Katsuo Bushi
Katsuobushi is a very strange product that comes from a very strange process.
A fillet of Katsuo bonito is fermented to remove all of the remaining fat and then thoroughly dried until it is as hard as wood.
At this stage the fillet could easily be mistaken for wood since it is sort of grey as well as hard and dry. The fillet is traditionally slid over an inverted shaving plane that makes the fine slivers that you see in the photo. Today I’m sure there is a massive machine doing the work but still a single fillet makes a big pile of shavings.
Katsuo bushi is then used as an ingredient or topping for a lot of Japanese dishes or as a base for fish stock as we will see tomorrow. The quickest way that I like it is a little piled up on top of tofu with a little soy sauce.
This stuff is delicious. Any idea why it “dances” sometimes? I once had some eel with bonito flakes at a nice Japanese restaurant and when it came out the flakes were wiggling just a bit.
See, when you said you would be doing katsuo articles, I just knew that katsuobushi would find its way in.