Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
Start with these 36 seasonings from Akita in total
Shottsuru is made by salting the hatahata sailfin sandfish that crowd into the Sea of Japan in winter, then fermenting them over a long stretch of time. Counted as one of Japan's three great fish sauces, it was indispensable for seasoning hotpots. A method of preserving fish so that none went to waste became a seasoning in its own right.
This is also rice country, and breweries remain in many parts of the prefecture. Kakunodate has a brewery running since the Edo period, where the making of seasonings that combine dashi and shoyu (soy sauce) has been carried on. The longer the winter, the more the craft of brewing and waiting gets refined.
- Shottsuru, a fish sauce fermented from hatahata
- Brewing, and the craft of waiting, grown out of rice country
What represents Akita is a fish sauce
You cannot talk about the seasonings of Akita without shottsuru. It is a fish sauce made by salting hatahata and other fish and aging them for over a year, and it is counted as one of Japan's three great fish sauces alongside Ishikawa's ishiru and Kagawa's sand lance shoyu.
Its savory depth comes from a different source than shoyu brewed from soybeans. The amino acids released as fish protein breaks down build the core of a dish even in small amounts. In Akita it has long been used as a hidden note in hotpots and noodle broths. Alongside it, a culture of pre-set broths has taken root, including dashi-blended shoyu and shiro dashi.
Hatahata and shottsuru
The hatahata is the official fish of Akita Prefecture. Thunder rolls as winter arrives, and the fish suddenly crowd the shore along with that thunder, which is why they were given a character meaning a fish sent by the gods.
The history of shottsuru is traced to the early Edo period. It began as a plain seasoning of nothing but fish and salt packed into tubs and barrels. In recent years, though, poor hatahata catches meant that true shottsuru disappeared from the area for a time, and in response some breweries restarted production. Products labeled as 100% hatahata belong to that current.
Local dishes and their seasonings
- Shottsuru Nabe (しょっつる鍋)
- A hotpot of hatahata and vegetables simmered in a broth seasoned with shottsuru. Fish simmered in fish sauce: the construction makes it the defining dish of the Akita winter table.
- Kiritanpo Nabe (きりたんぽ鍋)
- Pounded rice wrapped around a stick and grilled, then simmered in a broth of Hinai-jidori chicken dashi and shoyu. The ratio of dashi to shoyu decides the flavor outright, so pre-set dashi shoyu is widely used within the prefecture.
Makers in Akita
- Moroi JozoFounded in 1930
A brewery making shottsuru in Oga. They hold to a method using nothing but hatahata and salt, and also produce long-aged versions. - Ando Jozo
A maker in Kakunodate. Alongside shoyu and miso they make shiro dashi and other products, with their brewery standing in a town where samurai residences still remain. - Tohoku Shoyu
A maker in Daisen. Their dashi-blended shoyu, Aji Dohraku no Sato, is widely used in Akita households.
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