Kazunoko

Kazunoko (数の子), in Japanese cuisine, are the eggs or the ovaries (egg skeins) of the Pacific herring (Japanese: ) that have been salted or dried.

Kazunoko is a product processed by removing the roe sacs (or "egg skeins") from female herrings intact in its shape, then preserving by sun-drying (hoshi kazunoko) or by salting or brining (shio kazunoko).

The eggs are individually tiny, but together they form oblong clusters measuring approximately 8 cm long and 3 cm wide.

The kazunoko, symbolizing fertility, has been a staple of the osechi assortment of food for the New Year.

This explanation is already attested in the published 1697.

The entry under 鯟 kado in the Honchō shokkan clarifies the pronunciation of the character by the supply the phonetic reading as kato/kado (加登).

It goes on to state that kazunoko (數子) has been phonetically written as ka-to-no-ko (加登乃古/加豆乃古).

Even beyond the Edo Period, kado or kado iwashi still survives in dialect as local name for herring, even though nishin is the standard Japanese term.

The history of its production overlaps with the history of producing dried for food, that came into full force around Kyōho (1716–36) with the availability of salt up north, and later the production of kasu or fishmeal rom early 19th century onwards.

The traditional harvesting of span on kelp by natives, including the use of hemlock branches for the purpose, are surveyed (Cf. ).

There are various socio-economic issues which concerns Pacific herring fishing overall, with regards to native fishing grounds being overtaken by modern mass commercialized production, But aspects particular to herring roe have been taken up below, e.g., the "kazukono ledger" to record the debts to be worked off by Ainu women.

The alternate etymological theory holds that kazunoko may well have derived from the literal verbatim meaning of 'child of numbers/numerousness', as had been suggested by 's Gengentei (言元梯) (1830/1834), and in fact, early usage writes the word as kazunoko (cf. below).

A third theory is discernible in the Edo Period essay (1830), which mentions that kazunoko was know by the alias kazukazu (かずかず) in contemporary (onna kotoba), juxtaposed with the information that Muromachi period literature wrote of kozukozu (cod organ) as a New Year's dish.

The connection between these two (similarly sounding) terms as synonymous (cognates?) are made in the dictionary.

There is speculation that Japanese kado must have derived from some Ainu word, but the known Ainu word for "herring" is heroki, (with variant spellings), and linguist rejects this hypothesis.

Kazunoko marketed in Japan fall into these groups: hoshi kazunoko (干し数の子), shio kazunoko (干し数の子) and ajitsuke kazunoko (味付け数の子).

Only limited supplies of the dried are now manufactured.

The flavored type using Atlantic roe have been characterized as "secondary market", or even "substitute" products by American sources (but see further discussion below).

Kazunoko a standard part of New Year's fare called osechi, and are soy-sauce marinaded to keep for days (or made into kasuzuke ).

The addition of kazunoko allegedly only dates back to 1929, as an arrangement on what was originally a squid and kelp recipe.

The kazunoko is known for its texture or mouthfeel (crunchiness), the sound of biting into it described onomatopoeically as puchi puchi (cf. ) The Atlantic herring is deemed overall to have less crunchiness, so that they are largely consigned to becoming "flavored kazunoko" or a side dish (sōzai, equivalent to okazu).

But Atlantic herring of some regions are made into the normal salted/brined variety (Cf. ).

The "komochi kombu" (aka kazunoko kombu ) or "spawn on kelp" may be eaten on its own as a delicacy, or sliced up and used for sushi.

and can command very high prices.

Of the diminished Japanese herring catch in Hokkaido, only a miniscule fraction now gets used for exploiting the eggs.

According to one comparative study, the Canada Pacific herring roe taken in British Columbia, or Alaskan roe harvested in Sitka or Kah Shakes Cove produce quality eggs, suited for salted (or even dried).

Kitaōji Rosanjin, eminent gourmet connoisseur and restaurateur, commented in his time that although raw or salted kazunoko was becoming available, dried kazunoko reconstituted with water was the best, taste-wise (essay, loosely translated "Kazunoko is about eating the sound", 1930).

While it is typically served topped with bonito flakes and splashed with soy sauce, Rosanjin insists on not letting the sauce seep in too much; his rule also opposes introducing other flavors such as miso or sakekasu, or pickling/marinating in soy sauce.

However, there is also the opposite opinion, that the dried kazunoko is "more delicious after letting the soy sauce soak in well"".

Matsumaezuke is a soy-pickled dish that typically contains chunks of kazunoko in the mix of julienned dried squid (surume) and kombu seaweed.

From around 1955 domestic herring catches fell sharply for Japan (mostly only caught around Hokkaido in the north), and nearly all supplies now depend on imports, mostly from the Pacific coasts of Canada and Alaska but also including the use of Atlantic herring.

A technique for bleaching into uniform gold color was established, and the lucrative commodity earned the nickname of "yellow dia[mond]".

A subtype is the komochi kombu (子持ち昆布) or "spawn on kelp", which are Pacific herring eggs laid on various seaweed regarded as "kelp", now harvested mostly in British Columbia, Canada.

Also, North American herring fishing since the 1960s have has principally been aimed at harvesting the kazunoko for the Japanese market, waste/sustainability issues have been raised (cf. also ).

Both "kazunoko" and the archaic kadonoko occur in medieval or post-medieval writings and also written in forms such as 鯟子, 鰊子, 鯡子, 鯑.

or 䱧.

There are two or three etymological hypotheses that have been presented.

The derivation of kazunoko as the corrupted form of kado no ko, where kado is the old name for herring, is the generally accepted etymology according to some sources.

Historically, the oldest records of kazunoko in Japan date to the 15th and 16th centuries, served e.g. to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, during the spring season (Cf. below).

The harvest of kazunoko from herring occur in the spring, but the dried product was being sold as a New Year's season item by the end of 17th century.