Japanese foods--shirumono

[Priscilla]

Hiroyuki, thank you! Some of those photos in your link look just right.

Does ara refer only to fish trimmings, or trimmings from other foods as well?

And it is a very subtle dish, as you say. I am not surprised there is not additional non-salmon dashi.

Looking forward to making it, now that salmon season is here.

[Hiroyuki]

Hiroyuki, thank you!  Some of those photos in your link look just right. 

Does ara refer only to fish trimmings, or trimmings from other foods as well?

And it is a very subtle dish, as you say.  I am not surprised there is not additional non-salmon dashi.

Looking forward to making it, now that salmon season is here.

←

Ara refers to what is left of a fish after you fillet it, except innards, i.e., the head, fins, bones, etc.

I will post a recipe and a photo in an appropriate thread when I make ara jiru.

[Priscilla]

Yay!

[Hiroyuki]

I made salmon clear soup for tonight's supper to celebrate my wife's coming home from hospital.

Salmon "ara". 98 yen (less than one dollar )

Clear soup

Recipe and comments later. Sorry, I'm drunk and I don't want to work hard...

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

I'm glad to hear that your wife is home, and hope the hangover tomorrow isn't too terrible.

[Hiroyuki]

I'm glad to hear that your wife is home, and hope the hangover tomorrow isn't too terrible.

←

Thanks, MomOfLittleFoodies, but 2 cans of 500-ml beer can never give me a hangover.

After browsing through tens of "ara jiru" recipes, I decided to do the following:

1 pack (200-300 g) ara

1/3 carrot

1/4 daikon

1/4 negi (Japanese scallion)

40 cm kombu

1600 ml water

30 ml sake

2 tsp salt

30 ml soy sauce (preferably light, but I used dark)

I was a little worried about the smell of the salmon ara, because I bought it on June 7 and kept it in the partial freezing compartment of the fridge. When I smelled it, however, I found it not so smelly as I had imagined. So, I skipped the first step (sprinkle salt and let stand). I just parboiled the ara for about 2 min. (Parboiling for a few seconds should be enough, though.)

Put water in a pot, add kombu, remove kombu immediately before the water comes to a boil.

Add sake, carrot,and daikon. Simmer for 5 min.

Add ara. Simmer for another 5-10 min.

Season with salt and soy sauce.

Add negi.

I didn't realize that the salmon ara was that of an aramaki jake (salted salmon) until I added 1 tsp salt and tasted the soup! I didn't add another tsp, but added 30 ml soy sauce for flavoring. The resulting soup was rather salty, so I had to add another 600 ml water.

Anyway, the soup was quite tasty (although it was still a little salty), and all my family liked it.

The ara jiru is not the only dish that I prepared for last night's supper. I bought very expensive "maguro chuu toro" and other sashimi to celerate my wife's return.

Edited June 15, 2007 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Priscilla]

Hiroyuki, wonderful news about your wife!

And the soup looks delicious. Can't wait to make it with upcoming salmon trimmings.

[sanrensho]

Good to hear your wife is out of the hospital, I bet the kids are excited! Does this mean a special feast (sushi?) tonight?

Edited June 14, 2007 by sanrensho (log)

[Hiroyuki]

Good to hear your wife is out of the hospital, I bet the kids are excited! Does this mean a special feast (sushi?) tonight?

←

Unfortunately, no. No sushi tonight, but I want to prepare another special meal for my family on Saturday or Sunday.

For those of you who can read Japanese, here are links to websites that I referred to before making the clear soup:

http://www.kit.hi-ho.ne.jp/halchan/cooking/kasujiru.html

http://www.849net.com/cook/2006/08/post_46.html

http://www.gas.city.sendai.jp/cooking/cook_19/cook_19.html

http://www.kanahashi.co.jp/sake/sakemenu.html

[BarbaraY]

The soup looks good to me. Occasionally I see fish scraps in one of our stores. I have never bought any because I question it's freshness. Next time I see it, I will check it out.

I was going to buy daikon when I was last in the store but they didn't have any.

I'm glad to see that your wife is recovering and your family can be all together again.