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Travel notesCook the local flavors once moreFried chika

Cook the local flavors once more

Noboribetsu, Hokkaido

Fried chika

From: Below freezing outside, a fireplace within

Fried chika piled on a wooden plate
Fried chika piled on a wooden plate

Chika is a sea-dwelling smelt of the same genus as wakasagi, common along the Hokkaido coast. It looks much like wakasagi but has finer scales and grows to about 18 centimeters; tempura and frying are the usual ways to eat it. After my ice fishing came up empty, I fried chika from the fish counter instead. It could be eaten bones and all, hot and soft inside.

Ingredients

  • Chika (a smelt)
  • Flour
  • Oil for frying

How I made it

  1. Put the whole chika in a bowl and dust with flour
  2. Deep-fry until crisp
  3. Lift onto paper to drain

Sources: honda.co.jp

This moment in the journey

Nabeyaki udon in a room with a fireplace

Outside the window, a little snowman stood on the night snow. The powder was too dry to roll, so I had carved a lump of snow round instead. With a twig for a face, it reminded me of an actor I like, so I named it Toshiyuki.

What I had wanted to eat in a room with a fireplace: the nabeyaki udon from the Ghibli film "Whisper of the Heart." When I lifted the lid of the clay pot, a soft-cooked egg and the star carrots appeared through the steam. The udon was made from Hokkaido wheat.

The fried chika could be eaten bones and all, hot, soft and really good. I poured the alcohol-free beer into a glass and raised it to myself. The nabeyaki udon the grandpa made in the film looked so delicious, and the fireplace is part of why. But I'm sure it's mostly because Shizuku had worked so hard.

Watch this scene on YouTube5:50

Read this scene in the full journey

A little snowman on the snow at night
A little snowman on the snow at night
Lifting the lid, with the fried chika alongside
Lifting the lid, with the fried chika alongside
The nabeyaki udon with the lid off
The nabeyaki udon with the lid off
Pouring from the can into a glass
Pouring from the can into a glass
Eating the udon, with a glass and the fried fish at hand
Eating the udon, with a glass and the fried fish at hand
The alcohol-free beer can and a frothy glass
The alcohol-free beer can and a frothy glass

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