Ika sōmen

Ika sōmen (イカそうめん, 烏賊素麺, いかソーメン, "squid noodles") refer to a type of sashimi made from raw squid cut into fine strips, vaguely resembling sōmen type noodles. They are typically served with grated ginger and soy sauce[1] or a soy sauce-based mentsuyu sauce. They are slurped up,[1][2] much in the way that noodles are eaten according to Japanese custom.

Ika somen, served with wasabi, shiso flower stem and green shiso leaf. A kaiseki-and-kappō type restaurant.
Ika somen. A washoku eatery at an airport.

It is considered a specialty of Hokkaido, especially Hakodate, a fishing port where large catches of squid are hauled, though this regional notion has been challenged by availability in wider markets driven by commercialism.[3]

Nomenclature

The ika sōmen is not sashimi according to some sources, one such culinary reference making the comparison that while the squid is suited for the ika sōmen, the thicker-fleshed cuttlefish is more palatable for making into sashimi.[4] However, it has also been pointed out that ika sōmen is synonymous with ito-zukuri[5] or "thread cut", which is a technique in sashimi-slicing.[6]

The name gained currency only in modern times. Hokkaido native and author Junichi Watanabe remarked in Kore wo tabe nakya—watashi no shokumotsushi ("Gotta eat this, my food history", 1995) that the term ika sōmen came into popular use only recently, adding that it is "nothing more than thinly sliced squid sashimi".[7] In 1970, poet Kusumoto Kenkichi described a dish identical to ika sōmen ("a bowl (donburi) full of raw squid sliced like tokoroten noodles, with grated ginger and soy sauce") but mentioned that it went by the nickname umi no sōmen or "sōmen noodles of the sea".[8][9][lower-alpha 1]

Preparation

The squid's fillet is cut into half (or into thirds) and then into strips. Some cookbooks insist that the strips must be cut vertically along the "length of the squid along the grain" to prevent it from becoming overly chewy.[1] The name suggests the strips resemble sōmen, i.e., as thin as vermicelli.[1][4] Even though some sources take this literally,[11] the description above likening it to "tokoroten" noodles[8] suggest thicker strips, as do recipes that call for "5 mm (1/5 inch) widths."[12]

The typical way it is served is to have these "noodles" heaped in a bowl (donburi),[8][11] accompanied by grated ginger and soy sauce,[1][4] or a soy sauce-based noodle sauce, called mentsuyu.[11] Lately it may also be served on a flat dish even in Hakodate, Hokkaido,[11] and eaten with wasabi and soy sauce,[12] which is then no different from squid sashimi ito-zukuri style.[5][6]

At port towns where the caught squid are brought ashore, the freshly caught squid are semi-translucent,[2] have excellent texture, and are "marvelously sweet, especially the morning-caught squid shipped alive".[2]

In Japan, the abundantly caught surume ika or Japanese flying squid, available from early summer onwards, is used to make this dish.[2][11][13] In practice, other (more expensive) squid species are sometimes substituted, such as the yari ika (Loligo bleekeri) or the aori ika (bigfin reef squid).

The ika sōmen has also become widely available prepacked in Japan.

As with uncooked seafood in general (see Sashimi#Safety), eating this dish made from raw untreated squid poses some risk of contracting anisakiasis, since the parasite when present in the animal infests the flesh of its body (mantle).[14]

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See also

Footnotes

Explanatory notes
  1. Note that umi sōmen is the traditional name for the eggs of the gastropod known as amefurashi (sea hares), a delicacy of Inaba Province (Tottori Prefecture). Cf. Tōson Shimazaki eating experience in the Uradome Coast, Tottori.[10]

Citations
  1. Matsuhisa, Nobuyuki (2001), Nobu: The Cookbook, Kodansha International, pp. 80, 195, ISBN 4770025335
  2. 上村, 一真 (Uemura, Kazumasa) (2008), ローカル魚で絶品ごはん (Rōkaru sakana de zeppin gohan), Ei Publishing, pp. 31–32, ISBN 4777910733
  3. Hayes, Dayle; Laudan, Rachel (2009). "Japanese cuisine". Food and Nutrition: Grains to legumes. Marshall Cavendish. p. 599. ISBN 978-0-7614-7817-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  4. Davidson, Alan (2002), The Penguin Companion to Food, Penguin Reference, p. 900, ISBN 0142001635
  5. 山口, 百々男 (Yamaguchi, Momoo); Bates, Steven (2014), 和英：日本の文化・観光・歴史辞典 (The Japanese-English Dictionary of Culture, Tourism and History of Japan), 三修社, p. 25, ISBN 4384051832
  6. Downer, Lesley (2001), At the Japanese Table: New and Traditional Recipes, Chronicle Books, p. 54, ISBN 0811832805
  7. 川端, 晶子 (Kawabata, Akiko); 淵上, 匠子 (Fuchigami, Shoko) (2006), おいしさの表現辞典 (Oishisa no hyōgen jiten), Tokyodō Shuppan, p. 151
  8. 楠本, 憲吉 (Kusumoto, Kenkichi) (1970), たべもの歲時記 (Tabemono saijiki), Yomiuri Shimbunsha, p. 235
  9. 全国の物産と産業 (Zenkoku no bussan to sangyō), 通産企画調査会 (Tsūsan kikaku chōsakai), 1984, p. 22, 朝イカの刺身は「海のそうめん」と呼ばれ食通にはこたえられない
  10. 島崎, 藤村 (Shimazaki, Tōson) (1929). "山陰土産 (San'in miyage)". 藤村紀行文集 (Anthology of Tōson travelogues). Kaizōsha.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link))
  11. 成瀬, 宇平 (Naruse, Uhei) (2011), 47都道府県・魚食文化百科 (47 todōfuken gyoshoku bunka hyakka), Maruzen, p. 44, ISBN 4621084062
  12. 久保, 香菜子 (Kubo, Kanako) (2008), 基本がきちんと身につく！お料理の教科書 (Kihon ga kichin to mi ni tsuku! Oryōri no kyōkasho), Ei Publishing, p. 27, ISBN 4777910733
  13. 小沼, 明美 (Onuma Akemi) (2013), いかの種類と旬, AllAbout, 日本で一番とれるこのいかは、函館名物いかそうめんに使われます
  14. 村田, 以和夫 (Murata, Iwao) (2003). "アニサキス症と天然物由来の有効化学物質の検索 (Anisakiasis and The Screening of Larvicidal Compounds from the Nature Remedies for Anisakis simplex)". 東京健安研セ年報 (Ann. Rep. Tokyo Metr. Inst. PH). 54: 4. スルメイカは2～24 %台と寄生率は他の魚介類より低率であるが，外套膜筋肉中の可食部分から全て検出されたもので，イカ刺・イカそーめん等調理法による感染の危険性は高いCS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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