Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a salted liquid seasoning made by growing koji mould on soybeans and grain, maturing the mash in brine and pressing out the liquid. Japan's shoyu is the best-documented form.
Tsukudani
Shiitake tsukudani · Tsukudani-style seasoned reduction
Japanese seasoned reduction in which ingredients such as shiitake or fish are simmered in soy sauce and sweeteners until the liquid is absorbed and a concentrated, storable condiment remains.
Overview
Tsukudani is a Japanese seasoned reduction. Ingredients are simmered in soy sauce with sweet seasonings until the liquid is absorbed, leaving a thick, concentrated condiment that keeps well and is eaten with rice.
The word covers a family of preparations rather than one fixed recipe. The best-known form is fish, and mushroom versions, mainly shiitake, are documented as regional products.
Origin
Official Japanese food-culture records date tsukudani to the Edo period (1603 to 1868) and name it after Tsukuda Island in present-day Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Tokugawa Ieyasu moved fishermen from Tsukuda Village in Settsu Province to the island at the mouth of the Sumida River when the shogunate was founded, and the island became a fishing centre.
The records say that the fish were preserved in a thick seasoning of soy sauce brought from Kishu (Wakayama), which made them storable in a way that plain salting or pickling did not.
Method
The base ingredients are simmered in a saucepan with the seasonings over medium heat until they boil, then at a lower heat until all the liquid is absorbed. The official description calls the result sweet and spicy.
For seaweed, the sheets are torn, soaked until soft and broken up during cooking so they do not form a solid mass. Recipes vary by region and by household.
Shiitake tsukudani in Kunisaki
The Kunisaki-Usa heritage programme lists dried shiitake simmered in soy sauce as a local tsukudani product, within the Kunisaki Peninsula and Usa agricultural-heritage designation. The record names soy sauce as the only seasoning and gives no quantities, no storage conditions and no history specific to this product.
Use
Tsukudani is a common topping for white rice and is eaten with ocha-zuke (rice in tea or broth) and onigiri (rice balls). It is eaten through the year and as a strong accompaniment to main dishes.
Limits
The shiitake record gives no formulation, moisture target or storage system, and the reduction stage determines how long the product keeps. The sources do not supply a shelf life, so none is given here.
The soy sauce in the product is fermented; the mushroom is not fermented by that. The fermentation_type for this recipe is therefore non-fermented.
History
Tsukudani is recorded as a preserved food since the Edo period (1603 to 1868), named after Tsukuda Island in present-day Chuo-ku, Tokyo. The original seasoned product was a fish dish; the island was a fishing centre after Tokugawa Ieyasu moved fishermen there from Settsu Province. Thick soy sauce from Kishu (Wakayama) made the fish more storable than simple salting or pickling.
Ingredients
Dried shiitake mushroomsRehydrated before simmering; the source does not state how
Quantity not given
Amount not stated
Quantity not given; the Kunisaki record names soy sauce as the only seasoningMethod
Risks and precautions
Storage and moisture determine stability; the sources do not give a storage time for the shiitake product.
Fermented soy sauce does not mean the mushroom itself is fermented.
- Put the mushrooms and the soy sauce in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer.
- Continue simmering until all the liquid is absorbed, so that the mixture reaches a sweet and spicy consistency.
- The general technique also uses sake, mirin, sugar and starch syrup in other tsukudani; the shiitake product record names soy sauce only.
Places
Japan
Documented preparation · Country evidenceCountry-level source for the technique and its history; the Edo-period origin is recorded for the fish form on Tsukuda Island, Tokyo.
Kunisaki Peninsula
Documented preparation · Region evidenceOfficial heritage-product record for dried shiitake simmered in soy sauce as tsukudani.
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Sources
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, JapanMethod · History
Tsukudani (MAFF)Simmer in soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake until the liquid is absorbed; served with rice, ocha-zuke and onigiri; Edo-period origin on Tsukuda Island
Kunisaki-Usa GIAHSMethod · Inspiration
Shiitake mushroom tsukudani (Kunisaki-Usa GIAHS)Dried shiitake mushrooms simmered in soy sauce; soy sauce as the only seasoning named