I dropped in a fish shop which is always busy and located at front of the station. There are many ‘Kamaage Shirasu’ which is boiled ‘shirasu’ sardine baby fishes. This sea food is easy to go bad and we can’t get it except some place very close to fishing port. ‘Ok! Today’s dinner is shirasu don.’ I bought 1 pack of ‘boiled shirasu fishes’.
‘Shirasu’ is my favorite food since child age. Because ‘Shirasu’ was very popular in my home town, I could eat fresh boiled ‘shirasu’ with vinegar and soy source as much as I wanted. ‘shirasu’ rice bowl is common and it’s not so special item to write about it.
However, I think now a days ‘chirimenjako’ (dried baby fishes) is more close to us and I haven’t eaten boiled ‘shirasu’ from more than several decade ago. Recently I visited Enoshima island (popular sight seeing spot close to Toyo) for route walk visiting seven gods and tried to eat ‘shirasu’ don. But, that time is not season for ‘shirasu’ and taste is not what I wanted.
I do not have enough knowledge about recipe to make my special ‘shirasu’ don this time. I collected many popular recipe using internet at the same time I have lots of experiences to make ‘chirasizusi’ (vinegar rice with many different sea food and vegitable mixed). I also had to use other foods witch is in my refrigerator. Following is my finale recipe for ‘shirasu’ don.
Vinegar rice is base of this dish. Put many and enough boiled ‘shirasu’ fishes top on the vinegar rice. Once I thought that I re-boil the boiled shirasu fishes, I didn’t do it because taste will be lost during re-boiling. Chop to tiny piece the small green onion which I bought from a super market nearby my home. Put this green onion as many as possible on the vinegar rice. And then drop raw egg yellowish on it. Use roasted sesame seeds and special soy source which is made for egg rice as dressing. That was the recipe.
Now, I thought ‘shirasu’ is the baby of sardine fish. It was not true. Actually ‘shirasu’ means any baby fish whose body is transparent. ‘Shirasu’ can be any baby fish of anchovy, pilchard, ‘ikanago’, eel, ‘ayu’, herring and etc. The baby fish I bought has different name ‘shiko sardine’ around Kanto area. And it is baby of most popular fish sardine in Kanto area (east side circle area who’s center is Tokyo).
All thru the year, baby fish of sardine can be caught, however fish caches is big and taste better in Spring and Autumn. The baby fish grows first and it becomes matured fish within a year. Their life is 2 or 3 years. Baby fish body is transparent when they are alive or right after landing. It became white after kettle boiled. If we dried it, it called ‘chirimenjako’ (dried ‘shirasu’ fish).
I ate my original recipe ‘shirasu’ don mouth full after completion of cooking. Good!. There is harmony between plump texture of ‘shirasu’ on tongue and crispy small green onion tooth touch. Vinegar of vinegar rice and egg yellowish are supporting main actor without bothering. This is much difference than the ‘sirasu’ don I tasted in Enoshima island at out of season.
(Yoshihiro Fujiwara May 5, 2015)
Copyright kamuro partyAll Rights Reserved.