"Namako" - Sea Cucumber

Tasty flesh, intestines and ovaries; a true delicacy.

Sea cucumbers are a very popular sea food, which is usually caught in the norther Noto region and in Kanazawa.
They are usually prepared as a crunchy and salty vinegar dish. Their intestines and ovaries are valued as highly as their bodies.. Their intestines taste salty and pickled. They are regarded as one of Japans top three sea food delicacies. Others are sea urchin and dried mullet roe. Only 15 liters of salty pickled intestines can be produced from 375kg of sea cucumbers. For the dried intestines dish called “kuchiko”, only 100gr can be produced from 1 ton of sea cucumbers. The small amount that can be gathered from a large number of sea cucumbers, make their intestines quite expensive.