Although I am aware that I do talk a lot about accompaniments for alcoholic beverages, I have somehow always loved Japanese style hors d'oeuvres ever since I was a child. I guess I was born to be a drinker.
What Icess fat melts away during the steaming process. The finished product tastes particularly great and refreshing when eaten with ponzu sauce (citrus seasoned vinegar) or momiji-oroshi (grated Japanese radish with red chili).
To be sure, people certainly eat other parts of the anglerfish besides the liver. The flesh is great cooked in nabe (hot pot dishes) or even deep-fried. If organ meats are your cup of tea, ankimo, like liver from almost any animal, has a uniquely luscious richness.
Anglerfish has soft whitish tender flesh, and its skin is smooth and slippery. These characteristics make it difficult to cut up an anglerfish. In Japan, therefore, chefs hang the fish on a hook and pour ｍa lot of water down its mouth so that it becomes heavier and more stable before they slice it. As I savored the delicacy of ankimo at a restaurant, I wondered if this anglerfish had been cut up by the traditional method before being served to me along with some hot sake.
I am introducing the restaurant where you can enjoy rich and velvety “ankimo.” |
