Kusaya

Bottled kusaya from Niijima

Kusaya (くさや) is a Japanese style salted-dried fish and fermented fish. It is famous for its malodorousness,^{[citation needed]} and is similar to the pungent fermented Swedish fish delicacy surströmming.

Taste

Though the smell of kusaya is strong, its taste is quite mellow. Kusaya is often eaten with Japanese sake or shōchū, particularly a local drink called Shima Jiman - island pride.^{[citation needed]} The brine used to make kusaya, which includes many vitamins and organic acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid and amino acid,^{[citation needed]} contributes much nutritional value to the resulting dried fish.^{[citation needed]}

History

Kusaya originated in the Izu Islands, probably on Niijima, where, during the Edo period people used to earn a living through salt making.^{[citation needed]} Villagers paid taxes to the government with the salt they made, and as taxes were high, salt for fish-curing was used frugally.^{[citation needed]} The same salt was used many times for this purpose, resulting in a pungent dried fish, which was later called kusaya.^{[citation needed]} The resulting, tea-colored, sticky, stinky brine was passed on from generation to generation as a family heirloom.^{[citation needed]} Though kusaya is made on several of the Izu Islands today, it is said that kusaya from Niijima has the strongest odor.^{[citation needed]}

Making kusaya

Mackerel scad (Decapterus macarellus), flying fish and other similar species are used to make kusaya. The fish is washed in clear water many times before being soaked in a brine called Kusaya eki (くさや液, literally "Kusaya liquid" or "Kusaya juice") for eight to twenty hours. This mixture has a salt concentration of 8%, compared to the concentration of 18% to 20% in common fish curing brines. After this process the fish are laid out under the sun to dry for one to two days.^{[citation needed]} The Niijima-Mura Museum on Niijima has several installations, including a video, on the making of kusaya.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Niijima Fish Processing Co-operative (in Japanese)]
• Niijima Kusaya Product Guide (In Japanese but with many photos)
• Niijima-mura Museum (In Japanese)
• Kusaya photos