Ika sōmen

Ika sōmen (イカそうめん, 烏賊いか素麺そうめん, いかソーメン, "squid noodles") refer to a type of sashimi that is made from raw squid cut into fine strips, vaguely resembling sōmen type noodles. They are typically served with grated ginger and soy sauce^[1] or a soy sauce-based mentsuyu sauce. They are slurped up,^[1]^[2] much in the way that noodles are eaten according to Japanese custom.

It is considered a specialty of Hokkaido, especially Hakodate, a fishing port where large catches of squid are hauled, though this regional notion has been challenged by availability in wider markets driven by commercialism.^[3]

Nomenclature

The ika sōmen is not sashimi according to some sources, one such culinary reference making the comparison that while the squid is suited for the ika sōmen, the thicker-fleshed cuttlefish is more palatable for making into sashimi.^[4] However, it has also been pointed out that ika sōmen is synonymous with ito-zukuri^[5] or "thread cut", which is a technique in sashimi-slicing.^[6]

The name gained currency only in modern times. Hokkaido native and author Junichi Watanabe remarked in Kore wo tabe nakya—watashi no shokumotsushi ("Gotta eat this, my food history", 1995) that the term ika sōmen came into popular use only recently, adding that it is "nothing more than thinly sliced squid sashimi".^[7] In 1970, poet Kusumoto Kenkichi [ja] described a dish identical to ika sōmen ("a bowl (donburi) full of raw squid sliced like tokoroten noodles, with grated ginger and soy sauce") but mentioned that it went by the nickname umi no sōmen or "sōmen noodles of the sea".^[8]^[9]^[a]

Preparation

The squid's fillet is cut into half (or into thirds) and then into strips. Some cookbooks insist that the strips must be cut vertically along the "length of the squid along the grain" to prevent it from becoming overly chewy.^[1] The name suggests the strips resemble sōmen, i.e., as thin as vermicelli.^[1]^[4] Even though some sources take this literally,^[11] the description above likening it to "tokoroten" noodles^[8] suggest thicker strips, as do recipes that call for "5 mm (0.20 in) widths".^[12]

The typical way it is served is to have these "noodles" heaped in a bowl (donburi),^[8]^[11] accompanied by grated ginger and soy sauce,^[1]^[4] or a soy sauce-based noodle sauce, called mentsuyu.^[11] Lately, it may also be served on a flat dish even in Hakodate, Hokkaido,^[11] and eaten with wasabi and soy sauce,^[12] which is then no different from squid sashimi ito-zukuri style.^[5]^[6]

At port towns where the caught squid are brought ashore, the freshly caught squid are semi-translucent,^[2] have excellent texture, and are "marvelously sweet, especially the morning-caught squid shipped alive".^[2]

In Japan, the abundantly caught surume ika or Japanese flying squid, available from early summer onwards, is used to make this dish.^[2]^[11]^[13] In practice, other (more expensive) squid species are sometimes substituted, such as the yari ika (Loligo bleekeri [ja]) or the aori ika (bigfin reef squid).

The ika sōmen has also become widely available prepacked in Japan.

As with uncooked seafood in general (see Sashimi#Safety), eating this dish made from raw untreated squid poses some risk of contracting anisakiasis, since the parasite when present in the animal infests the flesh of its body (mantle).^[14]

Footnotes

Explanatory notes

^ Note that umi sōmen is the traditional name for the eggs of the gastropod known as amefurashi (sea hares), a delicacy of Inaba Province (Tottori Prefecture). Cf. Tōson Shimazaki eating experience in the Uradome Coast, Tottori.^[10]

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Matsuhisa, Nobuyuki (2001), Nobu: The Cookbook, Kodansha International, pp. 80, 195, ISBN 4770025335
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 上村うえむら, 一真かずまさ (Uemura, Kazumasa) (2008), ローカル魚ぎょで絶品ぜっぴんごはん (Rōkaru sakana de zeppin gohan), Ei Publishing, pp. 31–32, ISBN 978-4777910731{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Hayes, Dayle; Laudan, Rachel (2009). "Japanese cuisine". Food and Nutrition: Grains to legumes. Marshall Cavendish. p. 599. ISBN 978-0-7614-7817-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c Davidson, Alan (2002), The Penguin Companion to Food, Penguin Reference, p. 900, ISBN 0142001635
^ ^a ^b 山口やまぐち, 百々とど男だん (Yamaguchi, Momoo); Bates, Steven (2014), 和英かずひで：日本にっぽんの文化ぶんか・観光かんこう・歴史れきし辞典じてん (The Japanese-English Dictionary of Culture, Tourism and History of Japan), 三修社さんしゅうしゃ, p. 25, ISBN 978-4384051834{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Downer, Lesley (2001), At the Japanese Table: New and Traditional Recipes, Chronicle Books, p. 54, ISBN 0811832805
^ 川端かわばた, 晶子あきこ (Kawabata, Akiko); 淵上ふちがみ, 匠たくみ子こ (Fuchigami, Shoko) (2006), おいしさの表現ひょうげん辞典じてん (Oishisa no hyōgen jiten), Tokyodō Shuppan, p. 151, ISBN 9784490106947{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c 楠本くすもと, 憲吉けんきち (Kusumoto, Kenkichi) (1970), たべもの歲時記さいじき (Tabemono saijiki), Yomiuri Shimbunsha, p. 235{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ 全国ぜんこくの物産ぶっさんと産業さんぎょう (Zenkoku no bussan to sangyō), 通産つうさん企画きかく調査ちょうさ会かい (Tsūsan kikaku chōsakai), 1984, p. 22, 朝あさイカの刺身さしみは「海うみのそうめん」と呼よばれ食通しょくつうにはこたえられない
^ 島崎しまざき, 藤村ふじむら (Shimazaki, Tōson) (1929). "山陰さんいん土産みやげ (San'in miyage)". 藤村ふじむら紀行のりゆき文集ぶんしゅう (Anthology of Tōson travelogues). Kaizōsha.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link))
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e 成瀬なるせ, 宇平 (Naruse, Uhei) (2011), 47都道府県とどうふけん・魚さかな食しょく文化ぶんか百科ひゃっか (47 todōfuken gyoshoku bunka hyakka), Maruzen, p. 44, ISBN 978-4621084069{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b 久保くぼ, 香こう菜子さいこ (Kubo, Kanako) (2008), 基本きほんがきちんと身みにつく！お料理りょうりの教科書きょうかしょ (Kihon ga kichin to mi ni tsuku! Oryōri no kyōkasho), Ei Publishing, p. 27, ISBN 978-4777910731{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ 小沼おぬま, 明美あけみ (Onuma Akemi) (2013), いかの種類しゅるいと旬しゅん, AllAbout, 日本にっぽんで一番いちばんとれるこのいかは、函館はこだて名物めいぶついかそうめんに使つかわれます
^ 村田むらた, 以和夫おっと (Murata, Iwao) (2003). "アニサキス症しょうと天然てんねん物ぶつ由来ゆらいの有効ゆうこう化学かがく物質ぶっしつの検索けんさく (Anisakiasis and The Screening of Larvicidal Compounds from the Nature Remedies for Anisakis simplex)". 東京とうきょう健けん安やす研けんセ年報ねんぽう (Ann. Rep. Tokyo Metr. Inst. PH). 54: 4. スルメイカは2～24 %台たいと寄生きせい率りつは他たの魚介ぎょかい類るいより低率ていりつであるが，外套がいとう膜まく筋肉きんにく中ちゅうの可か食しょく部分ぶぶんから全すべて検出けんしゅつされたもので，イカ刺とげ・イカそーめん等とう調理ちょうり法ほうによる感染かんせんの危険きけん性せいは高たかい{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

Media related to Ika somen at Wikimedia Commons

[11] Note that umi sōmen is the traditional name for the eggs of the gastropod known as amefurashi (sea hares), a delicacy of Inaba Province (Tottori Prefecture). Cf. Tōson Shimazaki eating experience in the Uradome Coast, Tottori.^[10]

[nobu-1] Matsuhisa, Nobuyuki (2001), Nobu: The Cookbook, Kodansha International, pp. 80, 195, ISBN 4770025335

[uemura-2] 上村うえむら, 一真かずまさ (Uemura, Kazumasa) (2008), ローカル魚ぎょで絶品ぜっぴんごはん (Rōkaru sakana de zeppin gohan), Ei Publishing, pp. 31–32, ISBN 978-4777910731{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[hayes-3] Hayes, Dayle; Laudan, Rachel (2009). "Japanese cuisine". Food and Nutrition: Grains to legumes. Marshall Cavendish. p. 599. ISBN 978-0-7614-7817-1.

[penguin_companion-4] Davidson, Alan (2002), The Penguin Companion to Food, Penguin Reference, p. 900, ISBN 0142001635

[je-dict-culture-5] 山口やまぐち, 百々とど男だん (Yamaguchi, Momoo); Bates, Steven (2014), 和英かずひで：日本にっぽんの文化ぶんか・観光かんこう・歴史れきし辞典じてん (The Japanese-English Dictionary of Culture, Tourism and History of Japan), 三修社さんしゅうしゃ, p. 25, ISBN 978-4384051834{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[downer-6] Downer, Lesley (2001), At the Japanese Table: New and Traditional Recipes, Chronicle Books, p. 54, ISBN 0811832805

[kawabata-7] 川端かわばた, 晶子あきこ (Kawabata, Akiko); 淵上ふちがみ, 匠たくみ子こ (Fuchigami, Shoko) (2006), おいしさの表現ひょうげん辞典じてん (Oishisa no hyōgen jiten), Tokyodō Shuppan, p. 151, ISBN 9784490106947{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[kusumoto-8] 楠本くすもと, 憲吉けんきち (Kusumoto, Kenkichi) (1970), たべもの歲時記さいじき (Tabemono saijiki), Yomiuri Shimbunsha, p. 235{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[zenkoku-no-bussan-9] 全国ぜんこくの物産ぶっさんと産業さんぎょう (Zenkoku no bussan to sangyō), 通産つうさん企画きかく調査ちょうさ会かい (Tsūsan kikaku chōsakai), 1984, p. 22, 朝あさイカの刺身さしみは「海うみのそうめん」と呼よばれ食通しょくつうにはこたえられない

[shimazaki-10] 島崎しまざき, 藤村ふじむら (Shimazaki, Tōson) (1929). "山陰さんいん土産みやげ (San'in miyage)". 藤村ふじむら紀行のりゆき文集ぶんしゅう (Anthology of Tōson travelogues). Kaizōsha.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link))

[naruse-12] 成瀬なるせ, 宇平 (Naruse, Uhei) (2011), 47都道府県とどうふけん・魚さかな食しょく文化ぶんか百科ひゃっか (47 todōfuken gyoshoku bunka hyakka), Maruzen, p. 44, ISBN 978-4621084069{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[kubo-13] 久保くぼ, 香こう菜子さいこ (Kubo, Kanako) (2008), 基本きほんがきちんと身みにつく！お料理りょうりの教科書きょうかしょ (Kihon ga kichin to mi ni tsuku! Oryōri no kyōkasho), Ei Publishing, p. 27, ISBN 978-4777910731{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[onuma-14] 小沼おぬま, 明美あけみ (Onuma Akemi) (2013), いかの種類しゅるいと旬しゅん, AllAbout, 日本にっぽんで一番いちばんとれるこのいかは、函館はこだて名物めいぶついかそうめんに使つかわれます

[murata-15] 村田むらた, 以和夫おっと (Murata, Iwao) (2003). "アニサキス症しょうと天然てんねん物ぶつ由来ゆらいの有効ゆうこう化学かがく物質ぶっしつの検索けんさく (Anisakiasis and The Screening of Larvicidal Compounds from the Nature Remedies for Anisakis simplex)". 東京とうきょう健けん安やす研けんセ年報ねんぽう (Ann. Rep. Tokyo Metr. Inst. PH). 54: 4. スルメイカは2～24 %台たいと寄生きせい率りつは他たの魚介ぎょかい類るいより低率ていりつであるが，外套がいとう膜まく筋肉きんにく中ちゅうの可か食しょく部分ぶぶんから全すべて検出けんしゅつされたもので，イカ刺とげ・イカそーめん等とう調理ちょうり法ほうによる感染かんせんの危険きけん性せいは高たかい{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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