We get off the overwhelmed path and get superior maguro in Shiogama.
Japan has a few of the biggest seafood on the planet, and it feels further particular to eat further recent fish proper on the fish market. Nevertheless, we’ve to confess that there’s additionally a touristy vibe to a few of the extra well-known ones, particularly those in main sightseeing cities, like Tokyo’s Toyosu market.
So when he’s out and about however off the overwhelmed vacationer path, our Japanese-language reporter P.Ok. Sanjun likes to hunt out fish markets with a bit extra of an old-school vibe, and he just lately discovered an awesome one within the city of Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture.
The Shiogama Marine Merchandise Wholesale Market is about half-hour by automotive from Sendai, and has a really native ambiance. Performance comes first right here, with a warehouse-style inside and distributors grouped into sections with workmanlike names comparable to “Gross sales Block 10.”
Regardless of the “wholesale” a part of its title, although, the market is open to common particular person prospects too, and even has a “My Kaisendon Nook” the place you should buy bowls of rice on which to position the recent sashimi you’ve bought from the distributors to make your personal personalized kaisendon (combined sashimi bowl).
There may be, as you’d count on, a whole lot of fish to select from, however P.Ok. discovered a tip to slender down your choices: search for a vendor that has a tuna coronary heart on show.
This isn’t a well-liked a part of the fish to eat, however displaying a tuna coronary heart is an indicator that the seller cleaned and lower the tuna (or maguro, as tuna known as in Japanese) themselves proper there available in the market, and that it’s as recent as could be.
This standards is what introduced P.Ok. to the sales space of vendor Marukume Toichi Shoten, which is one among solely a small variety of retailers on the market who promote a particular sort of tuna referred to as Sanriku Shiogama Higashimono.
Sanriku Shiogama Higashimono are regionally caught mebachi maguro (bigeye tuna) landed between September and December. On the day of P.Ok.’s go to, Marukume Toichi Shoten was handing out free samples, and tinheritor Higashimono was so extremely scrumptious that after making an attempt a chunk P.Ok. determined to make it his meal. Nevertheless, trying on the parts that have been already packaged and on the market, P.Ok. may see that they have been all greater than he may eat by himself. Fortunately, the Marukume Toichi Shoten workers have been variety sufficient, and had sufficient time on their palms, to make up a one-person pack of Higashimono sashimi for P.Ok. This isn’t one thing they’re at all times in a position to do, however P.Ok. had come throughout slightly lull within the circulation of consumers, so they may accommodate him.
Skilfully slicing away together with his knife, Marukume Toichi Shoten’s proprietor laid out a mouthwatering mixture of akami (lean tuna) and chutoro (medium-fatty tuna) slices for P.Ok.
At 3,000 yen (US$20), this wasn’t a super-cheap alternative, however contemplating each the standard and amount of tuna, P.Ok. is definite he’d have needed to pay much more to get an expansion like this in a restaurant.
Along with his sashimi provide sorted, P.Ok. sauntered over to Gross sales Block 6, the place the My Kaisendon Nook is. Right here you may get a “gohan set,” consisting of a bowl of white rice and a bowl of miso soup, for 400 yen. For an additional 100 yen you may improve to the “photogenic (shashinbae) set,” which additionally will get you a leaf of shiso (Japanese basil), egg, and pickled ginger, ostensibly so as to add some contrasting shade to essentially make the hues of your kaisendon pop if you snap footage of it.
To P.Ok.’s shock, it’s really sort of difficult to rearrange the slices of sashimi for a kaisendon in an aesthetically pleasing and structurally secure method. Nonetheless, we expect his closing effort got here out fairly good.
Finally, P.Ok.’s abdomen informed him that it had had sufficient of his inventive hemming and hawing, and that it was now time to eat…and it was wonderful.
Between the thick cuts and agency texture, the Sanriku Shiogama Higashimono’s mouthfeel is superb. The fish is flavorful, wealthy, and moist, however with out feeling soggy or waterlogged. It was all so wealthy, scrumptious, and moist that P.Ok. didn’t even want to make use of any soy sauce with it.
Reality be informed, although chutoro is taken into account one of many prime cuts of tuna sashimi, P.Ok. normally isn’t that huge a fan of it, a lot in order that he typically asks for akami solely when ordering sushi and sashimi. Chutoro lovers say the additional fats produces an additional buttery taste, however to P.Ok.’s palate, it typically feels overbearing in its oiliness. He had none of these disagreeable points with the Sanriku Shiogama Higashimono chutoro, although. Sure, in comparison with the akami it’s very wealthy, but it surely nonetheless has the acquainted base flavors of maguro, simply dialed up in depth.
As for the miso soup, it was tasty, however easy and easy, seemingly conscious that it’s right here in a supporting function to the true star of the present, the seafood.
After all, in case you’re not within the temper for tuna, you can also make your My Kaisendon out of something that strikes your fancy available in the market.
You may as well ask some distributors to grill the fish you’re shopping for (with costs to take action beginning as little as simply 200 yen), and the restaurant in Gross sales Block 14 may whip you up issues like fried shrimp and oysters, curry, or grilled unagi (freshwater eel).
Actually, there are solely two potential issues with grabbing one thing to eat on the Shiogama market. One is that because it’s firstly a wholesale market, they shut early, at 1 or 2 p.m. relying on the day of the week. That may make it onerous to discover a place to sit down within the My Kaisendon Nook in the course of the lunch rush, so that you’ll most likely wish to get there early within the day, like P.Ok. did. Second, at a whole lot of distributors, even the smallest parts of fish on the market are nonetheless fairly huge. P.Ok. recommends bringing mates and getting a pair packs to share, however we expect that deep down in his coronary heart, and his abdomen, he’s joyful to have had an excuse to gorge himself on a lot good maguro.
Location info
Shiogama Marine Merchandise Wholesale Market / 名称 塩釜水産物仲卸市場
Tackle: Miyagi-ken, Shiogama-shi, Shinhamacho 1-20-74
宮城県塩竈市新浜町一丁目20番74号
Open 6 a.m.-1 p.m. (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday), 6 a.m.-2 p.m. (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holidays)
Particular person sales space hours bary by vendor
Market closed each Wednesday
Web site
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