Iwashi no Unohana-zuke (Vinegared Sardines with Okara)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 47 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 9
About this dish
Small sardines cured first in salt and then in vinegar are opened flat and filled with sweet-sour okara, the soybean pulp left from tofu making, with a thin coat on the skin side too.
Read more
The okara, cooked dry with carrot and dried chili and then brightened with yuzu zest and juice, comes across soft, citrusy, and tangy against the firm, vinegared fish. This Ibaraki dish is eaten the day it is made, and only sardines sold for raw eating after commercial freezing will do, since salt and vinegar do not kill anisakis.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Thaw 9 previously frozen raw-grade sardines under refrigeration and keep at or below 4C.
Remove heads and guts, open by hand, remove the backbone and belly bones, rinse briefly, and pat dry.
- 2
Coat both sides with 100g coarse salt and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Rinse off the salt with 50ml sardine vinegar and arrange the fish in a clean container.
- 3
Pour over the remaining 50ml sardine vinegar and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, turning once.
Drain and blot the fish surface dry.
- 4
Julienne the yellow peel from half a yuzu and squeeze its juice.
Cook 100g okara, 30g carrot, 36g sugar, 45ml okara vinegar, and 1g chili over medium heat for about 8 minutes until dry.
- 5
Turn off the heat, mix the yuzu peel and juice into the okara, spread it out, and cool completely.
Do not combine warm okara with the cold fish.
- 6
Open each sardine, place cooled okara inside, and close lightly.
Coat the skin side thinly with more okara, shape, arrange on a chilled plate, and serve promptly.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
「いばらきの味ー郷土料理献立集食・彩・百・景」（協力／茨城県食生活改善推進員協議会） · Checked: 2026-08-11
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