Koi no Arai (Chilled Carp Sashimi)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 35 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 4
About this dish
Koi no arai is a carp dish from Koriyama, Fukushima, made with carp professionally prepared for raw consumption.
Read more
The skinned fillet is sliced about twice as thick as fugu sashimi, passed quickly through water near 42°C, and tightened in ice water. This brief washing reduces surface fat and odor while giving the flesh a crisp, springy texture; it does not cook the fish. Mustard vinegar miso is the customary dip, while young carp may be paired with ginger soy sauce or briefly swished through hot water and served with ponzu. Carp farming grew in Koriyama after the Asaka Canal made former reservoirs available, and carp dishes became special food for weddings, New Year, and guests.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Prep
Use the carp on the day it is prepared for raw service.
Sanitize the worktop, knife, and board, and prepare a large bowl of ice water.
- 2Step
Remove the skin from both professionally cleaned fillets, then pull out visible pin bones and bloodline remnants with tweezers.
- 3Prep
Slice across the grain on a diagonal about 5 mm thick, making approximately 60 slices in total.
- 4Step
Bring clean water to 42°C and pass small batches of carp through it for only 3 to 5 seconds.
Remove as soon as the surface contracts slightly.
- 5Step
Move immediately to ice water, swish gently for 30 seconds to tighten the flesh, rinse once more in fresh ice water, and drain.
- 6Finish
Pat dry and arrange 15 slices per chilled plate.
Serve mustard vinegar miso as the primary dip, with ginger soy and ponzu as alternatives.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Raw-service carp is sliced about 5 mm thick.
- Finish cue
- Pat dry and arrange 15 slices per chilled plate.
- Avoid this
- Pregnant people, children, older adults, and anyone immunocompromised should avoid raw carp.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
35min, 4 ingredients
Category median
48min, 8 ingredients
Based on 247 recipes