【Shimanto City, Kochi Prefecture】You can only eat it in Shimanto City! !! "Bonito Tataki" (Part 1)
Kochi Prefecture's "delicious food" is famous nationwide, and the first thing that comes to mind is "Bonito Tataki".
Bonito is a well-known specialty of Kochi, but it is actually in season twice!
This time, we will explain about bonito, which is loved by the people of Kochi Prefecture, in Part 1, the season and characteristics, and in the next part, Part 2, we will explain the recommended way to eat it that can only be tasted in Shimanto City.
〇Bonito season! First bonito and return bonito
Bonito is a well-known specialty of Kochi, but depending on the fishing season (season), it is called "first bonito" and "return bonito"!
This time, we will introduce two types of Bonito with different names, the seasonality, characteristics, and recommended ways to eat them unique to Kochi.
〇 First bonito with a light taste!
Hatsubonito, which has long been loved as one of the seasonal ingredients of Spring, used to refer to the Bonito Landings at the beginning of the year because it has the word "first", but in recent years it has come to refer to bonito Landings in Spring ~ early summer.
Bonito fry hatched from eggs migrate north on the Kuroshio Current in search of food around Spring and grow into adult fish.
The bonito that is landed during this northward trip is "Hatsubonito". It is also called "ascending bonito". It depends on the place where the Landings is landed, but in Kochi, the season is mainly Spring ~ early summer (around March ~ May).
The first bonito, which is in the prime of growth, has a refreshing and plump taste with a lot of transparent lean meat. It has a firm texture and little Bonito Aroma, making it easy to eat even for those who are not good at it.
Hatsuboni, which is light and low in fat, is recommended to be made into Tataki, which can be eaten with a fatty skin. It is the season when the "Naka Village traditional salt tataki" eaten with plenty of condiments is delicious. We will introduce the "traditional salt Tataki of the Middle Village" in the next section, "It can only be eaten in Shimanto City!!"Bonito salt Tataki" (Part 2)!
〇 Return bonito with a rich taste!
On the other hand, Bonito, which has traveled north in search of food, begins to move south (U-turn) in search of warmer waters as the water temperature drops when it arrives in southern Hokkaido. The bonito that is Landing during this southward trip is "return bonito". In Kochi, the season is around autumn (September ~ November).
Returning bonito is fatty because it eats food many and Landings after it grows up, and it is also called "thick Bonito" and "fat Bonito". It has been loved as an autumn ingredient since ancient times.
The flesh of the large-grown bonito is deep red in color and has a rich and whitish taste with fat near the skin.
How was it?
You may be wondering about Bonito.
In the next Part 2, we will introduce "Bonito salt Tataki" that can only be eaten in Shimanto City!
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