In the local cuisines of Northeast and Southeast Asia the
fermented products of marine organisms constitute major side
dishes and condiments. As is well-known, food patterns of this
large region are based mainly on rice, a source not only of energy
but also of vegetable proteins. Animal meats have never been
widely consumed, neither has there been a tradition of milking.
Rather, the bulk of animal products have always been obtained
from aquatic organisms, mainly fish. Thus the cuisines of eastern
Asia were historically, as indeed they continue to be, based on
a combination of rice, fish and vegetables.
Throughout East Asia the preservation of seasonally available
fish was based in considerable mesure on the application of fermentation
techniques. In making fermented products salt is
mixed with cleaned fresh fish, shellfish, or other aquatic organisms,
and fermented for various lengths of time to enable the enzymes
present in the fish to auto-digest the meat and create products that
range from sauces to solids, and in which amino acids predominate.
Ironically, although such a major item in many Asian diets, the
literature on fermented aquatic products is relatively scant and
fragmentary, and limited mostly to disparate chemical analyses of
fish sauces, the commercially most important fermented aquatic
product throughout the region. Unlike the earlier studies, which
basically examined total amino acid content, the research reported
on here examined each amino acid individually. Further, we
analyzed samples of shrimp sauces, shrimp pastes, fish pastes,
solid fermented products and narezushi (fish/shrimp fermented
together with rice or another vegetable product), in addition to
the commonly analyzed fish sauce.
Two hundred and seventy three field samples were obtained,
47 typical ones of which were analyzed chemically (see Appendix).
Four types of analysis were performed : general, quantitative
analysis of amino acids, analysis of organic acids and analysis of
micro-organic contents. These analyses demonstrated that the
common culinary function of all the sampled materials is to provide
both a salty taste and umami ("good taste").
If a comparison is made between fish and soy sauces in these
terms, fish sauce contains 26% salt and has a stronger salty taste
than does soy sauce, with 17% salt; the total quantity of amino
acids in both sauces is about 5% (of these glutamic acid, that
most involved with umami, averages about 0.8% in both) ; and
the average acidity of soy sauce is about pH 4.8 whereas that of
fish sauce is about pH 6.0. Thus in fish sauce organic acids exist
mainly in the form of salt, so that whereas soy sauce functions as
a sour-tasting condiment fish sauce does not. Unlike fish sauce,
soy sauce has sugary and alcoholic tastes.
When shrimp paste, one of the most important condiments in
Southeast Asia, is compared with miso (fermented soy bean paste)
the latter is found to contain 11% salt whereas shrimp paste has
an average of 20%; the total quantity of amino acid in shrimp
paste is 12%, twice that of miso; and glumatic acid totals 1.6%
in shrimp paste, again twice that of miso. As with fish sauce,
shrimp paste lacks sour- and sweet-tasting condiment functions.
Laboratory analyses demonstrated that the chemical composition
of the final fermented aquatic product was not dependent
on that of the raw material. Regardless of the local species used,
in all cases the function of the product was to provide a salty and
umami condiment. This function differs from that of fermented
condiments from vegetable crops in Northeast Asia, which are
locally diverse according to differences of ingredient, processing
techniques and the physical environment (especially climate).
The simplicity of the processing techniques and uniformity of the
final fermented aquatic products is undoubtedly one explanation
for their wide geographical diffusion throughout East and South-
east Asia. Further, in present day Southeast Asia domestic and
interenational trading in these products is commonplace and
widespread.
The origin and diffusion of fermented aquatic products in
Northeast Asia as well as in the Philippines remains unknown.
In China prior to the Han Dynasty fermented meat and fermented
aquatic products existed. They were fermented with salt, grain
mold (koji) and wine. In later eras soy beans and grains replaced
meat and fish. Such fermented vegetable crop products spread
widely through Northeast Asia and supplanted those based on
aquatic organisms, with the exception of Korea, where shiokara
(chokal) remains an important side dish. But the fermentation of
vegetable crops requires a relatively higher technology than does
that of meats and aquatic products. Thus it did not develop in
Southeast Asia, where the tradition of using fermented aquatic
products as side dishes and condiments persists. Nevertheless,
the common function of these products in both the vegetable crops
and aquatic materials fermentation areas is the provision of umami.
There exists a strong correlation between the consumption of
fermented aquatic products and rice. The culinary relationship
between fermented fish products other than narezushi(gyosho)a nd
vegetables is far stronger that than between fish and meat. Thus
gyosho is added to vegetables and eaten with rice.
The role of gyosho as an animal protein complement to rice
has been exagerated in the literature. Our research demonstrates
that the main source of energy and protein is derived from rice
whereas the principal function of gyosho is as an appetizer, a small
portion of which assists the consumption of a large quantity of
rice. Further, since it is a preserved food, gyosho can be conveniently
served at the table with little additional preparation. Hence,
rather than being a side dish, the principal function of gyosho is
as an appetizing condiment for rice eaters.
This paper represents the sixth contribution to the "Project
on Fermented Fish". Previous contributions in this series have
examined the history of fermented fish products in Northeast
Asia [石毛(ISHIGE) 1986a], narezushi[石毛(ISHIGE) 1986b], the
ecological basis for the supply of marine species for fermentation
[RUDDLE 1986] and freshwater species [RUDDLE 1987], and
the cultural ecology of fermented fish products in Southeast Asia
石毛(ISHIGE)·ラドル(RUDDLE) 1987].
魚酱の化学分析と「うま味」の文化圏 : 魚の発酵製品の研究（6）
KH_012_3_006.pdf
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