Eating the eggs of fish
Sep 15th, 2009 by Ad Blankestijn
The egg masses of fish or their ripe internal ovaries are called roe (gyoran). Both raw and cooked, roe is a popular food in Japan. We find the following types:
- Ikura or salmon roe. The term is a loan word from the Russian ikra, caviar. Although not as precious as its Russian namesake, the bead-like ikura-spheres have a beautiful orange color and taste delidiously. Ikura is popular sushi topping and is also used in chirashi-zushi and onigiri.
[Photo from the photostream on Flickr of Loremipsum] - Sujiko or “salmon roe in one piece”: sujiko is still inside its sack when it is prepared. It is darker in color than ikura.
- Kazunoko or herring roe, usually salted. Kazunoko is yellow and has a firm, rubbery texture. The roe is flavored with soy sauce before eating. Besides being a topping for sushi, kazunoko also is a popular item in O-sechi Ryori, the special New Year’s meal.
[Photo from the photostream on Flickr of SauceSupreme] - Mentaiko or Alaska pollack roe, spiced with powdered chili pepper and surrounded by a thin, elastic membrane. A specialty of Hakata (Kyushu). Mentaiko is usually pink to dark red. Tarako (cod’s roe) is another way tio refer to mentaiko.
[Photo from the photostream on Flickr of ash-man] - Uni, the orange or pale yellow ovaries of the sea urchin, a great delicacy. It is soft and melts on the tongue. It is a popular topping of sushi, and is used in a variety of other ways in the Japanese kitchen.
[Photo from the photostream on Flickr of superfantastico] - Karasumi or dried, salted mullet roe (botargo). Eaten as is such in thin slices.
[Photo from the photostream on Flickr of panduh]
To complete the (Edo-period) list of the “Three Great Delicacies (chinmi)”, to uni and kazunoko should be added konowata, although this is not a roe. Konowata are the fermented intestines of the sea slug (namako). All three delicacies are served as food with sake.
[Photo from the photostream on Flickr of rhosoi]
