Cook the local flavors once more

Katsuo chazuke (bonito over rice with hot broth)

From: A house in the forest and a southern sea: a day in Kushimoto

A close-up of the bowl topped with nori and green onions

Bonito dressed in sauce is laid over rice and eaten with hot broth poured on top. It is a well-known signature dish of Kushimoto's eateries; some serve the first bowl like a rice bowl and the second as chazuke. Along the Kinan coast, including Kushimoto, bonito are caught one at a time by kenken trolling, a method said to have come from Hawaii in the Meiji era, then bled immediately and chilled in ice water. The fish is fresh enough for sashimi and, eaten the day it is landed, has a chewy texture that earns it the name mochi-gatsuo. The season runs from March to May.

Ingredients

Cooked rice
Sashimi-grade bonito (a block)
Sesame soy sauce
Shredded nori
Green onions
Hot dashi broth

How I made it

Chop the green onions
Slice the bonito and dress it in the sesame soy sauce
Lay the bonito over rice and top with nori and green onions
Pour hot broth over the bowl and eat

Sources: walkerplus.com pref.wakayama.lg.jp

This moment in the journey

Bonito chazuke from the Kuroshio

This morning I made one of Kushimoto's specialties. I chopped green onions on the cutting board; on the kitchen post hung a hand-drawn picture map of this district, Tanami.

Blessed by the warm Kuroshio Current, Kushimoto is known as rich fishing grounds. The bonito here are caught one by one, bled right away and chilled in ice water, which is why they are so fresh. I sliced a block of sashimi-grade bonito, dressed the slices in a sesame soy sauce, and layered them on a plate.

Bonito, shredded nori and green onions over rice: this is katsuo chazuke, a Kushimoto favorite. A pot of piping-hot broth stood ready. With light filtering through the shoji onto the tatami, I poured the broth over the bowl.

Watch this scene on YouTube0:40

Read this scene in the full journey