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Japanese

Mefun

A Hokkaido delicacy of salted, fermented chum salmon kidney \u2014 the dark strip of kidney tissue taken from along the backbone. Cleaned, packed in coarse salt and left to cure for two to three weeks until it turns almost black and intensely savoury, then rinsed in sake, sliced and eaten in small mouthfuls with grated ginger, shredded daikon and cold sake or hot rice.

SidesSnacksPescatarian
35 min30 prep · 5 cookMedium407 kcalper serving
Mefun

Method

  1. Dissolve 1 tsp of coarse salt in a bowl of very cold water. Slide the 80 g of fresh salmon kidney into it and work through it with your fingers: peel away the thin silver membrane, pick out any fragments of bone, gut or green bile-stained tissue (these turn the whole batch bitter), and press gently to squeeze the blood out of the tissue. Change the water once and wash again until it runs pale pink rather than red.
  2. Rinse the kidney in fresh cold water, then spread it on a rack or a colander lined with kitchen paper and leave to drain in the fridge for 20 minutes. It must be well drained, not wet, or the cure will slacken and spoil.
  3. Scald a small glass or enamel jar with boiling water and dry it. Scatter a little of the 16 g of coarse sea salt over the base, then pack the kidney in in thin layers, salting each layer heavily and finishing with a good blanket of salt on top. Press down with a small weight or a clean stone in a bag, cover, and refrigerate.

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Per serving

407kcal
21gprotein
50gcarbs
11gfat
2gfibre

Computed from the ingredients against a food database, not estimated. The full nutrient table is in the app.

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