is a fried

fishcake A fishcake (sometimes written as fish cake) is a culinary dish consisting of filleted fish or other seafood minced or ground, mixed with a starchy ingredient, and fried until golden. Asian-style fishcakes usually contain fish with salt, water, ...

originating from

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, Japan. Surimi and flour is mixed to make a compact paste that is solidified through frying. It is a specialty of the

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

region. It is known by a variety of regional names throughout Japan. The paste is made from fish and seasoned with salt, sugar, and other spices and molded into several shapes. It is made not only from ground fish but can include

wood ear Wood-ear or tree ear (, Korean: 목이 버섯), also translated wood jellyfish or , can refer to a few similar-looking edible fungi used primarily in Chinese cuisine; these are commonly sold in Asian markets shredded and dried. * ''Auricularia he ...

, beni shōga, onion, Welsh onion and other vegetables, squid, octopus, shrimp and other sea foods, and some spices. In fishing villages, it is made from local fishes, for example sardines, shark, bonito or mackerel. it is often made by mixing two or more kinds of fish. People eat Satsuma-age plain or lightly roasted and dipped in ginger and soy sauce or mustard and soy sauce. It is used in

oden is a type of nabemono (Japanese one-pot dishes), consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth. Oden was originally what is now commonly ca ...

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. It is a comfort food for many Japanese people. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a hot soup as with a mild broth called ...

, sara udon or

nimono is a simmered dish in Japanese cuisine. A nimono generally consists of a base ingredient simmered in ''shiru'' stock & seasoned with sake, soy sauce, and a small amount of sweetening. The nimono is simmered in the shiru over a period of time un ...

(stewed dishes).

Composition

Commonly Satsuma-age used

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

as a filling; however, as cod stocks have been depleted other varieties of white fish are used, such as

haddock The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas wher ...

or whiting. Satsuma-age may use

oily fish Oily fish are fish species with oil (fats) in soft tissues and in the coelomic cavity around the gut. Their fillets may contain up to 30% oil, although this figure varies both within and between species. Examples of oily fish include smal ...

such as

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

for a markedly different flavour. The

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

used to make surimi (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 擂り身, literally "

ground meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, incl ...

") include: * Alaska pollock (''

Theragra chalcogramma The Alaska pollock or walleye pollock (''Gadus chalcogrammus'') is a marine fish species of the cod genus ''Gadus'' and family Gadidae. It is a semi-pelagic schooling fish widely distributed in the North Pacific, with largest concentrations fo ...

'') * Lizardfish ('' Synodontidae'') * White croaker ('' Pennahia argentata'') * Daggertooth pike conger (''

Muraenesox cinereus The daggertooth pike conger (''Muraenesox cinereus'') also known as the darkfin pike eel in Ozzyland, to distinguish it from the related pike-eel (''Muraenesox bagio''), is a species of eel in the pike conger family, Muraenesocidae. They prim ...

'') * Japanese Spanish mackerel ('' Scomberomorus niphonius'') * Flying fish ('' Exocoetidae'') * Various

sardine "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the It ...

species (''

Sardine "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the It ...

'') * Various

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

species ('' Selachimorpha'') * Skipjack tuna ('' Katsuwonus pelamis'') * Various mackerel species ('' Mackerel'') * Okhotsk atka mackerel ('' Pleurogrammus azonus'') *

Tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

** ''

Oreochromis mossambicus ''Oreochromis'' is a large genus of oreochromine cichlids, fishes endemic to Africa and the Middle East. A few species from this genus have been introduced far outside their native range and are important in aquaculture. Many others have ver ...

'' ** ''

Oreochromis niloticus niloticus The Nile tilapia (''Oreochromis niloticus'') is a species of tilapia, a cichlid fish native to the northern half of Africa and the Levante area, including Israel, and Lebanon. Numerous introduced populations exist outside its natural range. It i ...

'' *

Black bass Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

** Smallmouth bass ('' Micropterus dolomieu'') ** Largemouth bass (''

Micropterus salmoides The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

'') ** Florida black bass ('' Micropterus floridanus'')

History

There are varied histories of Satsuma-age, but the most famous birthplace is the

district in

. It is said that, in about 1864, the

Shimazu clan The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in cont ...

brought it to Satsuma from Okinawa through some exchange and invasion. In those days,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

ns called fried-boiled fish paste chigiage. After it was brought to Kagoshima, it was produced as tsukiage and selected as one of the best 100 local dishes.

Regional names

Depending on the region, the dish is known under different names. In Tōhoku and the Kantō region it is called "Satsuma-age" after its place of origin in Kagoshima. In the Chubu region it is known as "Hanpen".

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

and west Japan people call it "Tempura" (different from

Tempura is a typical Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood, meat and vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. The dish was introduced by the Portuguese in Nagasaki through fritter-cooking techniques in the 16th century. The word ...

). In Kyushu and

, this dish is called "Tempura", "Tsukeage" or "Chikiagi".

Varieties

*Hiraten (ひら天): flat satsuma age *Maruten (丸天): Satsuma-age like a thin disk. People in Kyushu, mainly

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

, eat them with

. *Gobouten (ごぼう天, ごぼう巻き): Satsuma-age wrapped around burdock-like sticks. *Ikaten (いか天): Satsuma-age wrapped around squid tentacles. *Takoten (たこ天): Satsuma-age wrapped around cut octopus. There is a kind of ball shaped like

takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (''tako''), tempura scraps (''tenkasu''), pickled ginger (''beni shoga''), and green o ...

. *Tamanegiten (タマネギ天): with

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...

. *Bakudan (爆弾, 'Bomb'): Satsuma-age which wrapped around a boiled

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

*Honeku (ほねく), honeten: These are short versions of honekuri-tempura. This is a local dish in north

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city) Wakayama City Hall is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...

. Whole cutlass fish ( Largehead hairtail:

Trichiurus lepturus The largehead hairtail (''Trichiurus lepturus'') or beltfish is a member of the cutlassfish family, Trichiuridae. This common to abundant species is found in tropical and temperate oceans throughout the world. The taxonomy is not fully resolved, ...

) are ground and fried. They have a unique smell. * Jakoten (じゃこ天) is a special product of

Uwajima 270px, Uwajma City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Uwajma city center 270px, Japan National Route 320 in Uwajma city center is a city located in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 70,440 in 35429 households and a ...

in southern

Ehime prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tok ...

. Jakoten has a long history, having been eaten since the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. It is made from small fish caught nearby that are blended into a paste and then fried. *Gansu ( がんす) (local dish in Hiroshima) is a fry made of breaded ground whitefish and a kind of

cutlet Cutlet (derived from French ''côtelette'', ''côte'', "rib") refers to: # a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of mutton, veal, pork or chicken # a dish made of such slice, often breaded (also known in various languages as a '' cotoletta ...

Outside Japan

*In

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, the term for satsuma-age is eomuk (어묵) or simply odeng. Large cities like Busan and Seoul sell these products as street food during winter and fall seasons. *In

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, satsuma-age is sold as ''tianbula'' (). It was introduced to Taiwan under Japanese rule by people from Kyushu, where satsuma-age is commonly known as ''tempura''. It is often used as an ingredient for

, hot pot and lu wei. *Similar dishes exist in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

References

External links

Serving History Satsuma Age
{{DEFAULTSORT:Satsuma Age Deep fried foods Japanese cuisine Korean cuisine Surimi Taiwanese cuisine