🍱 Ebiten

Hiuchinada is full of fresh seafood and in Niihama and Kawanoe (now a part of Shikokuchuo) cities, small shrimps called “jakoebi” measuring to 2 to 5 cm in length were widely caught, and these shrimps have been used in home cooking for a long time. “Jakoebi” can be prepared in different ways, and it is delicious simmered or baked. People of all generations love this shrimp. “Ebiten” is a deep-fried dish made with mashed tofu, white fish and “jakoebi”. Nowadays, the dish is prepared with fresh goby, largehead hairtail or cod caught from Hiuchinada and is combined with fresh “jakoebi” and custom-ordered tofu with the water squeezed out from the start. The ingredients are blended using a food processer, and flavored with salt and sugar. Only a small amount of salt is used to enhance the natural sweetness of the tofu and the aroma of the shrimps. Each piece of “ebiten” is made by hand and deep-fried in rapeseed oil. The “ebiten” is flipped over many times so that it does not get charred.