Saury Archives - Sardeenz!

I purchased this J-Basket Sanma Kabayaki at the same time as some of their Saba Kabayaki. The terms sanma and saury are interchangeable. I had some other saury kabayaki before, and wanted to compare brands. These were under $3 at a local Asian market.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

It still has that drab, beige color the kabayaki sauce imparts. I noted a mild fishy aroma, but not off-putting. The flavor is the same mildly sweet and savory found in the others. The texture is a little tougher than mackerel, but is tender enough.

The can is packed quite full. At 3.5 ounces, it is mostly fish with barely a tablespoon of liquid. I noted a few visible hair-like bones, and crunched on just a couple of small others. A little skin here and there as well.

Dumped out and spread over rice, you can see it's a generous portion packed into the small can.

I've mentioned before that I thought I would be done with the whole kabayaki thing when I ran out of what I had on hand, but it's grown on me a little. I just wish some of these Japanese canned fish came in unseasoned versions in order to get a sense of their natural flavor.

Main Takeaways

Typical kabayaki tinned fish preparation
Generous portion courtesy of minimal canning liquid
Previous dismissal of kabayaki may have been premature

Brand: J-Basket
Description: Sanma Kabayaki
Species: Pacific saury
Country of Origin: Japan
Source: FAO61, Northwest Pacific
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 3.5 oz.
Price Range: $2-3

Went out on a limb and ordered a couple of Japanese tinned fish selections, including these Choshita Saury Kabayaki. These ended up being a little mystery to be solved, as the package received had no English, not even an added sticker like imported cans often do. Pacific saury, also known as sanma, is apparently a popular seasonal fish commonly enjoyed in the Japanese autumn. The kanji characters of the Japanese name literally translate as "autumn knife fish". It is a shallow water fish which grows to a length of about 12 inches.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 3.5/5.

What little research I had done about kabayaki prior to opening the can led me to expect a coloration characteristic of a soy sauce-based glaze. So, even though the brown color was not exactly appetizing (IMO), it wasn't a surprise.

I chose to consume these over a bowl of rice, which I understand is how they are commonly served. This allowed me to just pour out the entire contents so as to savor the entire preparation. "Kabayaki" means grilled and basted with a sweet and savory glaze. Although I have to say the grilled aspect might have been lost in the canning process. Either that or the glaze just overpowered any grilled flavor.

There were a few crunchy bones, maybe 3 or 4 vertebrae, but that was all that was apparent. I found nothing off-putting in either the texture or the flavor. I have a second can and might try frying them up before serving to see if that adds anything to the experience.

See it on Amazon.

Brand: Choshita [Tawara Canning Co.Ltd]
Description: Saury Kabayaki
Species: Saury
Country of Origin: Japan
Source: FAO61, Northwest Pacific
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 3.5 oz.
Price Range: $5-6