Crazy hot, boiling, burning, the sweltering hot weather continues in Japan.
How are you all feeling?

There is delicious fish even in the extremely hot season.

This time, let us introduce a fish “Takabe(Yellowstriped butterfish)”,

which is famous as summer fish in the Kanto region.

This fish inhabit from Honshu to the coastal areas of Kyushu, but the author has seen it shipped from only Wakayama, Ehime, and Miyazaki besides the Izu Islands during my working life at a fish market for 25 years.

In the past, it seemed that the majority of fish arrived to Tsukiji Market from Izu.

Even in current Toyosu Market.

This fish is small, only growing up to approximately 25cm.

We are going to talk about the attractive points of this small fish.

The back of this fish is a deep bluish body with a silvery-white belly, and its most notable feature is the yellow lateral line from the back to the tail fin.

Interestingly, this fish sells at a high price even though it is no longer fresh.

The reason is...the way of eating for this fish is only grill !

Previously, somehow I got really fresh fish and tried eating it as sashimi, but it was strange, just lack flavor or didn't have strong either in taste or appearance.

Also, even as sashimi, the color of the blood is so deep.

Since it has fat under the skin and around the belly, even if you grill it with the skin on, the skin is thick and it is difficult to control of the heat, and the worse the appearance will be.

The point of taste is neither good nor bad, this is my honest opinion, though.
(As the same size fish, Isaki and Ishidai are more delicious than it for me.)

However, it will change completely if you add a pinch of salt and grill it!

By grilled it, the fat that seeps out from under the skin and belly and the faint smell of the sea will whet your appetite even if your body is weakened by the heat!

Perhaps because it is rich in fat, the meat does not get tough, and although it has many bones, the flesh comes off the bone easily, so it does not bother us too much. After one bite, we cannot help but shout, "It is delicious!!"

This goes great with Summer beer and spicy grated daikon radish with a squeeze of sudachi!

As mentioned earlier, this fish is mainly caught in the Izu Islands, and it is shipped by sea from the islands, making it extremely difficult to select the freshest ones.

 

Since it is not a large fish originally, it is difficult to specify the size and it loses freshness quickly.

Even though this is a fish that is specialized for grilling, we have professional pride and struggle to find one that is as fresh as possible; this fish is a bit naughty but adorable.

Even though this is a fish that is specialized for grilling, we have professional pride and struggle to find fresh one as much as possible, Takabe is a bit naughty but adorable.

 

Now, let us give you a piece of advice for cooking.

 

Takabe have a lot of fat such as lard around their belly. Therefore, when grilling it, do not cut open the belly and cook it slowly.

If you cook it too fast, the fat will burn, so please be careful.

 

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