Funazushi: The fermented predecessor of modern sushi

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210616-funazushi-the-fermented-predecessor-of-modern-sushi?utm_source=bengtan&utm_medium=email

by mighty-fine • 5 years ago

95 60 5 years ago

bbc.com

JetAlone2• 5 years ago

Very interesting, it's like a fish cheese! Looks good, I wanna try it some time.

kurthr3• 5 years ago

You are welcome to have ALL of mine. I've had Swedish fermented herring, and not only did it smell awful, but I became disgusted with the Ammonia and H2S smell in my own mouth. The friend who had conned me into trying it then dumped it in the trash and his Swedish wife got upset because of the stench and made him take the entire bag of trash out at night when it was unpleasantly cold, wet, and windy. Turns out she's not a fan of Surströmming. I tried washing my teeth/tongue out with his expensive vodka and it certainly took enough shots to get drunk.

To be clear, I have no problem with any Blue cheese or even Epoisses. I don't love "stinky" tofu, but it doesn't bother me and I am somewhat charmed by durian. Fermented fish is in another league, and the small bones get stuck in your teeth.

jrochkind1• 5 years ago

Fish sauce is another kind of fermented fish. While it is definitely pungent and is disliked or an acquired taste for some, it isn't nearly as intense as what you describe and is loved by many. Southeast-asian-style fish sauce does not have an ammonia smell.

Perhaps not all fermented fish is the same. I doubt the Japanese one discussed here is similar to that Swedish dish, or has an ammonia smell.

Fish sauce is a liquid condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented for up to two years

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_sauce

JetAlone2• 5 years ago

I've had pickled herring before, I find it very tasty. I also like Natto. I have a strong predilection towards food that tastes spicy, bitter, salty and/or umami. Sweet stuff is fine. I like Vodka, so cheers to that.

numpad0• 5 years ago

I guess Surströmmings are not labeled “Miscellaneous hazardous material” for nothing!

1: https://image.itmedia.co.jp/l/im/nl/articles/1810/02/l_f1810...

pinko• 5 years ago

I believe Icelandic fermented fish was one of the few foods Anthony Bourdain found revolting. Based on my own experience with Icelandic and Japanese approaches to flavor, I would bet Funazushi tastes better, though.

T-A• 5 years ago

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338198088_Surstromm...

totetsu• 5 years ago

A little easier to find would be some other dried fish, like Hoshi-karei 干しカレイ, dried flat fish. It definitely has a soft goat cheese feel to it.

engineerdeck• 5 years ago

I'm always reminded of the Karl Pilkington video whenever this is bought up. It doesn't seem very nice.

lsh123• 5 years ago

I am not sure this is correct, people ate raw fish and meat before any of the processing happened. So I would guess that sashimi was known way earlier than fermented fish.

dllthomas3• 5 years ago

Sashimi isn't sushi. Sushi literally means "sour rice". In the version of it I know (probably from a Good Eats episode), fish was "fermented packed in rice" (probably a gloss of this process) leading to... sour rice and fish. The modern practice of getting sour rice by mixing in some rice vinegar is an evolution of a much faster approximation of that dish.

shoto_io• 5 years ago

Interesting. So Sauerkraut and Sushi have similar roots. Sauerkraut was also fermented in the old days. Now, vinegar is used, which btw kills any useful fermentation bacteria.

euske• 5 years ago

I think that almost every culture has this kind of food that is supposed to be super good to those who acquired taste but looks totally gross to outsiders. Japan has this half-rotten sushi and fermented soybeans, and then there's maggot cheese and notorious fermented herrings, etc.

dllthomas3• 5 years ago

In my experience the Poles seem to think of their pickled herring this way, but it's just genuinely tasty all of the three ways I've had it.

bradleyjg• 5 years ago

I don’t know about the Polish version but I assume it’s similar to the kind you get with onions and a sour cream based sauce in appetizing stores in NYC.

If so, I wouldn’t say it’s an acquired taste. It’s a bit fishy but even as a child I liked it.

Fnoord• 5 years ago

When we Dutch buy Hollanse Nieuwe (herring of this year) we get asked if we want 'ui en zuur erbij?' ('onion and sour with it?'). The sour are pickles. I wouldn't want my herring without either.

Maybe lutefisk counts, but I don't think so. Fermentation has to be done correct, else it is dangerous. That's where the gross feeling stems from; it has/had a purpose.

dcolkitt• 5 years ago

From conversations I've had with East Asians, I think many think of cheese in general as a pretty gross food.

gruez• 5 years ago

Why? Is it the sharp taste, how its made, or something else?

caymanjim• 5 years ago

East Asians are the most lactose-intolerant humans. I assume that's a factor.

tootie• 5 years ago

Pizza is pretty popular in East Asia though.

distantaidenn3• 5 years ago

Interesting. In my experience, living in Japan and Korea, cheese is everywhere -- sometimes in dishes you wouldn't even expect. I wonder if age is a factor in your observations.

eloisius• 5 years ago

Funny, I was just talking about dairy in Asia in the thread about alcohol flush. At least in Taiwan, cheese is super popular. Wine and cheese charcuterie, cheese on dan bing, cheese tea even (albeit creme cheese). It's probably a generational thing though. Many young people here study abroad and are very international in their tastes.

tastyfreeze• 5 years ago

I have always thought of these foods as "kept my ancestors from starving" foods. Things that were discovered by accident when people were starving and became a way have stored food to keep from starving in the future.

babesh• 5 years ago

Salted fish in the same general approach as funazushi is still practiced in some Chinese cultures. I wonder if Chinese would find funazushi tasty.

SideburnsOfDoom• 5 years ago

became a way have stored food to keep from starving in the future.

And mostly because no-one will eat them by choice, in seasons when they're not starving.

tayo42• 5 years ago

sushi in kyoto was similar to this. some kind of fermented suhsi. it was ok, prefer the new tokyo style kind lol

Clewza3133• 5 years ago

If the sushi was served in pressed, compact slices, you likely had oshizushi ("pressed sushi"), which is is fairly common in the Kansai area around Kyoto. The fish used is typically lightly pickled, not full-on fermented, but it's definitely quite different from "regular" Edomae sushi.

Funazushi: The fermented predecessor of modern sushi

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