The Japanese Culinary Academy MUKOITA I, Cutting Techniques: Fish
Japanese Culinary Academy
FUSHIKITohru,Scientist
KUMAKURAIsao,Historian
KAWASAKIHiroya,Scientist
MATSUMURAYasuki,Scientist
Photographer:
SAITO Akira, YAMAGATA Shuichi, KUMA Masashi
Hardcover, All color, 256 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-4-908325-06-9
The sharpness of the knife is an important determining factor in the flavor of sashimi. The cleanness of the cut makes for fine differences in sensation that can be appreciated on the palate.
UNESCO’s listing of washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage pro-foundly influenced culinary publishing; docile intro-ductions of Japanese gastronomy and food have been replaced by detailed and deeper presentations. This book is part of the Japanese Culinary Academy Com-plete Japanese Cuisine series, which aims to set forth the fundamentals and background of washoku tradi-tions and techniques. The focus here is on the cutting techniques for fish, a subject that has not received detailed attention in most national cuisines.
The preparation and serving of fish in the raw—sashimi and (most) sushi—are defining features of Japanese cuisine. Sashimi is essentially a very simple cuisine, but cutting skills of great virtuosity are re-quired to prepare fish for sashimi at its best.
In a traditional Japanese restaurant, the work of preparing sashimi is described with the term mukoita. The mukoitachef is steeped in knowledge of the fla-vor, aroma, and texture distinctive of each kind of fish and trained to know how to enhance the umami of the flesh while preserving its freshness. The mukoita chef holds the highest status in the preparation of washoku cuisine. In every detail of the techniques, moreover, are arts for presenting this simple fare in an attractive manner.
This book presents widely used cutting techniques for fish in Japanese cuisine, centering on those prac-ticed by the mukoita chef, together with detailed photographs of the processes. It provides a system-atic guide to preparation of sashimi dishes, from the spiking of freshly caught fish, to filleting or otherwise dividing the fish into its parts, and slicing of fillets.
CONTENTS
- PREFACE
– MURATA Yoshihiro
Chapter 1 The Basics
- mukoita and the Arts of Sashimi
- Knives in the History of Japanese Cuisine
- The Hygiene for Food Eaten Raw
- Knives in the Japanese Kitchen
- Posture and Grip
- Knife Maintenance
Chapter 2 Standard Techniques
- The Secrets of Tsukuri
- The Merits of the Yanagiba knife
- Fish Anatomy for Chefs
- Spiking Fish
-Red Sea Bream - Curing Fish
-Yellowtail - Sashimi Garnishes
-Bonito
-Butterfish
-Salmon
Chapter 3 Special Techniques
- Flounder
- Bartail Flathead
- Devil Stinger Tilefish
- Tiger Pufferfish
- Soft-shelled Turtle
- Monkfish
- Carp
- Tuna
- Basic Recipes
- Cooking Utensils of the Japanese Kitchen
- Index
- Conversions