Since ancient times, Akashi sea bream and Akashi octopus have been said to be special. This rare sea area, divided by the Akashi Strait into the sandy Harima Nada Sea and the rocky Osaka Bay, is rich in high-quality food such as shrimp and crab. The shallow waters make it an ideal spawning ground for fish, attracting a wide variety of fish, and the fact that they grow in the strong currents of the Akashi Strait gives them a strong flavor.
The chef, Eriko Kishimoto, procures her seafood from Tsuruya Masayoshi of "Tsuruichi," a fish store in Akashi, and says, "I order seafood from all over the country, but the sea bream, sea bass, and conger eel from 'Tsuruichi' are certainly exceptionally fresh and delicious." I visited Akashiura Fishing Port with Kishimoto to find out the secret of their flavor.
The auction at Akashiura Fishing Port starts at 11:00. The fish that are unloaded from the boats that return to port between late at night and early in the morning are sorted by size and condition by the fishermen themselves. The fishing association has set up large fish preserves, where tired fish are allowed to rest using a variety of techniques while acclimatizing to the temperature difference with the sea. This technique, known as "ikekoshi," is another distinctive feature of Akashiura Fishing Port, as it allows the fish to be in the best possible condition before being auctioned.
"Akashi is a brand that is known for its high-quality fish, so the prices are high. That's why fishermen take the time to handle it carefully, and if we think it's good fish, we'll buy it even at a high price," says Tsurutani. You can get a glimpse of Akashi's pride.
Once the auction began, the exchange of auction terminology and signals was impressive and powerful. Although the catch was low due to the rough weather that day, sea bream, Spanish mackerel, line-caught sea bass, squid, and scorpionfish were all put up for auction at a lightning speed. Buyers could instantly identify the fish and purchase them if the price was right. The successful bidders then took them to a fish tank next to the fishing port.
"The biggest difference between Akashiura Fisheries Cooperative and other cooperatives is that we sell live fish. So our selection process may be a little different from normal. For example, we select fish that will be alive and healthy for five days so that we don't run out of fish to sell even in stormy weather. Of course, we look for fish that are plump and have a beautiful shape, but we also select fish that have a lot of vitality. We check every single scale in an instant. We then take the fish we buy to the fish tanks as quickly as possible. That's why we're known as 'Japan's fastest fishing port' (laughs)."
There are two types of fish tanks: a low-temperature "circulating tank" and a "flowing tank" that uses circulating seawater, and they are used depending on the type of fish.
"The fish have made a desperate escape, so they are naturally tired. Fish muscles contain a substance called ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the source of inosinic acid, the umami component. It is also the source of energy for muscle contraction and movement, so if the fish thrash around or become stressed, the ATP is consumed and they become less tasty. That's why we let them rest in the fish tank for a while."
The commonly heard term "nerve-killing" is a process used to eliminate stress on the fish and to minimize any loss in quality.
"Nerve-killing is a technique that reduces ATP consumption by destroying the fish's nerves. By passing a wire along the spinal cord and destroying the nerves, rigor mortis in the fish is delayed, allowing the fish to stay fresh for longer."
With astonishing speed, the staff at Tsuruichi destroy the fish's brain, rendering it brain dead, and then perform the nerve-killing process, using the fish's heart's pumping function to perfectly drain the blood.
"After all, Akashi fish can be kept freshest by processing it on-site in Akashi seawater. Another advantage for us is that we can work in a fishing cooperative that uses free-flowing seawater."
"I always use fish that have been nerve-killed, but this is only the second time I've tried processing it myself. The process itself is simple, but it takes skill to do it quickly and without any mistakes," says Kishimoto.
Although Tsurutani shows us his professional skills one after another, he says that when he first entered the industry he was "the person with the least ability to buy at Akashiura Fishing Port."
"As a third-generation fishmonger, I had the right to buy fish here, but up until my father's generation, we were just a regular local fishmonger. We bought fish from wholesalers in the market and sold them, and only occasionally came to the fishing port. So we learned everything on our own, from how to deal with fish at auctions to how to kill and sell them. At first, we couldn't buy anything at all (laughs)."
After graduating from high school, he aimed to become a chef and worked in Japanese and Italian restaurants, but after getting married he decided to take over the family business. However, at the time, large shopping centers were appearing and the shopping district was facing a crisis.
"It was no longer possible to survive as a small, traditional fish shop. So I decided to try selling to the wholesaler I had been buying from up until then, regardless of the circumstances. I started selling fish I had purchased at the fishing port, and then I started getting orders like, 'Then please buy it from Akashiura,' or 'Please buy it directly from the fishermen.'"
With his background as a chef, he can also suggest the best fish to use when a chef says, "I want to make an aquapazza." Tsurutani's unique method has borne fruit, and the business has grown steadily.
But after continuing for a while, doubts began to form. No matter how good the fish, when there is a large catch, the market price drops. The effort put in by the fishermen and the price paid by restaurants remain the same, so isn't it strange that only middlemen benefit?
"As I began to make more friends who were fishermen, I began to think about how I could do something about this system in which only middlemen benefited. I wanted to buy good products at a good price. On top of that, if a fisherman caught 100 fish and only 10 of them were premium quality, I wanted to protect the prices of the remaining 90 as much as possible."
"I want to sell good products directly to people who know what's good," said Tsuruya, who decided to suddenly go out and do business at Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo.
"A friend of mine told me about Japanese cuisine restaurant Ryugin, so I went there to do some sales and said, 'We're a fish shop in Akashi.' They recognized the deliciousness of the 'exceptionally simmered' sea bream that I had developed.
From there, I started to have more direct relationships with restaurants, and now most of my customers are restaurant owners. Actually, I happened to be wearing a Maxim the Hormone (rock band) T-shirt, so one of them laughed and said, 'That's not fish, that's hormone,' and we became good friends (laughs)."
Currently, the company wholesales fish purchased at fishing ports and fish ordered from contracted fishermen to a variety of restaurants, from stand-up bars to high-end fine dining establishments.
"Not all restaurants are looking for the best fish at any price, and I don't want fishermen's hard work to go to waste. The fishing cooperative offers high-quality seafood, but there are also unused fish and small fish that end up being put off. The fishing cooperative generally buys any fish left over from the auction, and I try to buy as much as I can."
With the exception of very small fish, most of the fish are prepared in Tsurutani's way before being sold, so even if they are not the highest quality, they are still extremely fresh and delicious.
"In the beginning, I didn't have much capital, so I couldn't do business as I had hoped. I was hesitant to buy anything better, and I couldn't afford to buy every last bit. But it grew little by little, and once I was able to buy a certain amount, I felt like I could finally make a living."
Tsurutani's ultimate goal is to "attract many people to Akashi through the appeal of Akashi fish. I want people all over the world to eat Akashi fish."
To achieve this, they are trying out a variety of experiments. One of these is the "excellent method of simmering," which is a completely different method from nerve simmering. They discovered this method by chance during trial and error, and when they tried it, they found that it had a new, chewy, and springy texture.
Tsuruya's original method of killing the fish is to kill it without killing it brain, and then leave it in the ikikoshi state for a while. By paralyzing only the motor functions, the meat does not become rigor mortis and has a soft texture and a ripe flavor.
"The texture makes you want to chew it a lot, and the more you chew, the more the aroma and flavor of the fish comes out. It has been well received and has even been presented at the World Culinary Academy. We are currently analyzing the logic behind it. Our specialty is a perfectly seasoned dish made with high-quality fish that has been carefully selected. Please give it a try."
In order to maximize the deliciousness of Akashi fish, they will use the skills and knowledge they currently possess to aim for even greater heights. They also appear to be carefully planning unique projects to spread this knowledge. Here we meet "Japan's No. 1 fish shop," whose future is exciting and worth keeping an eye on.
