"Hiroshima Salmon" born and raised in Hiroshima

RED U-35 2021 Finalist Doguyen Chilan Chef also praises it!
"Hiroshima Salmon" born and raised in Hiroshima

``Hiroshima Salmon'' is trout salmon (rainbow trout) that is cultivated in collaboration with a farm in Hiroshima Prefecture that uses rivers and the sea.*1 About. This is a genuine Hiroshima ingredient that is not only farmed but also processed and shipped within Hiroshima Prefecture.

Chef Do Nguyen Chilan, who serves dishes using Hiroshima salmon at CHILAN, a restaurant specializing in modern Vietnamese cuisine and natural wine, and the producer, Bangu River, talked about its charm and taste. We spoke with Yosuke Yamasato of the Kokei Fish Farm Tourism Center and Yutaka Bando of Hiroshima Suisan Co., Ltd., which handles processing and shipping to the market.

*1 "Trout salmon" is a product name that refers to rainbow trout, which is originally a freshwater fish, that is cultured in seawater.

The greatest appeal is the outstanding freshness and delicious taste of the fat.

Since it is immediately frozen in the morning to maintain its freshness, it can be eaten raw or heated, expanding the range of cooking possibilities. And above all, it's fun to touch. It is an ingredient that expands your imagination as you think about how to cook it, with a meat quality and flavor that is different from Hokkaido's autumn salmon or Tokisake, or Atlantic salmon from the North Atlantic.

Speaking about the appeal of Hiroshima salmon, this is what a woman who was selected as one of the four finalists in Japan's largest young chef competition "RED U-2021" (sponsored by Gurunavi and others) in 35 and is the highest ranked woman in RED. Doguyen Chilan is one of the chefs currently attracting attention in Japan, having won the Asako Kishi Award.

Do Nguyen Chiran, born and raised in Tokyo, with roots in Vietnam.

After training at bistros, restaurants, and wineries in Tokyo, France, and Australia, Chiran moved to Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, which is the hometown of her sommelier husband Chiaki Fujii, in 2020, and became a modern Vietnamese chef. Opened "CHILAN", a food and natural wine restaurant. We offer creative course meals based on French cuisine with the essence of Vietnam and natural wine.

Hiroshima salmon is said to be used as part of a course meal to make ceviche, which takes advantage of its smooth texture, or as an ingredient in char kha, a Vietnamese dish that is marinated with fish sauce and turmeric and fried.

``The delicate flesh with low fat content typical of rainbow trout has a good balance with the fatty skirt steak, and it can be eaten raw as well as in dishes that use oil such as charka.For older customers, I sometimes cut out the fatty part of the skirt steak, but when I use it to make side dishes for my 2-year-old child, he gulps it down with great gusto, so I guess it's really delicious (lol).

CHILAN Presents Hiroshima salmon exquisite recipe

Served with mandarin orange juice from the garden, sauce made by the gang, fried lotus roots, and herbs from Hiroshima. The refreshing scent of herbs and the sourness of mandarin oranges will whet your appetite.

The ingredients used at "CHILAN" are carefully selected from within Setouchi, especially within Hiroshima Prefecture. This time, we devised a recipe that brings out the charm of Hiroshima salmon to its fullest, ``Hiroshima Salmon Low Temperature Confit with Gion Parsley Sauce and Mandarin Orange Juice,'' which also uses plenty of ingredients and seasonings from Hiroshima Prefecture.

Ingredients used in "Hiroshima Salmon Low Temperature Confit Gion Parsley Sauce and Mandarin Orange Juice".
(From the top left of the photo) Homemade fish sauce using carp from Setouchi, Ichimi from Hiroshima Prefecture, olive oil from Etajima, and sea salt from Kamagari.
(From the bottom left of the photo) Mandarin oranges, Gion parsley, and Hiroshima salmon from the garden

By the way, confit is a French cooking method in which ingredients are slowly simmered in high-temperature oil. Generally speaking, this is a technique used to soften muscular foods such as duck thighs. Fillets of Hiroshima salmon, which are naturally soft and fresh enough to be eaten raw, are confited at low temperatures to create a fluffy texture that melts in your mouth, allowing you to enjoy the delicious flavor of Hiroshima salmon in one bite.

I want to value the story behind the ingredients

Mr. Chiran values ​​the opportunity to listen carefully to the stories of producers. They also make a lot of use of SNS to gather information.

``Of course it's easier to cook with ingredients you're familiar with, but ingredients that ask you, ``How do you cook them?'' are difficult but fun to use. This often results in creative and new dishes.”

Mr. Chiran first encountered Hiroshima salmon through an article he found on the Internet when he was looking for Hiroshima-style seafood.

``I'm really impressed by the fact that they are so particular about their production, such as using feed containing Hiroshima lemons and using advanced technology to collaborate with Hiroshima's rivers and oceans from egg collection to aquaculture. I was drawn to it.When I contacted Hiroshima Suisan, they immediately sent me a sample, and I was able to hear the thoughts of everyone involved in production and the story leading up to the development. I decided to let you do it.”

Even though it takes a lot of time, we are particular about freshness by finishing it in the morning.

Yutaka Bando says he looks forward to eating food from restaurants that sell Hiroshima salmon and hearing stories from the owners and chefs.

At that time, Mr. Yutaka Bando of Hiroshima Suisan, which is responsible for processing Hiroshima salmon and shipping it to the market, was the one who responded to Chiran's inquiries.

``I told Mr. Chiran that all processes from aquaculture to processing and shipping are done in Hiroshima, and that we are particular about the deliciousness of the fish by devising feed and aquaculture methods. He chose Hiroshima salmon from among many other ingredients.

With the introduction of "Frozen Fillet," which was developed during the time when the new coronavirus infection was spreading, it is now possible to provide it until the end of the busy season.

Hiroshima salmon is neither too high nor too low in fat, and has a perfect balance of flavor, so as Chiran says, it goes well not only when eaten raw, but also when fried or heated.
``Recently, frozen fillets have become popular and are increasingly being used in Italian, French, and Chinese restaurants,'' Bando says with a smile on his face.

Hiroshima salmon is kept alive in aquariums in the Hiroshima City Central Wholesale Market and shipped in the morning.

As a seafood wholesaler in Hiroshima that handles a large amount of seafood every day, we are very particular about freshness.
``Western Japan has a fish-eating culture that emphasizes the freshness of fish.Therefore, we pay the utmost attention to ensuring that Hiroshima salmon remains as fresh as possible.''

Hiroshima salmon is always purchased live and kept in aquariums, and during the season from March to September, each time we receive an order, we close it in the morning and ship it the same day.
"It's a time-consuming process, but by putting in the extra effort, you can create a springy and chewy texture that you won't find in other salmon."

Thanks to these steady efforts, Hiroshima salmon is steadily expanding its sales channels, but recently there has been an increase in competition in domestic trout farming. Most of them are breeds that have been improved to grow larger in a short period of time, and are made fatter by using feed with increased fat content.

Hiroshima salmon, on the other hand, values ​​raising in an environment close to nature, even if it takes time. For this to happen, a cooperative system between the Banko Kei Fish Culture and Tourism Center, which is in charge of river aquaculture, and Uchiura Suisan, which is in charge of sea aquaculture, is essential.

In particular, I visited the Banko River Fish Culture and Tourism Center, which had the idea of ​​raising the freshwater fish rainbow trout in the sea more than 30 years ago, and which laid the foundation for cooperative aquaculture between rivers and the sea.

The secret to delicious Hiroshima salmon

The Bankokei Fish Farm Tourism Center is a farm that has been cultivating river fish such as rainbow trout and amago in the clear streams of Bankokei and the Nanase River in Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture since the late 30s. We spoke with Yosuke Yamasato, who is in charge of Hiroshima salmon farming.

According to Mr. Yamasato, some of the amago that live in the Nanase River* 2However, in the winter, the company's company president, Junjiro Ito, went to the sea where the water temperature was higher than the river and there was more food, and in the spring he saw them come back as big as before.He said, ``Rainbow trout that are being farmed should also be raised in the sea in the winter.'' If we could, they would grow even bigger.'' He came up with the idea of ​​cooperative aquaculture between the river and the sea, and succeeded.

"It was truly a pioneer in trout and salmon farming, but at that time, awareness of trout and salmon was still low, and we were unable to commercialize it."

*2 There are two types of amago and rainbow trout: persistent individuals who are born in rivers and spend their entire lives there, and descending individuals that descend to the sea.

Three staff members raise between 60 and 100 million rainbow trout, from fry to juveniles. Feeding is done twice a day. Spend most of the day in the cage, checking waterways and managing water quantity and quality.

However, times have changed, and with the conveyor belt sushi boom, the popularity of trout and salmon has skyrocketed. With the support of Hiroshima Prefecture, which had learned that President Ito had previously succeeded in aquaculture, in 2013, three companies, Uchiura Suisan, which operates a marine aquaculture business on Osakikamijima, and Hiroshima Suisan, a seafood wholesaler, formed a council. As a result, we decided to work on branding ``Hiroshima Salmon.''

It is said that the fact that the scales turn silver (silver hair) and the tips of the dorsal and caudal fins turn black in the water are proof that they are able to adapt to the sea.

The Bankokei Fish Farm Tourism Center is in charge of the two-year process from the time the eggs are collected until the hatched fry are able to adapt to the sea. Hiroshima salmon are slowly grown in cages fed directly by the clear waters of the Nanase River, and then in their second winter, they are transferred to Uchiura Suisan's marine farm on Osakikamijima.

There, the fish are raised to large size using feed containing Hiroshima lemon, and then shipped live to Hiroshima Suisan in the Hiroshima City Central Wholesale Market.

Mr. Yamasato says that the delicious taste of rainbow trout that has been exposed to the sea is that ``it feels like it becomes a different fish as it becomes greasy.''

In fact, the Banko Kei Fish Farming and Tourism Center uses a world-rare aquaculture method in which young fish are allowed to experience the sea once during the aquaculture process. The purpose is to encourage growth in the ocean, where the water temperature is higher than in rivers, and to acclimatize the fish to the ocean environment before full-scale marine aquaculture begins, but Yamasato says there is a reason why he insists on this method. .

``Although there are easier methods, the reason why we chose the time-consuming and costly method of having children experience the ocean twice is because President Ito has a strong desire to raise children in an environment close to nature. The salmon we eat will definitely taste better. After all, we want everyone to eat delicious fish. That's why I think it's our mission to continue this business with care so that it doesn't disappear."

Doguyen Chilan (CHILAN Owner Chef)

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Born in Tokyo in 1988. While in high school, she worked part-time at Stellato in Shirokanedai, and decided to become a chef. He honed his skills by gaining experience in a variety of businesses including restaurants, bistros, and wineries in Japan and abroad, including France and Australia. After that, she left the food and beverage industry and worked as a company employee in the IT industry, but her passion for food and drink never faded, and in 2020, she opened "Vietnamese Cuisine and Wine CHILAN" in Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, which she owns. open. The store name was changed to "CHILAN" and renewed in January 2022. Until now.

CHILAN
Address: 4-2-39 Ashina, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture
Reservations required *Lunch: All starts at 12:00 *Dinner: Private reservation only / time negotiable (6 to 8 people)
https://chilan.jp/

Hiroshima Fisheries (inside Hiroshima City Central Wholesale Market)

Address: XNUMX-XNUMX-XNUMX Kusatsu Port, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima City
https://www.hiroshimasuisan.co.jp/

Mankokei Fish Culture Tourism Center

Address: 74 Mushishoyama, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture
​TEL: 0829-72-0012
*There is also a fishing pond and restaurant on the premises.
https://kawausonouta.wixsite.com/bankokeiyougyo