Katsuo no tataki

Rice straw burns fast and very hot: it marks the fish’s surface without cooking the flesh and leaves a smoke flavour charcoal cannot give. The fillet is then cut thick, rubbed with salt or dressed with yuzu ponzu, and served with slices of raw garlic, ginger and spring onion. Local legend credits the technique to a Tosa lord’s decree banning raw bonito on health grounds, which fishermen sidestepped by passing it briefly through fire.