Kusaya
Kusaya (くさや) is a salted,
Taste
Though the smell of kusaya is strong, its taste is quite mellow. Kusaya is often eaten with Japanese sake or shōchū, particularly a local drink called Shima Jiman (literally island pride). The brine used to make kusaya, which includes many vitamins and organic acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid and amino acids, contributes much nutritional value to the resulting dried fish.
History
Kusaya originated in the
Making kusaya
Mackerel scad (Decapterus macarellus), flying fish and other similar species are used to make kusaya. The fish is washed in clear water many times before being soaked in a brine called kusaya eki (くさや液, lit. 'kusaya liquid/juice') for eight to twenty hours. This mixture has a salt concentration of 8%, compared to the concentration of 18% to 20% in common fish curing brines. After this process, the fish are laid out under the sun to dry for one or two days. The Niijima-Mura Museum on Niijima has several installations, including a video, on the making of kusaya.
See also
References
- ^ "Community News". Archived from the original on 2019-12-21.
External links
- Niijima Fish Processing Co-operative (in Japanese)
- Niijima-mura Museum (in Japanese)
- Kusaya photos