Journeys in photographs and words.

Cook the local flavors once more

Iyo, Ehime

Fisherman's rice in dashi

From: A seaside station and slow time in Futami

Dashi poured over rice topped with fish and green onions
Dashi poured over rice topped with fish and green onions

Shimonada is a fishing town on the Iyo-nada. Toyoda fishing port, home base of the Shimonada fisheries cooperative, is one of the major coastal fishing ports in western Japan, where live sea bream and pike conger are auctioned every day. The bowl I crave whenever I come to a fishing village, marinated fish and nori on rice with hot dashi poured over, I ate on a terrace above the sea.

Ingredients

  • Cooked rice
  • Nori and bonito-flake rice topping
  • White fish sashimi marinated in soy sauce
  • Green onions
  • Dashi

How I made it

  1. Chop the green onions
  2. Sprinkle the rice topping over a bowl of rice and lay the marinated fish on top
  3. Scatter the green onions, pour hot dashi from a teapot and stir

Sources: zengyoren.or.jp

This moment in the journey

A fisherman's breakfast by the sea

When I come to a fishing village, this is what I want for breakfast. I chopped some green onions and sprinkled a mix of nori and bonito flakes over a bowl of rice, then laid slices of white fish, marinated in soy sauce, on top.

I slid the door open and carried the tray out to the terrace. From a teapot I poured plenty of hot dashi over the bowl, scattered the green onions and stirred it with my chopsticks: a fisherman's breakfast of rice in broth.

Standing at the edge of the terrace, I had the calm sea right in front of me. I sat down and ate slowly, looking out at the water. Beside the kitchen stood a wood stove.

Watch this scene on YouTube0:28

Read this scene in the full journey

Chopping green onions on a cutting board
Chopping green onions on a cutting board
A pack of nori and bonito-flake rice topping
A pack of nori and bonito-flake rice topping
Rice topped with nori and marinated fish in a bowl
Rice topped with nori and marinated fish in a bowl
Stepping out through the door onto the terrace
Stepping out through the door onto the terrace
Pouring dashi from a teapot into a green bowl
Pouring dashi from a teapot into a green bowl
Stirring the bowl with chopsticks beside the teapot
Stirring the bowl with chopsticks beside the teapot
Setting the teapot down on the tray
Setting the teapot down on the tray
Standing at the edge of the terrace, looking at the sea
Standing at the edge of the terrace, looking at the sea