is a fried

fishcake A fishcake (sometimes written as fish cake) is a culinary dish consisting of filleted fish or other seafood minced or ground, mixed with a starchy ingredient, and fried until golden. Asian-style fishcakes usually contain fish with salt, water, ...

originating from

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, Japan.

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 ...

and flour is mixed to make a compact paste that is solidified through frying. It is a specialty of the Satsuma region. It is known by a variety of regional names throughout Japan. The paste is made from fish and seasoned with salt, sugar, and other spices and molded into several shapes. It is made not only from ground fish but can include wood ear,

beni shōga is a type of ''tsukemono'' (Japanese pickle). It is made from thin strips of ginger pickled in umezu (), the vinegary pickling solution used to make umeboshi. The red color is traditionally derived from red perilla (''Perilla frutescens'' var. ...

, onion, Welsh onion and other vegetables,

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting ...

octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefis ...

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

and other sea foods, and some spices. In fishing villages, it is made from local fishes, for example sardines, shark,

bonito Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists ...

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

. it is often made by mixing two or more kinds of fish. People eat Satsuma-age plain or lightly roasted and dipped in ginger and soy sauce or mustard and soy sauce. It is used in oden,

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 ...

sara udon Sara udon in Nagasaki.jpg, Served with thick noodles in Nagasaki 餃子の王将皿うどん (4580922222).jpg, ''sara-udon''( Gyoza no Ohsho) リンガーハット (51281316427).jpg, Ringer Hut , literally "plate noodles" is a dish native to ...

or nimono (stewed dishes).

Composition

Commonly Satsuma-age used cod as a filling; however, as cod stocks have been depleted other varieties of white fish are used, such as

haddock The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas w ...

or whiting. Satsuma-age may use

oily fish Oily fish are fish species with oil (fats) in soft tissues and in the coelomic cavity around the gut. Their fillets may contain up to 30% oil, although this figure varies both within and between species. Examples of oily fish include smal ...

such as

salmon Salmon () is the common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of ...

for a markedly different flavour. The

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

used to make

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 ...

(

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 擂

り Ri (hiragana: り, katakana: リ) is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represent one mora. Both are written with two strokes and both represent the sound . Both originate from the character 利. The Ainu language uses a small katakana ㇼ ...

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, incl ...

") include: * Alaska pollock ('' Theragra chalcogramma'') * Lizardfish ('' Synodontidae'') * White croaker ('' Pennahia argentata'') * Daggertooth pike conger ('' Muraenesox cinereus'') * Japanese Spanish mackerel (''

Scomberomorus niphonius The Japanese Spanish mackerel (''Scomberomorus niphonius''), also known as the Japanese seer fish, is a species of true mackerel in the scombrid family (Scombridae). Their maximum reported length is 100 cm, and the maximum reported weight is ...

'') * Flying fish (''

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 bir ...

'') * Various

sardine "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the ...

species (''

Sardine "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the ...

'') * 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'') * Skipjack tuna (''

Katsuwonus pelamis The skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'') is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the balaya (Sri Lanka), bakulan/kayu (North Borneo), tongkol/aya (Malay Peninsula/Indonesia), aku (Hawaii), cak ...

'') * Various

species (''

Mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

'') * Okhotsk atka mackerel ('' Pleurogrammus azonus'') *

Tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most i ...

** '' Oreochromis mossambicus'' ** '' Oreochromis niloticus niloticus'' *

Black bass Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

** 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, but ...

'') ** 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 ...

'')

History

There are varied histories of Satsuma-age, but the most famous birthplace is the Satsuma district in

. It is said that, in about 1864, the

Shimazu clan The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in cont ...

brought it to Satsuma from Okinawa through some exchange and invasion. In those days,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

ns called fried-boiled fish paste chigiage. After it was brought to Kagoshima, it was produced as tsukiage and selected as one of the best 100 local dishes.

Regional names

Depending on the region, the dish is known under different names. In Tōhoku and the Kantō region it is called "Satsuma-age" after its place of origin in Kagoshima. In the Chubu region it is known as "Hanpen".

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

and west Japan people call it "Tempura" (different from

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 '' ...

). In

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

and

, this dish is called "Tempura", "Tsukeage" or "Chikiagi".

Varieties

*Hiraten (ひら天): flat satsuma age *Maruten (丸天): Satsuma-age like a thin disk. People in

, mainly

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center ...

, eat them with

. *Gobouten (ごぼう天, ごぼう巻き): Satsuma-age wrapped around

burdock ''Arctium'' is a genus of biennial plants commonly known as burdock, family Asteraceae. Native to Europe and Asia, several species have been widely introduced worldwide. Burdock's clinging properties, in addition to providing an excellent mecha ...

-like sticks. *Ikaten (いか天): Satsuma-age wrapped around

tentacles. *Takoten (たこ天): Satsuma-age wrapped around cut

. There is a kind of ball shaped like

takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (''tako''), tempura scraps (''tenkasu''), pickled ginger (''beni shoga''), and green o ...

. *Tamanegiten (タマネギ天): with

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the oni ...

. *Bakudan (爆弾, 'Bomb'): Satsuma-age which wrapped around a boiled

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

*Honeku (ほねく), honeten: These are short versions of honekuri-tempura. This is a local dish in north Wakayama. Whole cutlass fish (

Largehead hairtail The largehead hairtail (''Trichiurus lepturus'') or beltfish is a member of the cutlassfish family, Trichiuridae. This common to abundant species is found in tropical and temperate oceans throughout the world. The taxonomy is not fully resolved ...

Trichiurus lepturus The largehead hairtail (''Trichiurus lepturus'') or beltfish is a member of the cutlassfish family, Trichiuridae. This common to abundant species is found in tropical and temperate oceans throughout the world. The taxonomy is not fully resolved, ...

) are ground and fried. They have a unique smell. *

Jakoten is made from small fish caught nearby that are blended into a paste and then fried. It is a special product of Uwajima in southern Ehime Prefecture. Jakoten has a long history, having been eaten since the Edo period. History According to the ' ...

(じゃこ天) is a special product of Uwajima in southern

Ehime prefecture 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, Toku ...

. Jakoten has a long history, having been eaten since the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. It is made from small fish caught nearby that are blended into a paste and then fried. *Gansu ( がんす) (local dish in Hiroshima) is a fry made of breaded ground whitefish and a kind of

cutlet Cutlet (derived from French ''côtelette'', ''côte'', " rib") refers to: # a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of mutton, veal, pork or chicken # a dish made of such slice, often breaded (also known in various languages as a '' cotole ...

Outside Japan

*In

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

, the term for satsuma-age is eomuk (어묵) or simply odeng. Large cities like Busan and Seoul sell these products as street food during winter and fall seasons. *In

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

, satsuma-age is sold as ''tianbula'' (). It was introduced to Taiwan under Japanese rule by people from Kyushu, where satsuma-age is commonly known as ''tempura''. It is often used as an ingredient for oden, hot pot and lu wei. *Similar dishes exist in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

References

External links

Serving History Satsuma Age
{{DEFAULTSORT:Satsuma Age Deep fried foods Japanese cuisine Korean cuisine Surimi Taiwanese cuisine

Composition

History

Regional names

Varieties

Outside Japan

See also

References

External links