Katsuo no Namaribushi - Traditional Foods in Japan | Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

KochiKatsuo no Namaribushi

Classification (Large)

Seafood products

Classification (Small)

Katsuobushi and similar products

Main ingredients used

bonito fish

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Region of inheritance

Prefecture-wide

Product overview (special characteristics and types)

Katsuo no namabushi is a processed food in which fresh bonito is filleted, heated, and smoked. The difference between this and standard dried bonito is that dried bonito repeats the smoking process 10 to 15 times and sun dries the fish, whereas namabushi only smokes the meat once. This food commonly uses the first bonito harvested in the spring, with its firm meat and rich umami. Namabushi is eaten as an everyday food, like sashimi, but is used in other dishes as well, and is popular all year round. Furthermore, it contains rich amounts of amino acids, which are essential for the body, and has low calories and high protein, making it an excellent and nutritious food.
Along with katsuo no namabushi, sodabushi and tosabushi are also essential in getting to know about the dried bonito culture in Kochi Prefecture. Sodabushi, dried bullet tuna produced in the city of Tosashimizu, has more blood when compared to bonito and creates broth that is rich and full-flavored. Tosabushi is dried bonito with an extremely hard texture, also called karebushi, and is produced by repeated molding processes and drying in the sun. A process handed down from Kishu fishers almost 300 years ago was improved by Kamezo Harimaya and Sanosuke Miyao from the Usa area of Tosa City to create the improved tosabushi. Among the varieties of tosabushi, those that have been matured for lengthy periods with more repeated molding and sun-drying processes are called [honkarebushi], and the techniques and traditions have been handed down to the modern day.

History and culture

Katsuo no namabushi has a long history. There are descriptions of it as namabi in [The Story of Food] of the Kan’ei era, and as namaribushi in the [Edo Cookbook] of the Enpo era. After the Edo period, its production flourished in areas with a lively harvest of bonito and tuna. For example, Usa Town of Tosa City, which faces the Pacific Ocean and is located in the center of Kochi Prefecture, traditionally had a bonito pole-fishing culture, and processed products for bonito that included dried bonito and namabushi developed in this area. The wisdom and techniques to preserve bonito, which loses its freshness quickly, have been handed down to modern times in this fashion.
Furthermore, namabushi became popular among the citizens of Edo as well, and its popularity can be seen in the phrase, “even if you have to pawn off your wife, at least you can eat.”

Production method

Fresh bonito is filleted and boiled in a cauldron. After its tough skin and bones are removed, the fish is smoked to complete the process. These days, products on the market are immediately vacuum-packed and sterilized with high-temperatures after they are smoked.

Conservation and succession efforts

This food can be found widely in Kochi Prefecture, and is also sold online. In 2021, the Washoku Association of Japan hosted a project in which lecturers visited elementary schools and held cooking classes to pass down the appeal of namabushi to children.
In addition, the processing methods for tosabushi, which is dried bonito with a hard texture, were designated as a national cultural asset in 2021.

Main consumption method

This food is sliced like sashimi and eaten with an ample amount of grated ginger. It is also perfect for an appetizer by breaking it up and dipping it in soy sauce or mayonnaise. It is even popular as a children’s snack, and is used in a variety of dishes, such as salads, vinegared dishes, stir-fries, simmered dishes, soups, and rice seasoned and cooked with various ingredients.

At-home recipes：Katsuo no namabushi side dish

Ingredients

Katsuo no namabushi

80 g

Japanese radish

80 g

Green onion (thin green spring onion shoots)

As needed

Ponzu

As needed

How to make

Break katsuo no namabushi by hand into bite-sized pieces. Cut Japanese radish into thin strips.

Spread the Japanese radish in a dish, put the bonito from 1 above, and top the bonito with green onion. Pour ponzu.