Welcome to FISH FOOD TIMES
Apr. 2016 issue No.148-2
Nigirisushi and sashimi of minke whale lean meat
Whale is approximately 30-40% is lean meat of the whole body, the meat than the hard tooth whales lean muscle, it means that more of the baleen whale is delicious with a relatively soft meat quality, among them minke whales in the baleen whale in it it is said that the delicious best.
The lean meat 11kg of minke whales, arrived in the form of lumps, was commercialized in the process, such as the following this.
| A rectangular block and sashimi of the commercialization process of the minke whale lean meat | |
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| 1、Lean meat block after removal from the ice water | 5、Further divided into two along the second of the muscle, and then to remove the muscle |
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| 2、Put the knife along the large muscle, separated into two | 6、The length is about 30 cm, and width is cut into about 8㎝ |
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| 3、To remove the muscle in the manner of a sujibiki from the separated meat | 7、Portions with no muscle is cut into the interval with a thickness of 5 cm |
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| 4、Cut into rectangular blocks of the length of 30 cm | 8、Isolate a plate-like Portions in a rectangular |
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| Usutsukuri sashimi of minke whale Lean meat | |
In general, when you thaw the frozen lean meat whale, which is sold in Japan, it suffers from intense drip. The cause of this drip is often occurring by refrigeration equipment of the whaling mother ship Nittshinmaru was built in 1988 is still old-fashioned and old equipment, little drip is in the case of good raw whale of freshness like this time not come out.
When to commercialize a rectangular block the minke whale lean meat of this raw, because the discarded site was just a little remove the muscle, the yield rate is nearly 95 percent or more, purchase price of this minke whale lean meat is 1,600 yen / kg, and the selling price of the rectangular block product was sold is set to 298 yen / 100g.
Left image above is a sales situation at that time, and the right of the image is a frozen lean meat whale that had been sold in a frozen corner of super. The Icelandic production fin whale lean meat is placed in a vacuum bag, was a selling price of 480 yen / 100g.
The store was selling frozen lean meat whale is not a luxury supermarket, a shop that has come up with cheap if anything. Even in the store to give such a relatively low selling price, it has been in so high selling price of frozen whale imported from foreign countries. This fact is what is currently the how high the price of luxury goods whale products in Japan symbolically represents.
The factors that whale has become higher as the "commercial whaling moratorium" has been adopted by the International Whaling Commission in 1982 (IWC), will not be able to commercial whaling for 15 types of whales that IWC is specified, the domestic market in the in circulation is because have to rely on a slight whale that has been captured in the research whaling that Japan has implemented. As shown such a reality, the whale is a reason to have a high selling price in the shop front, is now the Japanese have joined the ranks of quality food that does not eat rarely.
This high price is a bottleneck, whale meat, which recently no longer sell well in Japan seems sometimes remain unsold it be sold the country. Institute of Cetacean Research can not be cheap selling price of whale on the grounds that cover whaling cost of even 6 billion yen a year, price but want to increase the circulation amount of the whales to can not be reduced, also on a daily basis there is no original amount of the extent to promote the use in the household as the main ingredients. So there is a complex situation that does not go to not to promote the consumption of flashy, the price of the end retail shop front is said to have been in threefold country selling price.
This time I think to try to review as once again cuisine the whale did not eat for a long time even myself, visited the famous Nagasaki Prefecture Hirado Ikitsukishima as a base of the West Sea whaling from a long time ago, at the same time and enjoy the authentic whale cuisine of Ikitsukishima visited the museum " the hall of Island", I decided to deepen also Observations of whale.
Masutomike of Ikitsukishima which was a Whale capture group of Hirado clan from the old days of the Edo era, is famous for obtaining a huge wealth in the West Sea whaling. This time I was planning to eat the whale cuisine in Ikitsukishima there was a whale base of this Masutomike. However, even with respect to whales a ground, such as the long historical Ikitsukishima about not even so compared with other, whale cuisine is as now a presence, such as a candle flickering in the wind, whale cuisine full on the phone a number of times in the restaurant in order to reserve the day of the course, was a reality that was able to finally only one reservation.
In cooking hotel called "Yamaya" is that I was able to somehow reservation, the cuisine is the one person 4,000 yen or more in the "whale Zammai" course, I was never not cheap charge.
| Whale Zammai cuisine | |
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| Boiled and seasoned lean and leather | Sea lettuce containing whale lean meat miso soup |
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| Lean meat sashimi・Bacon · Hyakuiro · Black leather | Whale shumai |
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| Lean meat broiling nigiri sushi | Lean meat tatsuta fried |
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| exposed for Unesu harihari-nabe | |
In candid opinion is that "it was quite delicious," as after a meal of impressions, my wife of eight years younger that meal together is just to eat almost for the first time, seemed to have a good impression on the taste of whale cuisine . This means that between the husband and wife to be more than 38 years to get married, even once in the meantime whale cuisine shows unexpectedly that has never been issued in the home, this is not special is my home situation , the same as in other households, seems life do not eat whale is that it is usually.
After you enjoy the whale cuisine, it was purchased Matsuuraduke a souvenir at the museum, "the hall of island " product sales corner of Ikitsukishima. This was produced in Saga Prefecture yobuko, are canned in which the kabura bone kasuzuke, so far in the author got in several souvenir, there is experience of eating this. The fact that was often a chance to eat this kind of rare delicacies than other whale cuisine, felt that to say that it is really strange story.
This time the author is inspired to be dealing with the minke whale, studying in its own way to be on once again whale, if left in this state, in Japan is "food culture to eat the whale", it was felt that the situation not strange even disappear future.
Among that a growing population on the earth, food security of this previously believed will become the biggest challenge of the human race, annual consumption of corn is the subject of the world's grain is 75,900 million tons (in 2007 FAO a material), is devoted to the production of meat is 64% of them with the bait of domestic animals such as cattle and pigs. The meat production volume was 96 million tons by 2007, it is seen to reach 119 million tons by 2019, and in the production of meat has a "10-fold of the feed grain and a million times in the water" it has been estimated required.
On the other hand, the whale is the presence that can satisfy the human stomach as only in the whale meat to capture at sea without giving even bait, moreover excreta that has been discharged from the whales also will generally return in the natural cycle, to the environment naturally no load is a friendly food. The whale was 76 million head in only minke whales in the sea of all the world, sperm whale is also the number that now have been with are what two million whales are of continues to grow steadily.
The whale despite can be used as whale meat, the world is in the uncontrolled state to stop the capture by the commercial whaling moratorium. Not only that, even bigger problem now, whale is a fact that eating large amounts of fish incredible.
Whale is that on average, the "eat 3% worth of fish and shellfish of body weight per day", made in the calculation that in terms of the year has been prey seafood is also 10 times as body weight. And try to calculate the prey of the entire whale fish, the total will be about 500 million tons from 24,000 million tons. Because the amount is 90 million tons of fish that the human are currently caught in the sea around the world in one year, whale is the calculation that has been prey 3 to 5 times the amount of fish that the world of the human are eating.
And so far as common sense, fellow of the baleen whales have been considered and are eating only marine micro-organisms, such as plankton and krill. But that was only just in the Southern Ocean, as in the following image, from the stomach of the captured minke whales in the northwest Atlantic, saury, squid, mackerel, pollock, and has been in large quantities, human eating the same thing with the fish was found that the whales are predators in large quantities.
"Commercial whaling moratorium" of excessive protection policy of the whale is like a while destroy the balance of the marine ecosystem, according to the data, and when the whales has increased, catch decrease time of marine resources is almost the same . If you leave this state was allowed to stand in an increase in whale, the human to "the human and whale of a fish competition" is defeated, not unthinkable even situation which decreases big fish eat the human.
Current minke whale is to be living in the sea around the world 760,000 whales above, as has been an increase in minke whale in the nearly year about 4%, theoretically there is no problem even if the capture of 15,000 whales per year apparently. If this time according to Mr. Masayuki Komatsu was authored was to reference as a reference "Japan's whale food culture"in the study of the authors of the whale, It is claimed " to be restartedannual 4,000 minke whale (2 million tons can be whale meat production) as such sustainable commercial whaling”.
I was able to learn a lot from the book of Mr. Masayuki Komatsu. And "Japan's whale food culture" following the sentence that has been described in the following because I thought than to write in a different representation and interpretation in my own way, that it is appropriate to describe as it is Komatsu's sentence as it is to reprint it in.
"Meat food culture to collapse sooner or later": Mr. Masayuki Komatsu In order to satisfy the endless desire of the human, not be continued to expand keynote day will arrive sooner or later also in animal husbandry industry. Cattle BSE, pig foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever, birds such as avian influenza, is it what lying is a serious problem to the fact that eating "meat". One by one of the problem is a serious, it will be forced to sacrifice a burden to resolve at the same time. For example, it must bear the enormous cost in order to prevent the infection of animals that are bred, will have to be infection sacrificed a few tens of million head unit to spill over to the generated and wildfire emergency. Furthermore, as the center then of reconstruction also the reputational damage, forced the effort, such as bleeding of blood. I, such that the cost of tangible and intangible is applied in order to carry on something of breeding on the fundamentally "land". Sooner or later, the world of the meat market impasse, era responsible for its completion is whale meat is a natural food is coming. Myself, often blessed also to meet with many of the livestock farmers, precisely because hope the development of compelling its industry, above all the livestock industry think also that it is important to achieve medium- to long-term structural improvement. However, to say that the role of protein supply to fulfill the whale meat and marine products has become increasingly larger. |
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Komatsu said to have been written in this way, this sentence is there is a deep insight into the very thought.
Looking around the world, but not that is never unusual to go unmentioned with impunity be anything absurdity, "commercial whaling moratorium" on the whale also think that it is a one of its prime example.
In previous FISH FOOD TIMES, in the No.85 "whale, medium Toro entering dishes" (January 2011 issue), because it was written that from another point of view of the whale, also here readers by all means I want you to looking through. As also noted there, a long time ago is Western countries that had killed only to whale to take the whale oil, this time the "kill the whales feel sorry" in the absurd logic that to prohibit the Japanese whaling in the emotion theory that leap, I can not follow very.
These leap logical is not going to also continue to pushed through forever. As Mr. Komatsu have been described, when the world eventually come looming food crisis that can not be solved by only terrestrial organisms, argued their legitimacy in a completely different logic of expansion, food of the human race seems to be or not to become trapped forced so the whales as a source.
But I do not know when to become of it at that time, think that Japan must avoid likes to promote itself as the place where the historic "food culture of whale" for the occasion.
In Japan today, the flow, such as to treat luxury goods the whale as a delicacies should be going to change. To do so, not only listen silently selfish of Western countries wielding unreasonable logic, Japan in order to sustain the food culture of historic whale, I think that we should continue to strive to commercial whaling can be resurrected.
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Date of updating Apr.1, 2016
