Nancy Singleton Hachisu

“Seventy-something Isamu Matsuue has spent over 60 years of his life working with katsuobushi, and he is the last artisan in Japan skilled at shaving the fish by hand. And Sakai Katsuobushi is the last katsuobushi company to perform this step. The special tools, shaped to follow the crevices of the katsuobushi, are no longer being fashioned, so this ancient art dies with Matsuue-san.”
― Nancy Singleton Hachisu, Preserving the Japanese Way: Traditions of Salting, Fermenting, and Pickling for the Modern Kitchen

“OMOISHI: Literally “heavy rocks”: any heavy objects used as weights for fermenting and preserving. Typically garden rocks or river stones were used in Japan, though nowadays ceramic or plastic-covered iron weights can be purchased at home centers. I prefer rocks because there is an art to piling them on and this is one more instance where experience brings improvement. FOR”
― Nancy Singleton Hachisu, Preserving the Japanese Way: Traditions of Salting, Fermenting, and Pickling for the Modern Kitchen