji. If I had to go all the way to Mie to eat this oyster, the transport costs me 20,000JPY to go and come back. The oysters are very good and reasonable."
That's when I learned that Tsukiji is just like the Olympics. You come to the stadium you'll be able to see representatives from all over the world.
5. Reason to live in a fishing city
I managed to find a fishing city I like and work as a fish monger to study the craft.
In Tsukiji, each task of maintaining the quality and selling it was more divided among different companies. It made learning the process and system more difficult.
Placing myself in a fishing city allows me to study the process of catching the fish to eating the fish a lot more easily.
Fishes are priced higher in Tsukiji due to all the shipping and maintenance costs. Learning the craft involves buying and handling good quantity of fishes, so it's much more economical to be in Karatsu, Kyushu where I am.
The seafood tastes amazing, and is very economical costing me only about 1/3~1/5 of what I will pay in Tokyo.
I will keep updating what I learned
The whole fish journey will be very long, and I will be doing it for decades.
Right now I'm more engaged in how to cook fish well, but it will lead more to how to protect the sustainability and balance of fish.
I participated in a river event on protecting the environment, and learned how keeping the balance in a river we were develops variety of species like fish, shrimps, and crabs while construction in the same river totally stops the development of these species.
I'm a lot happier now spending time in nature or learning about fish rather than placing myself in the banking career or in IT where I used to work in.
What I learned through this whole journey is that it's better to find what interests me, and do it for decades.
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