I had sake fry for the first time in my life.
For details on sake fry, see Wikipedia
It’s read as keiji. Sometimes it’s mispronounced as kenchii. It’s a young, oily salmon caught around Shiretoko to Abashiri in early to mid-November. The way to distinguish it from regular salmon is to open the belly and count the pyloric caeca attached below the stomach; if there are around 220 of them, it’s usually classified as sake fry. The ovaries and testes are immature. The catch rate is only about 1 to 2 fish per 10,000 regular salmon, earning it the nickname “phantom salmon.” The flesh is extremely fatty (with a fat content of 20–30% compared to 2–15% in regular salmon) and delicious. Because of this, it’s prized as a luxury ingredient. According to surveys by the Salmon and Trout Center, an independent administrative agency under the Fisheries Agency, genetic analysis of “sake fry” has revealed that they originate from the Amur River system rather than Japanese rivers.
Well, I didn’t know that anyway
It was silky and rich from the oil tapping… for an old guy like me, it was too much
For a cheapskate like me, the cheap oil from fried skewers is the best
I’ll do my best tomorrow too
