🐟 Hamokawa Zakuzaku (Zakuzaku Eel Skin)

In Osaka, a city that has prospered from the shipping and commercial industries since ancient times, a large amount of hamo eel has been sold and distributed. Summer is considered to be the popular season, and it is said that the eel becomes delicious when it drinks the water of the rainy season. Therefore, at the Tenjin Festival held in summer, various side dishes using eel are lined up on the tables. In Osaka, eel is used as a raw material for kamaboko paste. When the flesh of the eel is stripped off to make kamaboko, only the skin remains. The small bones of the skin are removed. Soy sauce is added and it is grilled. Then it is mixed with cucumber and sweet vinegar to make “Zakuzaku Eel Skin”. It is a home-cooked dish unique to Osaka that is full of the "spirit of frugality" that uses even the remaining skin deliciously. It also goes well in summer as it is quite light. The name of the dish "Zakuzaku" is said to be the sound made by cutting cucumbers and the sound of eating this crunchy dish.