Katsuobushi shavings from a package

Katsuobushi (鰹節; かつおぶし) (Chinese: 柴魚; chai2 yu2; lit. "firewood fish"), is the Japanese name for a preparation of dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis, sometimes referred to as bonito). Katsuobushi and kombu (a type of kelp) are the main ingredients of dashi, a broth that forms the basis of many soups (such as miso soup) and sauces (e.g., soba no tsukejiru) in Japanese cuisine. It is today typically found in bags of small pink-brown shavings, looking somewhat like cedar shavings used to line the cages of pet animals, or the shavings of a plain wooden pencil. Traditionally large chunks of katsuobushi were kept at hand and shaved when needed with an instrument similar to a plane turned upside down, but in the desire for convenience this form of the food has nearly disappeared. Katsuobushi, however, retains its status as one of the primary ingredients in Japanese cooking today. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2848x2136, 1434 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Katsuobushi Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2848x2136, 1434 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Katsuobushi Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Fermentation in progress Fermentation typically refers to the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast. ... Binomial name Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus, 1758) The skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. ... Kombu or konbu (Japanese: 昆布), also called dashima (Korean), or haidai (Chinese: 海带; pinyin: ), are edible kelp widely eaten in Northeast Asia. ... Families Alariaceae Chordaceae Laminariaceae Lessoniaceae Phyllariaceae Pseudochordaceae Kelp are large seaweeds (algae), belonging to the brown algae and classified in the order Laminariales. ... Dashi (出汁) is one of several simple soup stocks considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. ... Miso soup with miso, wakame, shiitake mushrooms and tofu cubes Miso soup (味噌汁, misoshiru in Japanese) is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called dashi into which is dissolved softened miso. ... Soba served on a zaru Soba (蕎麦) is a thin Japanese buckwheat noodle. ... There are many views of what is fundamental to Japanese cuisine. ... A Japanese plane in use A plane is a tool for shaping wood. ...

Katsuobushi's umami flavor comes from its high inosinic acid content. Traditionally made katsuobushi, known as karebushi, is deliberately planted with fungus (Aspergillus glaucus) in order to reduce moisture. Human taste sensory organs, called taste buds or gustatory calyculi, and concentrated on the upper surface of the tongue, appear to be receptive to relatively few chemical species as tastes. ... Inosinic acid is a nucleotide present in muscle and other tissues. ... Species Aspergillus caesiellus Aspergillus candidus Aspergillus carneus Aspergillus clavatus Aspergillus deflectus Aspergillus flavus Aspergillus fumigatus Aspergillus glaucus Aspergillus nidulans Aspergillus niger Aspergillus ochraceus Aspergillus oryzae Aspergillus parasiticus Aspergillus penicilloides Aspergillus restrictus Aspergillus sojae Aspergillus sydowi Aspergillus terreus Aspergillus ustus Aspergillus versicolor Aspergillus is a genus of around 200 fungi (moulds...

When added as a topping to a hot dish, the heat has the effect of making the flakes move as if dancing; because of this, katsuobushi topping is also known as dancing fish flakes.

Uses

Apart from dashi, other popular uses of katsuobushi include:

• As a stuffing for rice balls (onigiri).
• As a seasoning for cold tofu (hiyayakko, 冷奴) along with grated ginger and Welsh onion (a type of spring onion.)
• As a topping for rice (called furikake).
• Sprinkled with sesame seeds and chopped nori atop cold soba noodles (zarusoba).
• As a topping on takoyaki and okonomiyaki.
• As a seasoning on century egg along with sesame oil and soy sauce.

Onigiri Onigiri (お握り) also known as Omusubi (おむすび) is a Japanese (short grain) rice ball snack most commonly formed into triangle or oval shapes and wrapped in seaweed (nori). ... Tofu, also called Doufu (often in Chinese recipes) or bean curd (literal translation), is a food of Chinese origin[1], made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. ... Hiyayakko (冷奴) is a tofu block served cold. ... Binomial name Zingiber officinale Roscoe Ginger is used extensively as a spice in cuisines throughout the world. ... Binomial name Allium fistulosum Linnaeus Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum) is a species in the onion genus Allium. ... The common name scallion is associated with various members of the genus Allium that lack a fully-developed bulb. ... Furikake 振り掛け (ふりかけ) is any dry Japanese condiment meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. ... Binomial name Sesamum indicum L. Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. ... Nori. ... Soba served on a zaru Soba (蕎麦) is a thin Japanese buckwheat noodle. ... A Boat of Takoyaki Square takoyaki pan with 16 molds Takoyaki ) originated in Osaka, Japan and is literally fried or baked octopus) is a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, konnyaku, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, green laver (aonori), mayonnaise, and... A man prepares okonomiyaki at in a restaurant in Hiroshima, Japan Cheese (above) and shrimp okonomiyaki fully seasoned with sauce, mayonnaise, katsuobushi and aonori in Osaka, Japan Lantern beckons the unwary tourist into an okonomiyaki restaurant Okonomiyaki ) is a pan-fried Japanese dish cooked with various ingredients. ... Century egg sliced open. ... Sesame oil (also known as gingelly oil and til oil) is an organic oil derived from sesames, noted to have the distinctive aroma and taste of its parent seed. ... Soy sauce (US) or soya sauce is a fermented sauce made from soybeans (soya beans), roasted grain, water and salt. ...

Trivia

• Katsuobushi was the inspiration for the title of the John Lennon album Shaved Fish.

John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... Shaved Fish by John Lennon, was a greatest hits collection issued by Capitol Records. ...

External links

• Video of dancing fish flakes