A Taste of Memories
The photo isn’t the best, but this is bonito sashimi. When I was a kid, I remember going to my grandparents’ house in Shizuoka, and they would often buy half a bonito, slice it into sashimi, and we’d eat it with ginger soy sauce. Also, after eating our fill, we’d frequently indulge in a luxurious ‘ochazuke’ to finish the meal: bonito sashimi arranged on hot rice, drizzled with soy sauce, and then tea poured over it. So, bonito sashimi is truly a taste of my childhood memories.
Rarely Seen in Tokyo?
It’s not that I was actively searching for bonito sashimi, so maybe I just overlooked it, but it feels like in Tokyo, when you talk about bonito, you mostly find ‘tataki’ (seared bonito). That’s delicious in its own right, but the chewy, sticky texture and unique flavor of raw bonito sashimi are irresistible. It’s true that whenever I occasionally longed for it and went looking, all I could find was tataki.
Bonito Feast
When I come to Hamamatsu and go to the supermarket, if it’s the right season, you can almost certainly find bonito sashimi. They sell packs that are probably a bit too much for one person, but I buy one, skip other side dishes, prepare a miso soup packed with vegetables, and enjoy it with ginger soy sauce. It’s such a luxury! Plus, it’s cheap, and often locally sourced, which is a bonus. In Tokyo, I often bought sashimi packs with a variety of fish, but here, during its season, it’s all about the bonito.
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