I often find the ikura served in a gunkan too salty for my taste. Amazing
this is true even in some high end restaurants. I think that the slightest
degree of moisture loss through evaporation results in the satiness becoming
concentrated. In the 80s and 90s I used to order an Ikura gunkan and ask for
a quail egg yolk on it. This mellowed out the saltiness and it was very
enjoyable. These days I don't find myself ordering Ikura at all since it's
something I eat at home fairly regularly.
Apart from the simple saltred Ikura we see often., there is also a Ikura no
Shoyu Zuke, which is Ikura marinated in soysauce and sake. Although
sometimes I find it sold in this form, quite frankly I prefer to make it
myself as I can control the extent of the saltiness.
Ikura prior to being salted is sold as Sujiko, and it looks like a lump of
Ikura stuck together. It actually has the membrane still holding the eggs
together. In this form, it is less expensive than fully prepared Ikura. I'll
only buy Sujiko if it looks good, fresh and plump.
Anyway, the Sujiko is immersed in fairly hot water, 140-147 degrees
farenheit, just at the point where you can still put your hands in the bowl.
The membrane begins to soften and each egg turns a milky white. One must be
careful not to use any hotter water as it would cook the eggs. In the bowl
the eggs can be separated from the membrane, and then drained. The milky
wjite eggs are put back in the bowl, and cold (once boiled)
water with salt is poured over the eggs, which at this point turn back to an
orange transparent color, the color we all know. To make regular Ikura it is
simply a matter of adding additional salt and leeting it sit in the
refrigertator. To make Ikura no Shoyu Zuke, a mixture of Shoyu and Sake is
added, and let sit for 2-3 hours.
I find the flavor of the shoyu zuke to be fa more interesting than plain
Ikura. It is remarkable how much sake these little eggs soak up.

Although this site is in Japanese, the photographs will correspond with what
I wrote above.
http://hp1.cyberstation.ne.jp/hokuto...sake_ikura.htm

Musashi

The name comes from Russian икра ikra, “fish eggs.�

"Musashi" wrote in message
...

I often find the ikura served in a gunkan too salty for my taste. Amazing
this is true even in some high end restaurants. I think that the slightest
degree of moisture loss through evaporation results in the satiness
becoming
concentrated. In the 80s and 90s I used to order an Ikura gunkan and ask
for
a quail egg yolk on it. This mellowed out the saltiness and it was very
enjoyable.

I have never found a quality of ikura (salmon roe) that I was capable of
eating period. Beyond the saltiness, it has always had a horribly fishy
taste. I have been known to eat some fairly rotten things, but this is so
ick, I simply cannot get over it enough to enjoy it.

Now... a nice masago gunkan with a quail egg on top... whoo boy. I love the
seasoned smelt the best.

*thinking...* Man... sure has been a long time since I had a spicy quail egg
shooter. Yum.

These days I don't find myself ordering Ikura at all since it's
something I eat at home fairly regularly.
Apart from the simple saltred Ikura we see often., there is also a Ikura
no
Shoyu Zuke, which is Ikura marinated in soysauce and sake. Although
sometimes I find it sold in this form, quite frankly I prefer to make it
myself as I can control the extent of the saltiness.

To make Ikura no Shoyu Zuke, a mixture of Shoyu and Sake is
added, and let sit for 2-3 hours.
I find the flavor of the shoyu zuke to be fa more interesting than plain
Ikura. It is remarkable how much sake these little eggs soak up.

Is that a private recipe? I'm game to give some nice salmon roe a try again
if I could make it a little more palatable.

Ikura prior to being salted is sold as Sujiko, and it looks like a lump of
Ikura stuck together. It actually has the membrane still holding the eggs
together. In this form, it is less expensive than fully prepared Ikura.
I'll
only buy Sujiko if it looks good, fresh and plump.

So, the frozen (with thick snow covering) I saw in one of my local Asian
markets last night wouldn't be a wise choice?

-Lost

"Geoff" wrote in message
...

The name comes from Russian ???? ikra, "fish eggs."

Or more appropriately, "types/names of fish eggs". As the definition
describes different types/names.

The SushiFAQ actually defines this incorrectly. It doesn't mean
specifically salmon roe.

I wonder about the origin dates. Did the Russian word actually come before
the Japanese word? Somehow I doubt this, but then again, what do I know?

-Lost

-Lost wrote:

I have never found a quality of ikura (salmon roe) that I was capable of
eating period. Beyond the saltiness, it has always had a horribly fishy
taste. I have been known to eat some fairly rotten things, but this is so
ick, I simply cannot get over it enough to enjoy it.

I did once.. Hatsuhana in Chicago had the freshest ikura I've ever had.
The full orbs of roe bounced across my banana leaf when I dropped one.

Now... a nice masago gunkan with a quail egg on top... whoo boy. I love the
seasoned smelt the best.

No enough flavor for me. I lie the stronger flavor of ikuran vs the
sweeter flavor of masago.


--
Dan

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
"Geoff" wrote in message
...

The name comes from Russian ???? ikra, "fish eggs."

Or more appropriately, "types/names of fish eggs". As the definition
describes different types/names.

The SushiFAQ actually defines this incorrectly. It doesn't mean
specifically salmon roe.

I wonder about the origin dates. Did the Russian word actually come
before
the Japanese word? Somehow I doubt this, but then again, what do I know?

-Lost


A great many people do know that the word Ikura isthe same as Ikra in
Russian.
I doubt there is any definite answer to this. The history of contact between
the European Russians
and Edo Japan onlu goes back to the 1800s. However, contact and trade
between the inhabiants of
the Russian Far East and the Ainu people of Japan goes back probably at
least a thousand years.
My suspicion is that both modern day Japanese as well as Russians may have
gotten the name from
the original peoples of the area, namely from Hokkaido in Japan to the Amur
River area in Russia.

M

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
"Musashi" wrote in message
...

I often find the ikura served in a gunkan too salty for my taste.
Amazing
this is true even in some high end restaurants. I think that the
slightest
degree of moisture loss through evaporation results in the satiness
becoming
concentrated. In the 80s and 90s I used to order an Ikura gunkan and ask
for
a quail egg yolk on it. This mellowed out the saltiness and it was very
enjoyable.

I have never found a quality of ikura (salmon roe) that I was capable of
eating period. Beyond the saltiness, it has always had a horribly fishy
taste. I have been known to eat some fairly rotten things, but this is so
ick, I simply cannot get over it enough to enjoy it.


I agree that Ikura has a distinct "fishy" taste, although to me it is more a
strong "salmon" taste.
I presume you are not a fan of western caviars?

Now... a nice masago gunkan with a quail egg on top... whoo boy. I love
the
seasoned smelt the best.

*thinking...* Man... sure has been a long time since I had a spicy quail
egg
shooter. Yum.

These days I don't find myself ordering Ikura at all since it's
something I eat at home fairly regularly.
Apart from the simple saltred Ikura we see often., there is also a Ikura
no
Shoyu Zuke, which is Ikura marinated in soysauce and sake. Although
sometimes I find it sold in this form, quite frankly I prefer to make it
myself as I can control the extent of the saltiness.

To make Ikura no Shoyu Zuke, a mixture of Shoyu and Sake is
added, and let sit for 2-3 hours.
I find the flavor of the shoyu zuke to be fa more interesting than plain
Ikura. It is remarkable how much sake these little eggs soak up.

Is that a private recipe? I'm game to give some nice salmon roe a try
again
if I could make it a little more palatable.

No..it's not private by any means, although the sitting time is my own.
Shorter than
what is usually suggested in recipes.
I am not going to mislead you by saying that the "fishyness" will be all
gone my making it
into a shoyu zuke, however I will say that it is alot less fishy and the
taste of sake becomes
more dominant.

Ikura prior to being salted is sold as Sujiko, and it looks like a lump
of
Ikura stuck together. It actually has the membrane still holding the
eggs
together. In this form, it is less expensive than fully prepared Ikura.
I'll
only buy Sujiko if it looks good, fresh and plump.

So, the frozen (with thick snow covering) I saw in one of my local Asian
markets last night wouldn't be a wise choice?


No not necessarily. Most sujiko (as well as Ikura) sold here are previously
frozen
so I woudn't worry about it too much. By freshness I meant fresh when
frozen, and not
repeatedly re-frozen which is the worst.

M

Musashi wrote:

I often find the ikura served in a gunkan too salty for my taste.
Amazing this is true even in some high end restaurants. I think that
the slightest degree of moisture loss through evaporation results in
the satiness becoming concentrated.


Ikura is one of my wife's favorites. I find it rather bland, and seldom
order it.


--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

Musashi wrote:

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
"Geoff" wrote in message
...

The name comes from Russian ???? ikra, "fish eggs."


A great many people do know that the word Ikura isthe same as Ikra in
Russian.


I certainly didn't know it, and I thank Geoff for pointingit out.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

I've had three different versions of Ikura no shoyu zuke. Sadly one
place calls it "special ikura" for lack of a better name. Can be
fantastic and sometimes overpowering. One place makes it perfect or at
least was my first experience so that was my standard. The other places
either have it a little too salty (too much shoyu) or marinated for too
long, or too alcoholic (too much sake concentration). A few days ago
one of those places got me a small bowl of the stuff with a spoon, no
rice no seaweed. It was nice :-)

Would konbu shoyu make a difference in the zuke preparation?

"Musashi" wrote in message
...

I agree that Ikura has a distinct "fishy" taste, although to me it is more
a
strong "salmon" taste.
I presume you are not a fan of western caviars?

I wouldn't agree there. Something is amiss with the fishiness. I cannot
really pinpoint it now, maybe I'll try some ikura again to answer
definitively (ugh). Salmon is actually on my top 5 sashimi list.

I'm not too sure about Western (no idea geographically). I do however enjoy
black lumpfish caviar (have a small jar of it in my refridgerator right now
actually). A little creme fraiche or cream cheese on a nice multigrain
cracker or even a fine dark melba toast. Oh man.

http://www.c-els.com/sfc/pc/default....037&p=826&ss=1

I have tried all of these and would have to say the black is the best,
golden (both lumpfish) being second. These brands are a little watery
though. A nice drain and voila. (Plus it's cheap. And yes, I know it, so
no one can make fun of me for not buying beluga or something.)

However, on the fancier side, I have tried:
American golden whitefish (cheap, fancy)
truffle infused whitefish (a mite less cheap, fancy)
Sevruga (expensive, fancy/classy)

Now of course, I like the Sevruga best. At $120.00 USD per ounce though,
I'd rather eat five dollar caviar from Kroger's. Also, the American golden
whitefish is devine and the $10.00 USD per two ounces price tag isn't so
bad. It's the overnight only FedEx shipping for $25.00 USD more that makes
it not favorable.

Being that you like ikura so much, you might check out
http://www.tsarnicoulai.com/

They have an offering on their main page right now "receive a two ounce jar
of Gold pearl salmon roe with every online purchase over one hundred
dollars". Just thought I'd give you a heads up in case that was some great
deal or whatnot. Also, you can find the "fancier" caviar at that same URL
and that is where I have ordered from before. Service was great.

I am not going to mislead you by saying that the "fishyness" will be all
gone my making it
into a shoyu zuke, however I will say that it is alot less fishy and the
taste of sake becomes
more dominant.

You had me at sake. Looking for a nice shoyu zuke recipe now. So... you
sit on it less time (and yes, I don't really mean *sit* on it)?
Approximately how long?

No not necessarily. Most sujiko (as well as Ikura) sold here are
previously
frozen
so I woudn't worry about it too much. By freshness I meant fresh when
frozen, and not
repeatedly re-frozen which is the worst.

Good. Then I'll snag some next time I visit the market.

-Lost

-Lost wrote:
http://www.c-els.com/sfc/pc/default....037&p=826&ss=1

I have tried all of these and would have to say the black is the best,
golden (both lumpfish) being second. These brands are a little watery
though. A nice drain and voila. (Plus it's cheap. And yes, I know it, so
no one can make fun of me for not buying beluga or something.)

However, on the fancier side, I have tried:
American golden whitefish (cheap, fancy)
truffle infused whitefish (a mite less cheap, fancy)
Sevruga (expensive, fancy/classy)

We had 1/2oz of Sevruga for $55 at L'Espelier on our anniversary.
It was good, but I won't drop that kind of money again.. our bill was
about $320 for two. Yikes!

Now of course, I like the Sevruga best. At $120.00 USD per ounce though,
I'd rather eat five dollar caviar from Kroger's. Also, the American golden
whitefish is devine and the $10.00 USD per two ounces price tag isn't so
bad. It's the overnight only FedEx shipping for $25.00 USD more that makes
it not favorable.

That's about right.. we paid $55/half about 4-5 years back.
I'll just stick with ikura, as I enjoy it when its good.

--
Dan

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
"Musashi" wrote in message
...

snipped
I am not going to mislead you by saying that the "fishyness" will be all
gone my making it
into a shoyu zuke, however I will say that it is alot less fishy and the
taste of sake becomes
more dominant.

You had me at sake. Looking for a nice shoyu zuke recipe now. So... you
sit on it less time (and yes, I don't really mean *sit* on it)?
Approximately how long?


2 hours. 3-4 hours tops. And that's using large plump eggs.
Many recipes call for siting overnight, ie at least 6 hours plus.
When you do this the ikura soaks up so much sake and shoyu that they
become "bouncy". And i mean really bouncy. The eggs behave like mercury
dropped on the floor.
M

wrote in message
ups.com...
I've had three different versions of Ikura no shoyu zuke. Sadly one
place calls it "special ikura" for lack of a better name. Can be
fantastic and sometimes overpowering. One place makes it perfect or at
least was my first experience so that was my standard. The other places
either have it a little too salty (too much shoyu) or marinated for too
long, or too alcoholic (too much sake concentration). A few days ago
one of those places got me a small bowl of the stuff with a spoon, no
rice no seaweed. It was nice :-)

Would konbu shoyu make a difference in the zuke preparation?


The mixture and sitting time seems to make all the difference.
I use a 50/50 low sodium shoyu (not kikkoman lite) and sake mixture for 2
hours.
Using Konbu shoyu sounds interesting. Worth trying.
M

Heh, thanks for taking one for the team. Let us know if that improves
the flavor. I only started noticing konbu shoyu at my local Japanese
supermarket. Tried it at home for general cooking and didn't really
notice a huge difference.

There's a brand of organic soy sauce that is fantastic for pretty much
anything, and excellent for yakimeshi or fried rice, and ditto for
sashimi dipping. I think it was Kikkoman, cream to off white label with
Japanese characters (plus kanji for "organic").