is a Japanese fishcake product made from ingredients such as

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

surimi is a paste made from fish or other meat. The term can also refer to a number of East Asian foods that use that paste as their primary ingredient. It is available in many shapes, forms, and textures, and is often used to mimic the texture and ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...

monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer ...

and egg white. After mixing them well, they are wrapped around a bamboo or metal stick and steamed or broiled. The word chikuwa ("bamboo ring") comes from the shape when it is sliced. Variants of surimi products such as

kamaboko is a type of cured , a processed seafood product common in Japanese cuisine. is made by forming various pureed deboned white fish with either natural or man-made additives and flavorings into distinctive loaves, which are then steamed u ...

and satsuma age are popular. In Tottori, the per-household consumption has been the highest of all

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

for the past 30 years, since the first year such records were kept. As it is cheap and a relatively low-fat source of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

, chikuwa is popular as a snack. Chikuwa should not be confused with ''

chikuwabu is a wheat-based Japanese food item that is frequently eaten as an ingredient in '' oden''. Similar to the process used to make udon, dough is made by kneading flour with salt and water and then formed into a thick cylindrical shape with a hollow ...

'', which is an altogether different food product.

Composition

Choice of fish

The white fish used to make

( Japanese: 擂り身, literally "

ground meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, includ ...

") include: * Alaska pollock (''

Theragra chalcogramma The Alaska pollock or walleye pollock (''Gadus chalcogrammus'') is a marine fish species of the cod genus '' Gadus'' and family Gadidae. It is a semi- pelagic schooling fish widely distributed in the North Pacific, with largest concentrations ...

'') * Various

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

species ('' Selachimorpha'') * Various flying fish species (''

Exocoetidae The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird do ...

'') * Okhotsk atka mackerel (''

Pleurogrammus azonus The Okhotsk atka mackerel (''Pleurogrammus azonus''), also known as the Arabesque greenling, is a mackerel-like species in the family Hexagrammidae. It is commonly known as hokke in Japan and imyeonsu in Korean. The primary population of the fis ...

'') * Golden threadfin bream ('' Nemipterus virgatus'') * Black bass ** Smallmouth bass ('' Micropterus dolomieu'') ** Largemouth bass (''

Micropterus salmoides The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...

'') ** Florida black bass (''

Micropterus floridanus The Florida bass (''Micropterus floridanus'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a black bass belonging to the sunfish family Centrarchidae of order Perciformes. It is found in the southeastern United States. Taxonomy The Florida bass ...

'')

Use

Chikuwa can be eaten as-is. It is also often used as an ingredient for nimono like oden, chikuzenni, chirashizushi,

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. It is a comfort food for many Japanese people. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a hot soup as with a mild broth called ...

, yakisoba, yasai-itame (Vegetable stir fry), and Japanese

curry A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in trad ...

Regional variation

There are several regional varieties. In the east part of Tottori and part of

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, ''tofu chikuwa'' is produced that adds tofu to surimi. Often, firm tofu is the preferred selection. In

Yawatahama is a city located in of Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 31,385 in 15638 households and a population density of 240 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Yawatahama is located in the we ...

Ehime is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tok ...

, ''kawa-chikuwa'' (literally skin chikuwa) is produced: fish skin is wrapped around the skewers and broiled. This is a by-product of regular chikuwa, however, texture and taste are different. In Shikokuchūō, Ehime, there is ''ebi-chikuwa'', which contains shrimp paste in surimi. In

Komatsushima 270px, Komatsushima panorama 270px, Kandase River in Komatsushima 270px, Komatsushima Port 270px, Statue of Minamoto no Yoshitsune 270px, Aerial View of Komatsushima city center is a city located in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city ...

Tokushima is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the nort ...

, there is ''take chikuwa'' (literally bamboo chikuwa), which remains on the bamboo after it is broiled. Australian

sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...

restaurants may stuff the hollow with cheese (processed or soft ones like

Brie Brie (; ) is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern ''département'' of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in color with a slight grayish tinge under a rind of white mo ...

) and deep-fry them in

tempura is a typical Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood, meat and vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. The dish was introduced by the Portuguese in Nagasaki through fritter-cooking techniques in the 16th century. The word ...

batter.

External links

* {{Authority control Japanese cuisine Surimi

Composition

Choice of fish

Use

Regional variation

See also

External links