Fish balls floating in soup noodles in China and Thailand are delicious.
They are fish paste, or rather, processed fish products.
In Japan, we have chikuwa, kamaboko, and tsumire, but I think only sliced kamaboko floats in noodle soups, right?
I wonder how ramen with sardine tsumire would taste.
Last year, when I was on a business trip to Thailand, I didn't have breakfast included, so I went to a street stall.
It was quite satisfying, but most of them served meat.
I also had to kill time on the weekend, so I ventured a bit further to explore a seemingly popular restaurant near the market.
I ordered randomly and hit the jackpot with a breakfast full of fish balls. There were about 8 different kinds of processed fish products, all with different ingredients and flavors.
I think these would be popular in Japan too, but why aren't they?
Perhaps it's difficult to source processed fish products in the first place. And they're expensive.
My family often buys assorted processed fish products at the market, but the distribution seems to be small.
Perhaps they are only thought of as ingredients for oden.
Originally, fish spoiled easily, and I think these were devised in an era when refrigeration and freezing were not possible.
In today's environment, perhaps we appreciate freshness too much, and these richly flavored items are declining.
(As a result, whether it's meat or fish, there are often cases where dishes are compared within the same genre, based on taste.)
Fish balls that have absorbed the umami of the soup. I love them.