Dried fish - Himono

Japanese: 干物 - ひもの

Dried meat and dried vegetables are also types of dried fish, but the term generally refers to fish, shellfish, and algae that have been dried to give them a shelf life. Fresh foods will spoil quickly if left at room temperature, but if the moisture content is reduced to 35-40%, they can be stored for a much longer period of time. This is because reduced moisture makes it harder for spoilage bacteria to grow. However, mold can grow even at a moisture content of around 15%. Therefore, dried fish is an incomplete storage food compared to canned or frozen foods. Recently, foods that are too heavily dried are not generally favored because they have a poor taste, and people have come to prefer foods that are only half-dried (60-70% moisture). As a result, drying has come to be seen as a way to create foods with a different flavor from the ingredients, rather than to increase shelf life.

[Kaneda Hisashi]

kinds

Among dried seafood, the most common are plain dried, salted dried, and boiled dried fish, but there are also frozen dried, grilled dried, and seasoned dried fish.

(1) Suboshi: Dried raw fish, shellfish, and algae. Thick-fleshed fish are not suitable. It is easy to produce, but because the raw materials are not heated, the enzymes contained in the raw materials are not inactive, so the quality is likely to deteriorate during and after production. There is not much fluctuation in production volume from year to year, but for example, the largest quantities in 1998 (Heisei 10) were dried squid (14,000 tons) and filleted herring (13,000 tons), along with dried sardines, folded sardines, shark fins, dried octopus, nori seaweed, kelp, wakame seaweed, aosa seaweed, and hijiki seaweed.

(2) Salted and dried fish and shellfish. Salted and dried fish and shellfish were originally processed to improve shelf life by penetrating salt into the shellfish, and salted and dried cod is still available today. However, less salty fish are preferred these days, so salt is generally only used to improve the taste (less than 1% of the fish meat). Therefore, preservation with salt is hardly an issue, and raw dried fish is preferred, so the product needs to be stored in a refrigerator. For lightly salted fish, the standing salting method is mainly used, in which the fish is immersed in salt water. For salted and dried cod, which has shelf life, the makishio method is used, in which salt is sprinkled on the fish. The most common salted and dried fish are horse mackerel (64,000 tons) and salted and dried sardines (31,000 tons). There are also a variety of other fish, such as saury, mackerel, atka mackerel, flying fish, and filleted cod, but the manufacturing methods are similar.

(3) Niboshi: Fish and shellfish that have been boiled and then dried in the sun or with a dryer. The most abundant are niboshi shiiwashi (dried sardines) made from anchovies (38,000 tons), shirasu-boshi (dried baby sardines), and ikanago (sand lance).

Abalone and sea cucumbers are also dried and used in Chinese cuisine. Dried abalone is called "hishiko" or "steamed awabi" and there are two types, meihou and kaihou. Boiled and dried sea cucumber is called "iriko." The sinew threads between the cartilage and epidermis of a shark's fin are called taishi. Boiled and dried cartilage from sharks, rays, etc. is called meikotsu.

(4) Freeze-dried: Fish is dried by repeatedly freezing and thawing. The manufacturing principle is the same as that of agar. Korean mentaiko (spicy pollock) is a freeze-dried product made from Alaska pollock.

(5) Yakiboshi: Fish and shellfish that have been grilled and dried. Although the production volume is small, many of them have become local specialties, such as grilled smelt and grilled sea bream.

(6) Seasoned Dried Fish There are two types of dried fish: the mirin-boshi type (26,000 tons), in which fresh fish are soaked in a seasoning liquid mainly made of soy sauce and sugar and then dried, and the gisuke-ni type, in which fresh fish are boiled and dried or roasted, then soaked in a seasoning liquid and then roasted and dried again. In addition, there is also a type of split squid that is dried raw, soaked in a seasoning liquid and then dried.

[Kaneda Hisashi]

[Reference] | Dried sardines

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

乾肉(ほしにく)、乾燥野菜なども干物の一種であるが、一般には魚貝藻類を乾燥し、貯蔵性をもたせたものをいう。生鮮食品を常温に放置すると急速に腐敗するが、水分を35～40％まで減らすとはるかに長期間貯蔵できるようになる。これは、水分減少により腐敗細菌が繁殖しにくくなるためである。しかし、カビは水分15％ぐらいでも繁殖する。そのため干物は缶詰や冷凍に比べると不完全な貯蔵食品である。最近はあまりひどく干したものは食味が悪くなるので一般に好まれず、生(なま)干し（水分60～70％）程度のものが好まれるようになった。そのため、乾燥という手段は貯蔵性を増すというより、原料から別のうま味をもった食品をつくるための手段とされるようになった。

［金田尚志］

種類

水産物の干物のうち、量的に多いものは素干し、塩干し、煮干しであるが、凍(こおり)干し、焼き干し、調味干しなどもある。

(1)素干し　魚貝藻類を生のまま乾燥したもの。肉厚のものは向かない。製造は簡単であるが、加熱していないので、原料に含まれる酵素類が活性を失っていないため、製造中および製造後、品質が劣化しやすい。生産量の年変動はそれほど大きくないが、たとえば1998年度（平成10）において量的に多いのは、するめ（1.4万トン）、身欠きにしん（1.3万トン）などで、このほか、たづくり、たたみいわし、さめのひれ、干しだこ、海苔(のり)、昆布(こんぶ)、わかめ、あおさ、ひじきなどがある。

(2)塩干し　魚貝類を塩蔵後干したもの。塩干しはもともと食塩を魚貝中へ浸透させることにより貯蔵性を高めようとした加工品で、現在でもタラの塩干しにはこうしたものがある。しかし、最近は塩気の薄いものが好まれるため、一般の塩干しは食味を向上させる程度にしか食塩を使用しない（魚肉中1％以下）。そのため、食塩による防腐はほとんど問題とならず、また生干しが好まれるので、製品は冷蔵庫に貯蔵する必要がある。薄塩のものには食塩水中に魚体を浸漬(しんせき)する立塩(たてじお)法がおもに用いられる。また貯蔵性をもたす塩干したらなどは、魚体に食塩をふりかける撒塩(まきしお)法による。塩干しあじ（6.4万トン）、塩干しいわし（3.1万トン）が多く、このほか、さんま、さば、ほっけ、とびうお、開きだらなどいろいろあるが、製法はいずれも似ている。

(3)煮干し　魚貝類を煮熟後、天日または乾燥機で乾かしたもの。量的に多いのはカタクチイワシからつくる煮干しいわし（3.8万トン）、しらす干し、いかなごなど。

　なおアワビ、ナマコなども干物にして中国料理に用いる。干しあわびは「干しこ」とか「蒸しあわび」とよばれ、明鮑(めいほう)と灰鮑(かいほう)とよぶ2種がある。ナマコの煮干しは「いりこ」という。さめのひれの軟骨と表皮の間にある筋糸を煮て干したものは堆翅(たいし)という。またサメ、エイなどの軟骨を煮て干したものは明骨(めいこつ)という。

(4)凍干し　魚を凍結、融解を繰り返して乾燥させたもの。製造原理は寒天と同じである。韓国の明太(ミンタイ)はスケトウダラの凍乾品。

(5)焼干し　魚貝類を焼いて干したもの。生産量は少ないが、焼きわかさぎ、浜焼き鯛(たい)など地方の名産品となっているものが多い。

(6)調味干し　生鮮魚をしょうゆ、砂糖を主体にした調味液につけてから乾かすみりん干し（2.6万トン）型と、生鮮魚を煮干しまたは焙乾(ばいかん)したのち調味液につけてさらに焙乾する儀助(ぎすけ)煮型がある。このほか、生干しの状態にしたのち調味液につけて乾燥する裂きいか型のものもある。

［金田尚志］

[参照項目] | 煮干し

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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