Fresh fish in the capital?

[JLBadgley]

Okay, question to folks out there--I suspect crickets, but let's see if anyone knows:

Do we have any evidence of whether fresh fish was imported to the capitals in either Nara or Heian-kyo? If so, how were they transported to get there in time, and was it seasonal? The heat of the current summer just makes me balk at the idea of "fresh" ocean fish in Heian-kyo.

I *think* I recall that most of the sashimi that I've run across is actually freshwater fish (sake, ayu, masu), and so probably caught locally the day of the banquet. Other fish I run across are often in namasu preparation, and it is assumed they were pickled and/or dried before serving.

That said, with the lengths they went to for ice (kakigoori was actually a summer delicacy for the upper class), I wouldn't be surprised if they found a way to get fresh fish to the capital, at least for the court. My first thought goes to fishermen bringing their nets in and putting live fish into buckets, jars, etc. filled with seawater, which would keep them alive up to the capital. I have not seen any evidence that this was done (though if they were stocking their ponds with ornamental fish, it isn't out of the question).

It seems simple enough, but I'm looking for confirmation; can anyone confirm whether or not fresh fish in Kyoto was done before refrigeration?

-Josh

PS: I realize this would not be *most* fish; hence the markets for dried or pickled (sushi, etc.) fish.

[kitsuno]

That's a profound question. I'm impressed you came up with it. But all I can offer is the sound of crickets.
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[lordameth]

I'm afraid I, too, cannot help, except to say that I was under the impression that salmon sushi was a relatively new thing in Japan, and that traditionally they never ate raw salmon.

Susan Hanley, in her book "Everyday Things in Premodern Japan," offers that "Although raw fish became popular during the Tokugawa period, particularly in large cities, it was most frequently partially preserved and fermented, and not slices of fresh raw fish as is most commonly served today." (pp124-125n)

But, then, you're talking about an earlier period, and are presumably talking about fresh fish that would then be cooked, not exclusively about fish eaten raw.

I wonder if The Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan might have some answers (though that too would be on a later period...).
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紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord

[JLBadgley]

First off, I'm not looking for sushi--in 1643 "hayatsukuri" for sushi meant you did it overnight vice 6 months~year(1).

Rather, I'm looking at "sashimi", which is given as distinct from "namasu", but I've yet to find any particular information on it.

Your mention of cooked foods makes me think about the instructions in some recipes to slice the fish in 2, 3, or 5 sections (depending on the fish; how bony it is and whether there is enough meat on the outside and inside of the rib cage)--that would seem to indicate that they are assuming you get the fish whole, which would seem contrary to the idea of it being dried (though cleaned and brined might be an option).

I'm not entirely sure if fresh, raw sashimi is as far out of the realm of possibility as we think it is, but I'm not sure. It *feels* riskier--but the Japanese were eating fugu with only obsidian for cutting implements, so we know that they had no aversion to risk in their cooking.

-Josh

(1) 料理物語

[Bethetsu]

[Mr No-Dachi]

I've been reading Brett Walker's book on the effective conquest of Ainu Hokkaido during the Tokugawa period,it mentions the fish the Ainu and Japanese trader aquired in seas and rivers of Ezo could be successfully taken as far field as Osaka (whether they went to Kyoto from there I don't know).

Now this is of course centuries later, but same basic technology of preservation (i.e. salting) was relatively simple and is very old, so getting reasonably fresh fish from the Inland Sea and taking it Heian and Nara should not to difficult.

[JLBadgley]

No-dachi: I don't think the question is one of salting, per se--but what is it like when it finally gets to Osaka? E.g. Ham and bacon are quite different than fresh pork.

Bethetsu: I'm aware of Morris and the others--what I'm looking for is where they are getting their information and whether it is all encompassing.

When I see: "fish was boiled baked or pickled, but in the capital at least, it was not as a rule eaten raw until a later period; shell-fish were extremely popular"--then I take that "not as a rule" to not necessarily mean "not done". My guess here is that we *know* that much of the fish consumed was baked, boiled, simmered, pickled, salted, dried, or some combination of the above.

But what is "Koi-sashimi" or "Suzuki-sashimi"?

I need to look again, because those might be later (Kamakura or Muromachi) dinners that I'm looking at; I'm looking back to the clearly Heian dinners and not seeing them, now, so that may be a mistake on my part.

Still, the technology for transporting *fresh* fish had not, to my understanding, changed much in the intervening centuries, so I'm still left wondering what would be considered suitable for "sashimi"?

Koi--could have been caught that day (even just shortly before serving) and thus served raw, easily. Suzuki--I'm not so sure about. "Sashimi" today doesn't always *have* to be raw, but it seems it usually is. Maybe this was slightly salted or pickled and then sliced?

Relevant here might be my understanding of modern "sushi", which evolved from the pressed and pickled sushi of the Sengoku period and earlier into the modern dish some time in the Edo period (18th century?) when they discovered a vinegar process that could preserve the fish better and thus allow it to be transported further still "fresh". At least, that's Mitsukan's take on it.

This may be unanswerable--we may just not have enough evidence for or against it to do anything more than speculate. The logistics seem like a nightmare, but whenever I think about that I think about shaved ice in the summer and the Chinese emperor that used the postal system to bring fresh lychees to a homesick concubine more or less overnight.

Anyway... just something to think about, I guess.

Oh, and before anyone twists any of this--I am *not* saying that fresh sashimi was a regular treat of the nobility or warrior elite. I'm just wondering if it was a possible delicacy anywhere beyond the coast.

-Josh