Chapter 10

Namasu no Bu (鱠之部)
Fresh Food with Vinegar

Namasu refers to food that is prepared by generally slicing it thin and dressing with vinegar. Although originally raw foods, cut thin, there are many recipes that call for preparing the meat of fish or fowl by simmering or grilling, first. These appear to be similar to items often called “sunomono,” today.

1. Ryōri namasu (料理なます)

Put in tai, sazae, kisugo, karei, or koebi, etc. Add grated daikon, and such. No matter what you use for namasu, arrange it on a small table just before serving. It is important to season with salt. Salt should be added once. When salt is added two or three times the preparation goes bad and it loses its flavor. For ken, you should prepare various seasonal foods, by simmering, and place them together.

2. Tori namasu (鳥鱠)

Whatever fowl you use, sauté it in vinegar. After that, it put in tai or something else, then arrange and serve. It is also good to add wasabi.

3. Ganzō namasu (がんざうなます)

Prepare and mix together various things such as kisugo, sayori, karei, ei, and ika. Season with sakeshio and arrange. You should only place ken.

4. Okinamasu (沖鱠)

Prepare steaks of such things as kisugo and ina, and roughly cut tade. Saba is also good. Tai and other fish are used as well. Seasoning with salt is terribly important.

5. Koi no kozuke namasu (鯉の子つけなます)

Fillet koi in three pieces. Take off the meat in thin pieces. Take the skin and make it into narrow strips. It is good to do this a little and then add some roasted fry. Do not add it if it is too late. Then, add vinegar to irizake and briefly simmer. Pour half over the namasu and dress the other half with a mixture of wasabi and chilled vinegar. Serve both arranged together. There is also a tradition where the mixtures are poured on top of koi that has entirely been briefly simmered.

6. Funa namasu (鮒なます)

Fillet crucian carp in three pieces. Baste the head and bones with soy sauce. Grill well, then mince into small pieces. Make the meat really thin. Arrange with roasted fry. Dress with karashi vinegar. Alternatively, tade vinegar is also good. Piling up and dividing the grilled and minced head is also done. In general, use the namasu method of seasoning with vinegar, pile up all of the namasu, and afterwards ensure that not much vinegar remains.

7. Konoshiro namasu (鰶なます)

It is good to prepare it like crucian carp.

8. Yamabuki ae (やまぶきあへ)

Make funa namasu without putting in the karashi.

9. Hideri namasu (ひでりなます)

Fillet ame in three pieces. Prepare the body by slicing it thin. Put the two sides with skin together. Grill it on the skin, slice and add it. Cut tōnoimo stalks diagonally and put them in. Blend it all with vinegar and salt seasoning. The skin can also be grilled without seasoning.

10. Kawayaki namasu (皮やき鱠)

A recipe for ayu and ame. For this, too, prepare the body by slicing it thin. The skin is grilled without seasoning.

11. Nuta namasu (ぬたなます)

Grind karashi well. Then, grind sake lees well. Sauté ayu, iwashi, or nayoshi in vinegar to tenderize. Throw out that vinegar, and afterwards thin the nuta with more vinegar. Season with salt and mix together. It is not good to have too much of the later vinegar. If it is ayu, mix a green soybean nuta with chopped yuzu leaves.

12. Tarōsuke namasu (太郎助なます)

Slightly salt such things as tai or abalone and make it very thin. Dress with equal parts of irizake and vinegar. It is good to add the abalone afterwards. Masu or salmon are also good. It is good to mince and add such things as hanagatsuo, two month old daikon, and kikurage mushrooms.

13. Yakihone namasu (焼ほねなます)

Grill and shred the boney meat and other bones, etc., of tai. Roast them tatsukuri style. Put in such things as river shrimp, kikurage mushrooms, chestnuts, ginger, and grated daikon. Season the vinegar with salt and dress.

14. Wasabi ae (わさびあへ)

Prepare wild goose and wild duck by tearing them apart, etc., dissolving a little bit of salt in vinegar, and sautéing to tenderize. Throw out that vinegar, and put in such things as tairagi, abalone, and tai. Dress with wasabi vinegar. It is also made without adding the fowl.

15. Gazechi ae (がぜちあへ)

Baste quail or small birds with soy sauce and fry them up well. Cut them into small pieces. Dress with karashi vinegar. Also called “aogachi ae.”

16. Mizu ae (水あへ)

Add vinegar to irizake. Grill such things as gongiri, tatsukuri, surume, iriko, and small birds. Mix together with an assortment from such things as dried salmon, young shiro’uri, young myōga, kikurage mushrooms, and gobō. You can also add in some minced sanshō leaf.

17. Mikawa ae (みかわあへ)

Chop up cucumber with its skin. Sprinkle in some salt, rub it in, and quickly rinse and wring it out. Put in hanagatsuo. Dress with poppy miso thinned with irizake and vinegar. If it is tough, the skin can be left out.

18. Ao ae (青あへ)

Boil iriko well, simmer dashi and tamari well, and grind some green soybeans. Season with salt and dress.