From Kyushu's Waters to Your Table
You don't need a culinary degree or a specialty pantry to cook fish the Nagasaki way. These traditional Japanese techniques are built around letting great fish speak for itself—and the results will completely change how you think about seafood at home. Here are five approachable recipes and the science behind why they work so well.
In the years following the pandemic, something unexpected happened in high-end seafood markets across US coastal cities: diners started asking harder questions about where their fish actually came from. The answer, in more cases than you might expect, traced back to a single prefecture on Japan's southwestern coast. This is the story of how Nagasaki's fishing renaissance reached American restaurant tables.
Long before calamari became a bar-menu staple across the US, Nagasaki fishermen were pulling squid from cold, mineral-rich currents using methods refined over centuries. Now American chefs are paying serious attention—and serious money—for the real thing. Here's why Nagasaki squid is in a category all its own.