Kenji Sasaki, the owner of a translation company in Nagoya, gave me an interesting gift when I visited his office last week: a package of “jakoten” from his hometown of Uwajima, in Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku Island.
Jakoten is a deep-fried fish paste (surimi) product that bears about the same relation to kamaboko (cured surimi) as whole-grain from your local craft bakery bears to factory-made white bread.
It may just be that Mr. Sasaki gives odd gifts—he unexpectedly gave my wife a pineapple when she picked up some papers at his office a few years ago—but Japanese in general give gifts on many more occasions that is the norm in Western countries. Souvenirs are in order whenever one travels, whether for business or pleasure, for those you are visiting and for those who stayed behind—family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
Local food products are among the most traditional of gifts. After all, if it were available everywhere, it wouldn’t be very special, would it? I received a bunch of grapes the day before yesterday from my across-the-street neighbor—a family member had sent them to her from home. And today, one of my English students passed on some “somen” noodles that a friend of hers had given her; she had already received from another friend and had more than she knew what to do with. (Somen lasts a long time, so it occupies the role of fruitcake in Japanese re-gifting.)
So, about the jakoten from Uwajimaya… Uwajimaya Co. Ltd.’s products are made from “jacko” (young sardines) and “hotarujako” (Acropoma japonicum) – called glowbelly or lanternbelly in English because they are luminescent (“hotaru” means firefly). Additional fish that are often found in jakoten from other companies are horse mackerel, common dolphinfish, Japanese gizzard shad (Nematalosa japonica), flying fish, bullnose ray, scabbard fish, lizardfish, scorpionfish (Lepidotrigla kanagashira) and Japanese butterfish.
The fish are steamed, mashed into paste, formed and deep-fried. The “ten” in “jakoten” is short for “tempura.” This can then be cooked in a frypan or grilled and eaten with soy sauce and grated daikon radish. Jakoten can also be added to udon soup or salad. It may also be cut it up and cooked with vegetable stir-fry or added to oden, a winter dish of boiled eggs, daikon radish, devils tongue and processed fishcakes stewed in a light dashi broth.
I heated mine in the oven-toaster and ate it on a salad, but it also goes well with alcoholic drinks and is a popular bar snack. Jackoten has a nutty flavor and crunchy texture because the soft bones of the small fish are included. The easily digested bones are a good source of calcium. I found an occasional bone to be harder than expected, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
Uwajimaya offers several varieties beyond plain jakoten, incliding gobo tempura (jakoten with burdock root), renkon tempura (with lotus root) and jacko katsu (breaded jakoten cutlet). Despite being deep-fried, jakoten has a healthy image, and the company makes the most of it. They use no artificial ingredients, use organic certified salt from natural salt pans in Australia and organic stevia sweetener instead of sugar.
Uwajimaya is not the only company making jakoten in Ehime Prefecture. The place is full of jakoten. A perusal of Ehime Prefucture’s “sugoaji-ehime” (excellent taste of Ehime) promotional website nets nine companies producing jakoten.
Tanaka Kamaboko Honten Co., Ltd.’s motto is “We grind our handground jakoten by hand, bones and all.” Torizukamabokoten Co., Ltd. claims to be made using only fish and salt. Nakamura Kamaboko Inc. touts its product as a “great complement to beer.” And Iyokamaboko Co., Ltd. advertises that it is authorized as a “brand product with love” of Ehime Prefecture.
Whether authority is needed to love your home prefecture is debatable, but it is clear that the people of Ehime love their jakoten.
