Namasu

What is Namasu?

Namasu

Namasu

Namasu (膾・なます・ナマス) is,
a dish in which vegetables such as Daikon radish and carrots are cut into thin slices and dressed with ‘Sanbaizu’ vinegar. Thinly sliced radishes and carrots pickled in sweet vinegar. A type of side dish. One of the standard ”Osechi ryori” (New Year’s festive dishes).

There are various recipes depending on the region and household, such as those containing seafood, peanuts or persimmons, and there are many variations in terms of ingredients and seasonings used. In particular, the dish made with radish and carrot is called ‘kohaku namasu’ (red and white namasu) and is one of the essential dishes for New Year’s Day and Osechi (New Year’s festive dishes).

Ingredients used in namasu include daikon radish, carrots, Kintoki carrots, cucumbers, turnips, shitake mushrooms, kon-nyaku, lotus root, kikurage, black soy beans, potatoes, thick fried tofu, fried tofu, persimmons, dried persimmons, apples, chrysanthemum flowers, salmon, saury, horse mackerel, sardines, mackerels, Shark, whale, yellowtail, flatfish, flying fish, konoshiro (konoshiro), mullet, crucian carp, carp, scallops, kobashira, octopus and salmon roe.

In addition to Sanbaizu, other seasonings for dressing (combination seasonings) include nihaizu, yuzuzu vinegar, sudachi vinegar, ama-zu, sesame vinegar, roasted sake vinegar, miso vinegar (miso namasu) and sushi vinegar.

Other seasonings include vinegar, salt, sugar, boiled sake, boiled mirin, white miso, red miso, kombu dashi (kelp stock), etc. In some regions, white or black sesame seeds (roasted sesame), sesame paste, red pepper, mustard, crushed peanuts, walnuts, thinly sliced yuzu peels, etc. are also added together with seasonings. In some regions, the addition of

At special occasions, or in luxury inns and restaurants, it is sometimes served in a bowl hollowed out of a yuzu citron or a bowl hollowed out of a persimmon seed.

Namasu with peanuts (Shizuoka).

Kaki namasu (persimmon namasu) (Nara)

Kakiae Namasu (Niigata)

This is a local Niigata dish made from chrysanthemum flowers (kaki no moto), seasoned with walnuts and sesame vinegar. A colourful dish that also includes carrots, lotus root, konnyaku and shiitake mushrooms.

Hizu Namasu

Mizu Namasu

A local delicacy of the Boso Peninsula in Chiba, a fisherman’s dish of raw horse mackerel and chicken grunt cut into thin strips and served in a cold miso soup with shiso, myoga, cucumber and other ingredients.