Kurozukuri (Squid Ink Shiokara)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 50 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 2
About this dish
Kurozukuri is a black shiokara specialty of Toyama made by cutting Japanese flying squid into narrow strips and aging it cold with salted viscera and its own ink.
Read more
The glossy dark color and concentrated umami are distinctive, while the ink makes the salinity and marine aroma seem rounder than ordinary red shiokara. Records say the lord of the Kaga domain presented it to the shogun, showing its long history as a regional delicacy. Small amounts accompany rice, sake, or ochazuke. Because this is an uncooked seafood ferment, use squid supplied for raw consumption and commercially frozen for parasite reduction, keep every component at 4°C or below, and maintain scrupulously clean tools.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Step
From the refrigerator-thawed squid, pull out the tentacles and viscera carefully.
Separate the ink sac and liver intact; discard remaining organs, eyes, beak, and quill.
- 2Control
Skin and dry the mantle.
Cover the liver generously with salt in a chilled tray; salt the mantle lightly and set it on a rack. Keep the covered ink sac separate.
- 3Control
Refrigerate every component overnight at 4°C or below.
Leave the mantle uncovered over a draining tray so released liquid cannot touch it again.
- 4Prep
The next day, cut the mantle across the grain into strips about 5 mm wide and 4 cm long.
Place in a sanitized, cooled glass container.
- 5Season
Rinse surface salt quickly from the liver with cold potable water and dry completely.
Slit the membrane, squeeze into the container, add the ink, and mash smooth with a spoon.
- 6Prep
Mix the squid thoroughly with the liver and ink, seal, and age one more night at 4°C or below.
Stir with a clean spoon before dividing among four small dishes.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Squid mantle and liver are salted to draw out moisture.
- Finish cue
- Mix the squid thoroughly with the liver and ink, seal, and age one more night at 4°C or below.
- Avoid this
- Do not mix all remaining salt into the shiokara, and serve only small portions.
- Storage and reheating
- From the refrigerator-thawed squid, pull out the tentacles and viscera carefully.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
50min, 2 ingredients
Category median
48min, 8 ingredients
Based on 247 recipes