on the water; most pleasant, with hot lobscouse for lunch and plenty of canned chuhai spirits, and quite undisturbed by fish. Although the wind picked up during the afternoon, it reached over 17 of Celsius’ degrees during the day, and I picked up my first fisherman’s sunburn of the year. It is amazing to consider it snowed the next day (Monday).
Forever, without exaggeration. Sport fishing in Japan has existed long before cameras were available to record those special catches, so the peculiar artform known as gyotaku developed. As we all know, certain anglers like to exaggerate their achievements but a gyotaku provides irrefutable evidence of the size of each fish, as it is direct 1:1 impression of the fish. My friends from back home jokingly referred to gyotaku as ‘fish Turin shrouds’, which is only partly correct I guess as gyotaku are a print of the real thing! Anyway, the nice sole I took last month was over 40cm, which is the size over which the boathouse will make a gyotaku for you, for free (they actually take two prints, one for you to take home and one to put up on display in the window of their office). I then took mine to be framed, which not only preserves it and makes it look nice, but also the framers will flatten out the ruffles in the washi Japanese paper it is printed onto.
One nice thing is that the gyotaku lists not only the size of the fish and who caught it, but also the date, place and name of the boat it was taken on. Mine comes with the official seal of the boathouse, although it is more common to name the skipper or third party who confirmed the details of the catch at the time (this is known as gennin in Japanese). Also, the ink used to make the print is natural sumi calligraphy ink, so it washes off the fish with water and of course the fish can be consumed afterwards as normal.
Being made from traditional Japanese paper and printed with sumi ink, a gyotaku will last for years. I have seen several pre-War gyotaku, in various places, and even one from the Edo Period. I hope mine will last as long!
無理にきれいな盛り付けや飾りより、材料にこだわりがある。いい刺身に本ワサビとちょっといい醤油。
エンガワ。くせがまったくなくヒラメやイシガレイのよりずっとうまい。
刺身＋エンガワ。甘みがあって脂のっていました。外海（太平洋）のマコよりやっぱり湾内のやつがうまい。
Despite the high winds on Sunday, I managed to get out to chase after makogarei. In the morning, my fishing companion rushed me when getting ready, so I forgot my camera at home; therefore no action photos, but I took some when I got home.
The fish on my chopping board. The two deep cuts in the fish I did on the boat to drain the fish of its blood.
うちのまな板は３４センチ。魚拓をとるために船上で魚のうらにナイフを入れて血抜きしました。 マコガレイは血が多い魚なので血抜きしておくと味を何倍もアップ。
One fillet cut from the fish.
１枚おろしたところ。白身魚といっても脂のりがすごい。さすがに三陸の魚さん。これから皮をひいてラップして低温で熟成させます。２〜３日めが食べごろかな。
Sashimi, including the hallowed engawa
盛りつけはいい加減ですがマコガレイの刺身です。真ん中は夢のえんがわです。熟成させると身が柔らかくなって甘みが出ます。ワサビ醤油でいただきます。
Another serving of sashimi, with engawa and Sanriku wakame on the side.
刺身のえんがわ、身、三陸ワカメです。
I wind-dried the leftover bones of the fish. These will be deep-fried later.
捌いたあとでカレイの骨を塩水につけて干しました。冬ですから一昼夜でカリカリ。これを揚げるをほね煎餅できます。
金沢八景の荒川屋さんの船に乗ってきました。釣ったマコガレイを料理しました： 昆布〆・碁石焼き・えんがわの刺身。あっというまに全部食べてしまいました。
I took eight in total today, but I gave away two to my companion who had less luck with the rod, and more family members waiting at home for him in the kitchen.
