Katsuobushi

[Geoffrey Trousselot]

I'm just checking a miso recipe book aimed at American readers.

Late in the translation stage, I realized that katsuobushi is mostly made from skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), which is the Thunnini tribe of Scombrinae subfamily of the Scombridae Family. I always thought that katsuo was called bonito. But bonito refers to the Sardini tribe of the Scombrinae subfamily.

In the Wikipedia entry on katsuobushi, it says it is "sometimes" known as Bonito flakes.The article then says "but not all countries allow marketing of bonito as skipjack tuna," which either is a strange thing to say, or the writer meant to write ". . . marketing of skipjack tuna as bonito".

So considering that the purpose of a recipe book is to facilitate the reader to find and buy the ingredients and make the food, my question is the following: Is "bonito flakes" an appropriate translation for katsuobushi when talking to the American consumer about the making of dashi?

At the moment, due to a last minute decision to create a glossary of Japanese food terms, there is an entry for katsuobushi in the glossary but there is no mention of katsuobushi when describing the making of dashi. So I need to suggest some improvements, but am not sure of keeping the "bonito flakes" term as the predominant name, or just writing it as a side note that "katsuobushi" is sometimes known as "bonito flakes". It sort of depends on the prevalence of the naming "bonito flakes" in food stores in the States.

Geoffrey Trousselot 

[Fred Uleman]

So not knowing how Americans will identify these flakes, we go to the U.S. Amazon (.com), click that we are looking for something in the Grocery and Gourmet Foods category, and then enter "flakes" in the search box. And Amazon suggests bonito flakes but not, for example, skipjack flakes. Which suggests that bonito flakes is understood in American.

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Fred Uleman

[Herman]

Katsuo (Katsuwonus pelamis) is in fact typically called bonito, and
"bonito flakes" is the most common translation for "katsuobushi" used in
cookery books and food packaging. I would skip the skipjack stuff and
stick with bonito.

Herman Kahn

[Masako Sato]

As Uleman-san already said, US Amazon calls them Bonito. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_6?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=katsuobushi&sprefix=katsuo%2Caps%2C416

I am a bit curious: how the katsuobushi is used in the particular recipe? Not all Katsuobushi is sold as flakes. The real thing is solid.


Masako Sato

[Toshihiro Nagasaka]

In a 377-page Japanese food recipe book "japanese farm food" by Nancy Hachisu (ナンシー八須)
intended for the English-language readers, katsuobushi is introduced as follows.

P.37
A whole piece of katsuobushi looks like a dried-up old bone. But waft it under your nose and you'll
hints of the ocean and smoke. Katsuobushi is dried, smoked skipjack tuna (usually called bonito),
which, along with konbu (dried kelp), is the essential element in making dashi, the ubiquitous
stock that is the backbone of Japanese cooking.

Katsuobushi is pleasantly chalky to the touch. You grasp the dried bonito and scrape it over a
razor-sharp planning blade in one quick motion. The blade is set into a katsuobushi kezuriki, the
traditional wooden holding box, and the angle of the blade is adjusted precisely. It looks easy,
but I have never quite mastered this trick. My husband shaves off beautifully curled large flakes -
-- mine are gritty crumbles, but they still taste good.

Most Japanese have given up shaving their katsuobushi by hand, so many grades of shaved katsuobushi
are readily available, ranging from thick shavings good for making stock to chapo small packets
that even my cat won't eat. Sadly, the small packets are quite popular, chosen more for convenience
than flavor. In our house, we use the thick leatherlike strips (arai-kezuri) for stock and the
airy fine shavings (hanakatsuo) for topping vegetables when we are feeling too lazy to shave our
own (and sometimes for stock).

-------

She was also recently introduced on a Japanese nation-wide network of TV.

geoff.trousselot> So considering that the purpose of a recipe book is to facilitate the
geoff.trousselot> reader to find and buy the ingredients and make the food, my question is
geoff.trousselot> the following: Is "bonito flakes" an appropriate translation for
geoff.trousselot> katsuobushi when talking to the American consumer about the making of dashi?
geoff.trousselot>
geoff.trousselot> At the moment, due to a last minute decision to create a glossary of
geoff.trousselot> Japanese food terms, there is an entry for katsuobushi in the glossary but
geoff.trousselot> there is no mention of katsuobushi when describing the making of dashi. So
geoff.trousselot> I need to suggest some improvements, but am not sure of keeping the "bonito
geoff.trousselot> flakes" term as the predominant name, or just writing it as a side note
geoff.trousselot> that "katsuobushi" is sometimes known as "bonito flakes". It sort of
geoff.trousselot> depends on the prevalence of the naming "bonito flakes" in food stores in
geoff.trousselot> the States.
geoff.trousselot>
geoff.trousselot> Geoffrey Trousselot


---
Toshihiro Nagasaka
長坂俊宏

[Hào Anh Lê 黎英豪]

Bonito seems to be the preferred food term, while "skipjack tuna" may be preferable for more precise contexts, such as science, etc. Etymology Spanish, from Arabic بَيْنِيت ‎(baynīt). Noun bonito ‎(plural bonito or bonitos or bonitoes) Any of various marine fish of the genus Sarda, that are related to and resemble the tuna. A large tropical fish, the skipjack tuna, allied to the tunny, Katsuwonus pelamis. bonito - Wiktionary Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in… en.wiktionary.org Hào Anh Lê

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[Masako Sato]

​Katsuobushi is dried, smoked skipjack tuna (usually called bonito),

Hmm... 鰹節って､カビを利用した発酵食品のはずですが､smoked とおっしゃるのは問題があるのではないでしょうか｡確か新書で "発酵食品礼賛"というのがあったはず｡

Masako Sato
​

[Geoffrey Trousselot]

Thank you for the feedback.

It was good I asked, it helped me realize I was using both bonito shavings and bonito flakes in the translation.

I changed "dried bonito shavings" to simply "bonito flakes"

Only the bonito flakes were used in the ingredients. 

The glossary entry for katsuobushi remains with an explanation of the etymology of its name i.e. "katsuo boats" The glossary just describes it as processed food without going into detail of the drying and fermentation process.

I kept skipjack tuna as the common name for the fish. I think bonito should be regarded as inaccurate. It reminds me of the use of the word "cod." I am sure there are many fish sharing that name. However, as that is the name currently on the English labels, bonito flakes it is. Skipjack tuna is common in Hawaii too, under the name of aku (no mention of bonito). http://www.hawaii-seafood.org/wild-hawaii-fish/skipback-tuna-aku/

Geoffrey Trousselot

[Herman]

On 15/08/16 00:55, Geoffrey Trousselot wrote:
> The glossary entry for katsuobushi remains with an explanation of the
> etymology of its name i.e. "katsuo boats" The glossary just describes it
> as processed food without going into detail of the drying and
> fermentation process.

Boats?

節 is defined, inter alia, as 魚の身を縦に四分したものの一つ (広辞苑).

Herman Kahn

[Geoffrey Trousselot]

Boats?

節 is defined, inter alia, as 魚の身を縦に四分したものの一つ (広辞苑).

Herman Kahn

Just picked up a misunderstanding. Thank you. I initially thought fushi meant shavings. And when it was pointed out to me that it wasn't the shavings that were boat-shaped, it was the slabs, I again misunderstood that the boat shape description had nothing to do with fushi.

Geoffrey Trousselot 

[Christopher Carr]

How about just calling it "katsuobushi"?

Chances are English speakers would recognize that just as well as "bonito flakes". We don't refer to sushi as "vinegar rice", after all.

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[Dr. M. S. Niranjan]

On 2016/08/15 19:06, Christopher Carr wrote:

How about just calling it "katsuobushi"?

Chances are English speakers would recognize that just as well as "bonito flakes". We don't refer to sushi as "vinegar rice", after all.

I totally endorse this thinking. Why hide the actual fact and go about calling it by something remotely similar but familiar to the reader? Instead, keep the name as it is, bringing it into the vocabulary of the reader, and described it in clear and accurate detail once at least in a footnote or the like. Two things that are remotely similar can taste awfully different.
JMH&EO.

Dr. M. S. Niranjan

[Geoffrey Trousselot]

Yes, I'm easily persuaded. The formatting might be harder, but the other two dashi are 

Niboshi dashi and Kombu dashi. Bonito dashi was conveniently the same size and fitted aesthetically into a colored circle, but surrounded by Japanese names, I feel changing it is probably best.

Geoffrey Trousselot

 

[Herman]

In this case, "Katsuo dashi" would be appropriate.

Herman Kahn

[Geoffrey Trousselot]

In this case, "Katsuo dashi" would be appropriate.

Herman Kahn

Eureka. 

Geoffrey Trousselot