Kazunoko

Kazunoko is a product processed by removing the roe sacs (or "egg skeins") from female herrings intact in its shape, then preserving by sun-drying (hoshi kazunoko) or by salting or brining (shio kazunoko). The eggs are individually tiny, but together they form oblong clusters measuring approximately long and wide. but also including the use of Atlantic herring. A technique for bleaching into uniform gold color was established, and the lucrative commodity earned the nickname of "yellow dia[mond]". But aspects particular to herring roe have been taken up below, e.g., the "kazukono ledger" to record the debts to be worked off by Ainu women. Also, North American herring fishing since the 1960s have has principally been aimed at harvesting the kazunoko for the Japanese market, waste/sustainability issues have been raised (cf. also ). == Etymology ==

Both "kazunoko" and the archaic kadonoko occur in medieval or post-medieval writings and also written in forms such as There are two or three etymological hypotheses that have been presented. The derivation of kazunoko as the corrupted form of kado no ko, where kado is the old name for herring, is the generally accepted etymology according to some sources. This explanation is already attested in the published 1697. The entry under kado in the Honchō shokkan clarifies the pronunciation of the character by the supply the phonetic reading as . It goes on to state that has been phonetically written as . Even beyond the Edo Period, kado or kado iwashi still survives in dialect as local name for herring, even though nishin is the standard Japanese term. The alternate etymological theory holds that kazunoko may well have derived from the literal verbatim meaning of 'child of numbers/numerousness', as had been suggested by 's (1830/1834), and in fact, early usage writes the word as kazunoko (cf. below). A third theory is discernible in the Edo Period essay (1830), which mentions that kazunoko was known by the alias in contemporary (onna kotoba), juxtaposed with the information that Muromachi period literature wrote of kozukozu (cod organ) as a New Year's dish. The connection between these two (similarly sounding) terms as synonymous (cognates?) are made in the dictionary. There is speculation that Japanese kado must have derived from some Ainu word, but the known Ainu word for "herring" is heroki, (with variant spellings), and linguist rejects this hypothesis. == Japanese cuisine ==

Kazunoko marketed in Japan fall into these groups: , and . Only limited supplies of the dried are now manufactured. However, there is also the opposite opinion, that the dried kazunoko is "more delicious after letting the soy sauce soak in well"". Matsumaezuke is a soy-pickled dish that typically contains chunks of kazunoko in the mix of julienned dried squid (surume) and kombu seaweed. The addition of kazunoko allegedly only dates back to 1929, as an arrangement on what was originally a squid and kelp recipe. The kazunoko is known for its texture or mouthfeel (crunchiness), the sound of biting into it described onomatopoeically as puchi puchi According to one comparative study, the Canada Pacific herring roe taken in British Columbia, or Alaskan roe harvested in Sitka or Kah Shakes Cove produce quality eggs, suited for salted (or even dried). Atlantic herring roe according to some sources are considered to be limper. But they are not always being downgraded as "flavored kazunoko" quality, and some are considered fit for making into regular salted/brined kazunoko, particularly roes from Baltic and North Sea area fish. Thus the Baltic group (subspecies C. harengus menbrus) has been rated best among Atlantic species fit to be made into salted (shio kazunoko), as are the roes originating in Scotland (Shetlands), Ireland, and Netherlands have been Other than texture, viscosity (ability to bind together into a lump) is another criterion for quality, and eggs that fall apart easily is a disqualifying factor for manufacturing whole salted kazunoko. The Atlantic herring, with the crunchiness (hagotae) somewhat wanting. And one study does concur the Atlantic types do not solidify as firmly, and are mostly processed as flavored kazunoko, but generalizations aside, the same study assesses the Baltic Sea Baltic catches (subspecies C. harengus menbrus) to be superlative in Atlantic, and these do get used for making salted kazunoko, even though the individual egg size is smaller (half by weight) according to other studies. Nutritional value A basic nutritional value and energy assessment has been made in a study of Edo Period foods, including kazunoko. While kazunoko is high in cholesterol (as are fish roe in general), it also contains a high concentration of EPA and DHA fatty acids, known to reduce cholesterol levels. While herring is classed as an aozakana (lit. 'blue fish') consisting of fish considered good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, herring (or 'blue fish' in general) had been blacklisted as food to avoid for gout (gouty arthritis) patients due to purine content, though recent studies and guideline have muted the warning against 'blue fish', unless it is the dried or semi-dried himono type. But even though fish roe are generally to be avoided by gout sufferers, kazunoko is listed as containing very low concentrations of purine (<50 mg per 100g). Similar dieteary cautions and recommendations apply to those diagnosed with hyperuricemia, which is considered a preliminary stage towards gout. == History ==

In Japan, the custom of serving kazunoko for the New Year's season may date back to the Muromachi Period, according to some sources. As aforementioned, there is the record of being served for the New Year according to the mid-Muromachi Period (Kanshō 6/1465), but this was actually cod's innards, probably the male cod's milt; though other sources regard the kazunoko as food item. The document also records that (eggs that were pried apart, re-gathered and molded into rectangles, cf. below) was being sent as or tribute to the Shogunate. though some commentators place the date earlier by some decades, as afore stated. This herring meal (oil residue) grew to become increasingly sought after as a replacement solution to the price-hiking, diminishing supplies of fertilizer. The 8th Tokugawa shogun Yoshimune, known for his Kyōhō Reforms promoting frugality, allegedly devised a menu: kazunoko, (aka tazukuri, an anchovy dish), and to accompany New Year's sake drinking, so that the common folk and the shogun alike could celebrate the holiday season in similar fashion. The was available by the 19th century, and recorded as a tribute item (for the 12th month) to the shogunate either in the Bunka (1804–1818) or Tenpō (1831–1845) eras, supplied by the Matsumae and also Ise-Kameyama Domain. Anecdotal evidence of its being a prized delicacy is that the Ichiriki Chaya restaurant of Kyoto charged 2 shu gold (minted 1824, 1 shu = 1/16 ryō) per dish. == Processing methods ==

Domestically caught kazunoko in Japan were principally the dried type, and though some roe were eaten fresh locally, most were roe harvested and sundried as byproducts of dried herring (migaki nishin) . According to sources around this time (Meiji 271894) a shio kazunoko was made by first "flushing" the roe by submerging in water (changing water several times), then salting the roe in a tub. However in later years, the method was to cure the roe in saline solution or saturated saline solution. The "salted" kazunoko intensified in the 1960s and thereafter and according to statistics, the primary fishing ground around Hokkaido had little catch beyond 1954, and from that point on, dried kazunoko began to disappear, ceding the market share to salted types. While still often referred to as "salted" or "salt preserved" by Japanese writers, the product of modern processing methods is probably better characterized as "brined". In fact, sodium chloride solution is used in three steps: first, the egg-bearing (gravid) herring itself is brined in order to stiffen the roe for extraction, second, washed in weak solution, and third, cured in saturated brine. Bleaching After domestic Japanese herring could not be procured, there were ex-Soviet (Russian) frozen herring being imported during the transitional period, and in the narrow margin of time c. 1960 shio kazunoko developed a reputation for gamy odor and inferior quality to dried. However, in 1963, a seafood processing company based in Rumoi, Hokkaido established a technique of bleaching the kazunoko using hydrogen peroxide The technique also effectively mitigated odor, according to lab results, and the color turned uniformly golden yellow, earning the moniker "yellow dia[mond]" turning it into a high-priced commodity. Bleaching is still used in the manufacture of kazunoko. Although excess residue was already being removed from product using enzymes, concern levels rose when studies found that for rats deficient in the specific enzyme catalase, it posed a minor carcinogen risk. In 1980, the Ministry of Health and Welfare did not ban, but mandated zero-level tolerance for residual peroxides in food, and as a result, all the other industries abandoned its use, except for kazunoko operators. Roe-stripping Extracting the egg sacs from fresh (unfrozen) herring, as done in the past was a delicate operation. According to the description of pre-industrial herring processing at Esashi in Ezo country, it is observed that even the removal of the fish from gillnets without scarring the eggs inside involved recruiting inveterate fishermen. Removal of egg sac, milt, etc. was known as , and was considered women's work, and the fish were gutted without a knife, using just the fingers outfitted with finger cots. The roe was dried and made into hoshi kazunoko, but some crumbled pieces wound up as fertilizer, together with the dried milt and gills which were entirely sold as fertilizer. Herring-squeezing (roe stripping) was not just women's work, but often depended largely on the recruitment of Ainu women. At Sōya (northern tip of Hokkaido), it is explicitly stated, herring-squeezing was the work for , according to the work concerning the bakufu government's post there. Merchants peddled Japanese-made goods to the Ainu on , then collect any remaining balance in the form of providing labor for seafood production. At the Aniva Bay operation (southern tip of Sakhalin), there has been found a loan ledger for "sudare", whereby the Ainu made repayments by crafting and delivering the surdare grass screens after the winter season. Any outstanding balance was then copied onto the , indicating how much debt was still owed, to be discharged by service to kazunoko, etc. production. According to the 1792 work, removed milt can be handled right away to be dried, but kazunoko are fragile and will break apart unless they are first "rested" for 2 or 3 days in boxes or barrels before manipulating them to be sun-dried. Later, during the heyday of the earlier Showa era, when domestic production did not depend on freezing technologies, the roe-stripping was done manually from fresh herring. Early Alaska roe stripping operation from around 1960 employed the coarse method of heaping herring and shoveling salt over it, allowing the fish to "age" for 4, 5 days, after which "herring squeezer" could easily "pop" the roe skein, without need of any skill. Though the crude method persisted until the mid-1970s, it was superseded by the practice (since c. 1970) of shipping frozen egg-bearing herring whole to Japan. Freezing firms the roe partially making them more easily removable, and this avoids the problem of industrial waste-management when high concentration salt is used, however, freezing improperly could lead to sponginess of texture. Mold-shaped kazunoko There were kazunoko remolded into disks or squares after being dissembled, called yose kazunoko, which used to be presented to the shogun, as aforementioned. In more recent times, stray eggs gathered were salvaged and solidified together, then cut out into flower-shapes, to be sold as hana kazunoko. Also imitation kazunoko have been made using capelin eggs as substitute (though stray herring eggs may also be added). == Fishing grounds ==

The main fishing grounds for herring were in Hokkaido (formerly Ezochi), targeting the particular schools that feed and spawn on the Sea of Japan side. Thus the main production center administrated by the Matsumae clan was at Esashi (or Matsumae), on the southwestern coast. Later, the clan extended control over the fisheries north and eastward, as far as Southern Sakhalin (Minami Karafuto), and opened Hakodate port on the east coast. The Matsumae clan was outsourcing the seafood fishing and trade to merchants basho or akinaiba trading posts, in a contracting system (basho ukeoi-sei). The clan lost control of the territory and fishing trade in Ezo to the central government (shogunate) for certain periods. responding to a perceived Russian threat. The herring production in Sakhalin thus shifted between Japanese control (Tokugawa period, Meiji to Showa) and Russia (postwar).including kazunoko. After the principal fishing grounds on the Seas of Japan side collapsed c. 1955 (Showa 30), as aforementioned, and for a few years thereafter, Japanese herring ships had to operate in greatly scaled-down fashion seeking regional herring groups, or at Gulf of Patience and Aniva Bay in Southern Sakhalin The egg-bearing (or "gravid") herring were being imported from Russia in the 1960s and 1970s, and also in increasingly large volumes from Alaska from c. 1960 onward, as aforementioned (). In the year 1980 (Showa 55) the "bubble burst" for the herring roe industry. Prices soared, with rumors of speculative hoarding. The government stiffened regulation on peroxide bleaching agents. The market reacted by not buying, and companies were left with a huge dead inventories of overpaid herring roe. Imports into Japan As already discussed, Japan largely imports Pacific herring roe from British Columbia; Canada, Alaska, USA, and also Atlantic herring roe from Europe. Alaska has been known for having some of the shortest seasons for the catch, sometimes counted in hours. Alaska's allotted quotas at the main fisheries (mostly targeting roe herring) in 2022 were: Sitka Sound, late March,; ), Kodiak Island, April, ; ), and Togiak, May, ; ). However, there was no prospect of catching full quotas. Japanese taste had changed, and the price fallen since the $1000 per ton in the heyday of the 1990s, and the gross receipt of $60 million for the fishermen has fallen to $5 million by 2020. In 2023, Togjk's last processing plant indicate it would not be buying for the coming year, and the fishing season was cancelled. There has also been criticism regarding the harvesting of herring in Alaska primarily for the herring roe cash value, since all the male and rest of the female fish, about 90% in weight of the catch, were discarded up to the 1990s, minced into liquid sludge. Though this was replaced with using the residue as meal for petfood or fertilizer, issues have been raised regarding this non-optimal use of resources from a bioenergetics standpoint. The problem of sludge waste has been also discussed in the literature concerning Canadian processing plants (cf. "stickwater"). == First Nations food source ==

The native peoples of the Pacific coast of Canada and Alaska (current major producing regions of kazunoko) have had a tradition of gathering herring eggs on seafood or wood branches during the spring herring runs when the fish come to spawn. The Sitka, Alaska area was one of the oldest Tlingit village settlements, and had been collecting eggs on seaweed or hemlock branches since time immemorial, according to descendant testimony. == Ainu cuisine ==

In Ainu cuisine there is a dish named after the cow parsnip Heracleum lanatum (syn. Heracleum maximum. Japanese: hanaudo, actually ōhanaudo) that adds herring roe as ingredient. The foraged vegetable is called or and the stems, or more precisely the stalks of the which have been peeled and preserved are reconstituted and sliced up. Dried herring roe (Ainu: and seal fat are pounded until milky white, and mixed with the vegetable and diatomaceous earth (added to counteract the acerbity. The liquid squeezed from this dish was used as ersatz milk for infants.). == In poetry ==

In haiku poetry, kazunoko is a for the New Year season and jinji ( human affairs). An example read by . == See also ==