Kodai no Sasazuke is a specialty of Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, in which small sea bream caught in Wakasa Bay are filleted in the three-piece style (sanmai oroshi), lightly cured with salt and vinegar, and packed into small cedar kegs. The main raw material is a small form of yellowback sea bream (kidai) known as 'renkodai'. Scales and fine bones are carefully removed from sea bream about 10 cm long, and the fillets are lightly salted and then marinated in vinegar or seasoned vinegar. After being packed into the keg, the fish is finished with bamboo grass leaves (sasa). The skin glows a vivid pink and the flesh is a translucent white or pale amber, so its beauty is part of the appeal. The method is said to have been established in Obama during the Meiji era, and it developed through the town's ties with Kyoto, a major center of consumption. In 2017 (Heisei 29), it was registered under the national Geographical Indication (GI) protection system as 'Wakasa Obama Kodai Sasazuke'. Today, the Obama Sasazuke Association, a cooperative of manufacturers in Obama City, preserves and passes on the traditional flavor.
Origin
Wakasa has long been called Miketsukuni (a province that supplied food to the imperial court), a land that sent foodstuffs to the capital. Seafood landed at Obama was carried to Kyoto along the Saba Kaido (Mackerel Road). According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, around the Meiji era, ocean currents and other factors led to large catches of renkodai in Wakasa Bay. Fish merchants in Obama then consulted their business partners in Kyoto and jointly developed a product, and this is said to be the origin of sasazuke.
History
Sasazuke is said to have been devised in the late Meiji era by Ikeda Kisuke of Obama together with a dried-goods wholesaler in Kyoto. The renkodai of that time had a high water content and spoiled easily, so even when caught in large numbers it was a fish of little value. Sasazuke began as a way to make the most of its flavor by turning it into a processed food that would keep. By the early Showa era, it had reportedly come to be called 'Kodai Sasazuke'. In 2017, it was registered as a Geographical Indication (GI), and the Obama Sasazuke Association is working to carry on the tradition.
Features
Renkodai from Wakasa has long been known as 'Wakasa kodai', and it was favored in Kyoto for its vivid color and its tender flesh and skin. Removing the fine bones from the fillets is difficult to mechanize, so skilled craftspeople do it by hand. The fillets are lightly salted and left overnight, desalted the next morning, and then marinated in vinegar or seasoned vinegar. The cedar kegs also absorb excess moisture from the fish, helping to concentrate its umami.
Main Ingredients
Food Culture
Sasazuke is delicious on its own or served over rice. It can be enjoyed in many ways: with wasabi soy sauce or ginger soy sauce, or made into temari sushi, vinegared dishes (sunomono), or ochazuke. Born out of the long exchange between Obama and Kyoto, it is a dish that carries on the food culture linking the two places to this day.
How It Differs from Home Cooking
Filleting a small sea bream and removing even its fine bones requires skilled technique. The amount of salt, the vinegar blend, and whether kombu is layered into the keg differ from producer to producer. Comparing the different flavors of each producer's keg is one of the pleasures of sasazuke.
Famous Shops
若狭小浜 丸海 小浜本店
福井県小浜市大手町9-21
Run by Obama Kaisanbutsu Co., Ltd., whose predecessor was a processing cooperative founded in 1948 (Showa 23). At its founding, descendants of Ikeda Kisuke, who is said to have devised sasazuke, joined the business, and it is said to have inherited his method.
かぎ孫・津田孫兵衛
福井県小浜市小浜玉前69-6
A long-established Obama business said to have been founded in 1688 (Genroku 1). The small sea bream are cured with natural domestic salt, dipped in a blended seasoning, and then packed into cedar kegs together with kombu. It is a member of the Obama Sasazuke Association.
上杉商店
福井県小浜市城内1-3-14
A member of the Obama Sasazuke Association. It sells Kodai Sasazuke in different sizes, such as a 150 g cedar keg and a 90 g half keg.
| Kodai Sasazuke, Large Keg (若狭小浜 丸海) | Marukai's signature product, in which renkodai fillets are cured with salt and rice vinegar and packed into a keg with bamboo grass leaves. The large keg (160 g) is listed from around 1,900 yen. |
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FAQ
Q. Is the 'kodai' in sasazuke a young red sea bream (madai)?
A. The fish mainly used is a small form of yellowback sea bream (kidai), called 'renkodai' in Wakasa. It is a different species from red sea bream. Sasazuke was created to make use of these small sea bream, which were caught in large numbers in the Meiji era.