Gerry wrote:

In article , Dan Logcher
wrote:


A newly opened nouvelle Japanese joint (Ikko, Costa Mesa, CA) offers
some amazing curiousities and delights as well as traditional stuff and
straight-ahead sushi. One cuiuorisity is "bonecrackers". It's a
deep-fried version of what is normally discarded wtih iwashi (sardine).
It's fabulous; very crunchy, quite fishy tasting in a lip-smacking way.
Some fun.

More or less ALL bones...

Sounds interesting. I love iwashi zushi.

I love chewing on the tail of a deep fried fish. Much like deep
fried shrimp heads, the crunchy stuff has a nice flavor.


If that's so, Dan, you're gonna love this stuff.

After a chat with Nancy, it seems I've gotten a few things confused.
The bonecrackers are from saba. However in the past we've peridocially
gotten them from a freshly whittled plate of aji. Pretty mushc the
same method as the way that do amaebi heads. I think they are lightly
floured and quickly deep-fried.


And I love saba! Is this a commonly made dish? Or something you only
get in California?


If you've got a good relationship these days with a sushi-chef who's
really involved in the kitchen too (as you know, not all of them are),
you could probably get aji sashimi, then rather than let him skewer the
skeleton on your plate for display (as they frequently do), simply ask
him to deep fry it real quick.


I'll ask next time I'm at the sushi bar.


I'm unsure if iwashi is big enough for such treatment, but both of the
above taste about the same as you can imagine. They are broken roughly
into thirds and drizzled with a little ponzu.

Sounds really good.

--
Dan