Ibaraki Anko-nabe
Anko-nabe is a popular winter dish enjoyed in Ibaraki Prefecture, where anglerfish, or anko, are common along the coast. This hotpot dish includes various parts of anglerfish boiled in miso- or soy sauce-based dashi broth with vegetables, tofu and other ingredients. Anglerfish are deep-water fish; the edible female is about 1 to 1.5 meters (40-60 in.) long. Because these fish are too soft and slimy to cut up on a chopping board, they are prepared using the traditional tsurushi-giri technique, which involves cutting up the fish while suspended from a hook. In Japan, almost all parts of the anglerfish are eaten, including fins, skin, gills, liver, stomach, ovaries and flesh—referred to as the “seven tools of the anglerfish” in Japanese. The steamed liver is called ankimo and is considered a delicacy that may be eaten alone, or added to the hotpot soup for extra flavor.
