Shellfish
Along with the fish part of Japanese cuisine are mollusks and crustaceans. Most of the species used to make sashimiand land, as well as other dishes.
Eby
Among the many species of crustaceans used in Japanese cooking, make up the lion's share of the shrimp. If, for example, you want to taste the shrimp sushi in a Japanese sushi restaurant, you must determine exactly what it is with shrimp it should be cooked, while you have to choose from at least five species.
Kuruma-ebi (prawns) are up to 20 cm, they have a bright red shell with brown or blue and red stripes. Wuxi - ebi (black tiger shrimp), along with the tiger are the most delicious. Coloring them dark gray with black stripes.Those and other shrimp is best eaten raw, fresh, but they are also fried, grilliruyut, stew and cook soups with them.
Light gray crust-ebi (Chinese shrimp), also referred to as Taisho - ebi, used to make tempura and other fried foods, in addition, they are roasted and stewed.
Japanese shrimp, such as Ciba-ebi and bot-ebi, raw usually not by eating, but with hokkoku ako-ebi, also called ama - ebi, make great sushi. Tenaga-ebi (freshwater shrimps), with a long mustache, fried and stewed, and small shrimps, Sakura-ebi, mostly dried.
Processing and preparation
In Japan, all shrimps and prawns are sold fresh, sometimes alive, but in the western shops they come only in frozen form, but are available all year round.When cooked they become light red or pink.
ISE-ebi
I Ise-ebi, Japanese spiny lobster, shell to orichnevy or reddish-purple, and the claws smaller than most American and European lobsters. Lobster - a traditional Japanese holiday table decoration, because when cooked it becomes red, which symbolizes happiness in Japan.
Application in cooking
In unusually strong sweet lobster meat with a delicious aroma. Fresh lobster almost always make sashimi . fish in restaurants they are often kept in aquariums, and the chief - cook lobster from the selected client prepares a dish called iki - tsukuri (live sashimi .) But be warned: sashimiyou will be served in the cleaved lobster shell, leaving the head intact, with sad eyes gazing at you and still wiggling mustache.
In addition, lobster fried grilled and eaten with citrus soy sauce.
KANI
The most common Tabara-gani (king crab), kegani (hairy crab) and tsuvay-gani (snow crab). Crabs come to the market already in the water boiled or steamed, they are cooked immediately after harvest, as their insides perishable.
King crabs resemble giant spiny spider, but the meat of their unusually good. Adult male king crab can weigh up to 12 kg, and be a little less across a meter.Carapace of these crabs light red, and the lower part cream.
Application in cooking
The crab is in food, mainly meat from the claws, often it is eaten raw, with citrus sauce, or in salads, fried, grillirovannyh dishes and stews. In addition, the crab meat - one of the main components of sushi. However, for boiled and fried foods is mainly used canned crab meat.
ICA
Squid for the Japanese - a familiar food. In Japanese cooking uses several types of shellfish, squid from which to cook a particular dish, depending on their taste, color, texture and season.
Surime - ika (Pacific flying squid), also known as Japanese common squid, painted in dark red-brown color, reaches a length of 30 cm, except for 20 - centimeter tentacles, and its fishing season lasts from summer to autumn. Jari - ika (squid hastate) grows up to 40 cm, his tentacles are short, pale-red coloration, and the head has a pointed shape. Kensaku - ika (squid horseshoe crabs) looks very similar to Jari - ika, but his head is more pointed, and his fishing season lasts from spring to summer.
Aori - ika (squid with a broad carapace) is like a big squid, but no calcareous shells, you can buy one in the summer, but he did not come across very often on the shelves. Co. - ika (cuttlefish) has rounded body, a solid inner shell and dense flesh body length is 18 cm, and the tentacles - 20 cm. Cuttle fish caught since early autumn to late winter. Sometimes on the shelves comes Kaminari - Ica - large cuttlefish with tentacles up to 45 cm.
Hotaru torso - ika (squid - Firefly) as short as 5 - 7 cm, covered with almost transparent skin, has the ability to glow. Usual this unique animal in the seas washing the coast of Japan, and is caught from spring to summer.
Aka - ika (squid volatile) - it is a large squid with a reddish-brown skin and a thin gelatinous cartilage inside. It is used for preparation of dried, smoked or pickled foods.
Application in cooking
Raw squid can prepare sashimi . SPLIT squid are usually sold in Japanese supermarkets. Not have the time to cook the squid, as overcooked squid gets tough. From whole carcasses squid cooked ika - zushi(Squid stuffed with rice for sushi).
PRODUCTS squid
In Japan, squid treated in different ways.
Surume
Surume - peeled and dried whole squid - one of the many delicacies, submitted to drinks. Surume usually fried or grilliruyut entirely, then tear off the fingers narrow strips on Perek fibers and eaten dipped in soy sauce. The most delicious surume obtained from Kensaku - ika (squid horseshoe crabs), with its superb tender meat.
Siokara
This raw squid, marinated in their own ink with salt. It is sold in the form of canned food in glass jars. Siokaru served the drinks or to the rice.
Matsumaz - tsuki
One of branded gourmet chefs Kansai. Make it out of surume (dried squid), Conboy and shredded carrots, marinated in mirin and soy sauce and served with rice or drinks.
TAKO
The original form of Japanese dishes of octopus gives contrast to creamy white flesh with a dark red skin (when cooked octopus red) and an unusual round shape cut tentacles.
In the world of marketable are more than ten kinds of octopus - from idako (pygmy octopus) no longer than 10 cm to more than three-meter giants. The most common species belongs to the family of ma - Dacian .
In Japanese cuisine blanched octopus sashimi is used for cooking and salads.
HAMAGURI
Clem - one of the oldest known Japanese food. Clem and still play an important role the Japanese diet, and in Japanese cooking are used many types of shellfish, such kakaka - gai (sink - arks) Asari (Manila Clem), the Tories - gai (clams), tank - gai, or ayoagi ( Maktren), and hockey - gai (butterfish. They are used for the preparation of sashimi ,sushi and many other dishes. most common type terminals hamaguri (clams). their fishing season lasts from winter to early spring.
They are fried, grilliruyut, steam or cook on low heat in soups without removing shells, sometimes flesh Clem added to stews or cooked with rice. Clem before cooking should be placed in salt water to remove sand from the shells.
HOTATE - GUY
Scallops, due to its size and similarity of taste with fish, have a very wide range of applications. In the Japanese market sold scallops several species, including hotate - Guy, the most common in the western stores, Itay - Guy (Japanese scallop), zucchini - gai (limpet) and hiogi - Guy (noble scallop). Scallops are the essential components of land and self Simi . scallop prepared as salads with vinegar dressing and soups. In addition, they can fry, stew and grillirovat pre-salting. Thin veins, encircling the body of the scallop and red interiors are discarded, and used in soups.
Kaki
In Seas Japan, is found several species of oysters. Sink the most common of them - Kaki (giant Pacific oyster), as opposed to a round of the European oyster, has an elongated shape, reaching 8 inches long and 5 inches wide.
Eating raw oysters, as is customary in Japan, lightly season with their citrus soy sauce.
Another specialty of Japanese chefs - Kaki - Fray(Breaded fried oysters). In addition, the oyster stew cook and clear soups, and cook them with rice.Oysters can cause food poisoning, so raw oysters should bring to the table is very fresh.
