🍚 Nama shirasu don (Fresh shirasu rice bowl)

Fresh raw shirasu (baby sardines) on vinegared rice (or white rice) is served on top of a bowl of rice. It is a well-known specialty of the Shonan area, including Chigasaki, Kamakura, and Enoshima. Shirasu are young sardines. Boiled shirasu is called "kama-age shirasu" and sun-dried shirasu is called "shirasu-boshi." Nama-shirasu, as the name implies, is raw unprocessed shirasu. Fresh shirasu lose their freshness quickly and can only be eaten on the same day of landing. In the Shonan area, shirasu fishing was already practiced during the Edo period. In the beginning, it was common to process the shirasu into "tami-iwashi," which was spread out in a rectangular box and dried in the sun, and kama-age shirasu was only for fishermen's private consumption. With the development of kettle cooking and refrigeration technology, kama-age shirasu and raw shirasu came to be processed and sold directly, and became popular as a local specialty. The fishing grounds are located in Sagami Bay in the southern part of the prefecture. Because the fishing grounds for shirasu are formed near the coast, it is possible to land the fish quickly and with excellent freshness. Most of the fishermen in Kanagawa Prefecture are involved in the entire process from fishing to processing and direct sales, and the freshness and flavor of the shirasu are well known.