Shark, a fish where nothing is wasted.
This is the last and most incredible dish i got from Chef Kuromori, steam bun with shark fin. Now a lot of people know shark fin as a luxurious food from China that spike a lot of outrages on the events where sharks were threw back into the ocean without their fin. So i look up the details on it in Japan as i know Chef Kuromori used shark fin from a town called Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture.
This fishing town have been fishing shark since the Edo era and they referred to shark as “A fish where nothing is waste”. From the town’s homepage, i found that shark fin is one of the product but besides that, the meat, skin even heart were used in various way. Meat is mainly used in making fish cake that is one of the food love across Japan. Skin were used in making wasabi grater and leather product. Heart is consumed as food. Indeed, nothing was waste. And the fishing of shark is not different than any other fish, nothing like cutting the fins off only is going on.
Back to the bun, i must say that it was executed brilliantly. The crunchiness of the fins were well retained while the pork used to enhance the flavor were very fatty chucks. And that is the brilliant part. As the texture of the fins were very delicate, fatty pork that is extremely soft and melty ensures that the flavor were there but it will not overpower the fins. In contrast to the partial lean meat used in Char Siu Bun, this really show the amount of care and passion a chef has for his creation.
I can wait to go visit when i can travel again.
Zephyr Codex 