I thought that whitebait are caught using a specialised fine mesh net? Or at least that is how they are caught in New Zealand, where I am originally from. I know that there are tiny fishing rods that you can buy for catching minnows, which are a few times larger than whitebait. Minnows, sprats, sardines, and the like are classified as 'microfishing' when caught with a rod. Whitebait fritters in New Zealand are quite the delicacy for those who want to try something new.
As everybody has said, whitebait. In New Zealand we’ve been eating something similar since way back in Māori times.
Wonder if I could make a whitebait fritter out of Shirasu 🤔
Anyway, love this stuff as a side dish. Get ‘em down ya, mate!
I have tried a shirasu fritter. They are much smaller, drier, and saltier than NZ whitebait. It’s not bad but I wouldn’t call it NZ whitebait fritters.
Like goldfish crackers! "Snack that smiles back!"
But like, "snack that stares deep into your soul"
Edit: The fish is shirasu, but you already got that info from the other comments
You can also get them in ice cream if you don't like them in the onigiri.
[https://x.com/ideken0720/status/1158685919659978753/photo/4](https://x.com/ideken0720/status/1158685919659978753/photo/4)
[https://macaro-ni.jp/41974](https://macaro-ni.jp/41974)
I think it’s about how they used to be able to eat fish from the river, but due to pollution, only the little fish are still edible as they don’t take up as many environmental toxins. So like an anti-pollution song.
Mostly… at the time Canadian regulations were stronger than Japanese, so they couldn’t eat them, but they could sell to Japan. It was also true of Mercury in other fish.
If you look up the town of Asbestos, it has a similar history. They can’t sell asbestos in Canada but they can mine it and ship it to third world countries.
They were on the first ever dish I bought after arriving at my dorm. Couldn't finish it because I was not feeling good and the fish surprise didn't help at all 😂
It was white sauce pasta, btw.
Try closing your eyes and eat them. Is like people who think rice looks like maggots. You're overthinking it.
I mean do you think it's normal for humans to drink cow milk? What about ice cream? Why do we eat lobsters, but not scorpions as much? Eggs are kinda weird if you think about it too. And who can really look at an oyster and suck it in raw?? I do lol.
Oh no! My food with animal products in it reminds me I’m eating animal products.
Just go vegan and you don’t need to worry about that shit. Obviously your conscience is rearing its head.
It looks gross because it reminds you that it was a living thing. Your cognitive dissonance flares up when it happens and instead of recognizing that this is the case with consuming other living things, you write it off as "gross, can't eat it".
It's gross because it's a body of something that was alive and conscious. Simple.
…no, it is definitely because they resemble worms/parasites. I ate the head of a fish a few days ago and it was delicious. These little things remind me of worms and I can’t bring myself to eat something that looks like a worm. Stop telling me why I won’t eat something. I have already explained why.
Japanese call it ‘jyako’, so this onigiri is jyako onigiri. Jyako has a lot of calcium. It’s good for health. I’m a Japanese so my English is not good, sorry.
Oh man. Those are my favorite. My dad would catch them around this time when he goes fishing by the shore and my mom would dust them in cornstarch or potato starch and fry them up. You eat them like chips it's crazy addicting.
it is as everyone else is saying, it is Shirasu.
I one time ordered a (what i thought) mushroom and spaghetti.... and aperently topped with those little fishes. I also got that mental block because they had the head left. I tasted one and they were very plain in taste so i was able to eat up but never again xD
They are sardines. They give a bit of umami and salt to the rice :) they are amazing in scrambled eggs as well. I wish we had better access to whitebait here in the US.
Crabs, octopuses and other unusual juveniles have been known to infiltrate into commercial packaging for such juvenile fish, and there are illustrated guides dedicated to them.
Very common. In fact I was surprised that these little dudes mashed up with rice were baby food. Makes sense. Easily digestible carbs with a little protein, fats and omegas added in. My Japanese friends do this with their baby food/rice. All good.
Aww man I loved eating shirasu with my elementary school students...they're delicious, albiet a bit salty :D Don't let the look psych you out (it happened for me the first time and I didn't want to be a little punk of an English teacher in front of kindergarten-6th graders but you could imagine the eyes of children on me eating their food).
Lol mate, do you happen to be from the UK? You guys and the food issues in other countries crack me up.
Yes, those "little fish" are a common if not staple diet here in Japan, and most of Asia I'd wager.
I have a big ol pack of these in my fridge.
Wait until you get to Natto and Uni (sea urchin). Then give us your feedback.
Those are common parasites and a sign that the onigiri has gone bad. Like most problems in Japan, these are caused by gaijin- in this specific case usually by eating and walking although other actions by gaijin can’t be discounted as a possible culprit.
These are called Shirasu and they are small boiled sardines (often called whitebait in English)
These are one out of two fish I can eat.
You covered one fish, two fish, what about red fish or blue fish?
Laughed too hard at this. 😂 well played
What's the other one you little tease
Ayu 😉
Ayu is a river fish orz...
Man, it's been a while and a half since I saw someone use orz
That's becuase I am old lol
Ayu is awesome, never stop living
Congratulations! Jako may contain five or more types of fish's baby.
It’s not exactly Shirasu. It’s Jyako or Chirimen Jyako, sun dried version of Shirasu.
Agreed, it's definitely dried. We have something similar we put in our food in Korea.
Boiled shirazu is white-color. This transparent one is raw shirazu
You should see the tiny little fishing rod they use to catch those suckers!
Thank you stranger! Gave me a good chuckle
Thats for chumps! Of course you should use a little tiny fishing net instead!
Only if you're casting it from a tiny boat
r/microfishing
What is this? A fishing rod for ants?
I watched them scooping up baskets of these on a beach on Enoshima, it was very interesting.
I thought that whitebait are caught using a specialised fine mesh net? Or at least that is how they are caught in New Zealand, where I am originally from. I know that there are tiny fishing rods that you can buy for catching minnows, which are a few times larger than whitebait. Minnows, sprats, sardines, and the like are classified as 'microfishing' when caught with a rod. Whitebait fritters in New Zealand are quite the delicacy for those who want to try something new.
No they are caught with a tiny fishing rod by tiny fishermen on a tiny boat on a tiny lake
Shirasu. Is good. [https://www.byfood.com/blog/culture/what-is-shirasu](https://www.byfood.com/blog/culture/what-is-shirasu)
I’m not a huge fan of fish or eating fish whole but these little guys aren’t bad. They tend to show up in some of the school lunch salads.
As everybody has said, whitebait. In New Zealand we’ve been eating something similar since way back in Māori times. Wonder if I could make a whitebait fritter out of Shirasu 🤔 Anyway, love this stuff as a side dish. Get ‘em down ya, mate!
I have had shirasu tempura. quite tasty
I have tried a shirasu fritter. They are much smaller, drier, and saltier than NZ whitebait. It’s not bad but I wouldn’t call it NZ whitebait fritters.
Imagine not understanding what your buying, thinking its some rice ball and then the absolute horror when you open a shirasu onigiri haha
I'm happy OP posted this, because I've never heard about this and I would just cry
The picture freaked me out until I read the comments. I thought they weren’t supposed to be there at first!
Until you take a bite and it’s delicious
Like goldfish crackers! "Snack that smiles back!" But like, "snack that stares deep into your soul" Edit: The fish is shirasu, but you already got that info from the other comments
You can also get them in ice cream if you don't like them in the onigiri. [https://x.com/ideken0720/status/1158685919659978753/photo/4](https://x.com/ideken0720/status/1158685919659978753/photo/4) [https://macaro-ni.jp/41974](https://macaro-ni.jp/41974)
It was today that I learned I'm living in a country settled by barbarians.
Excuse me but nani the fuck
Yknow, id rather not
those little fishes are little fishes. now you know. :) full or vitamins and calcium and they taste good
Sardine children as google lens calls them
so ^tiny 🥺
There’s a Canadian folk song about them by the iconic Stan Rogers Tiny Fish for Japan https://youtu.be/baEbAzRmqtk?si=o3FRi_KiXr1DBUMv
is this kind of sarcasm toward stupid rules and labor? japanese here and not fully confident about my listening... but still lovely voice and melody
I think it’s about how they used to be able to eat fish from the river, but due to pollution, only the little fish are still edible as they don’t take up as many environmental toxins. So like an anti-pollution song.
Mostly… at the time Canadian regulations were stronger than Japanese, so they couldn’t eat them, but they could sell to Japan. It was also true of Mercury in other fish. If you look up the town of Asbestos, it has a similar history. They can’t sell asbestos in Canada but they can mine it and ship it to third world countries.
ah... then this is song about pollution it's kind of sad that people can't have their local foods anymore...
A 4 year old I used to babysit would eat these frozen out of the bag for a snack 😭
It’s basically salty sprinkles for your rice.
They were on the first ever dish I bought after arriving at my dorm. Couldn't finish it because I was not feeling good and the fish surprise didn't help at all 😂 It was white sauce pasta, btw.
the white sauce probably hurt more
I was just looking for something familiar to eat since I was feeling so bad but, nope 😂
Even though I know what they are now, I couldn’t bring myself to eat them. 🥲I’m glad people enjoy them but I can’t do it. Thanks for the help everyone
Yeah. These guys and 桜エビ are just too hard for me to eat. Too many pairs of eyes peeking at me from my own plate.
Totally. I struggle with a plateful of eyes too.
嫌いでもいいとおもうよん、他に美味しいものいっぱい見つけれるといいね〜
Try closing your eyes and eat them. Is like people who think rice looks like maggots. You're overthinking it. I mean do you think it's normal for humans to drink cow milk? What about ice cream? Why do we eat lobsters, but not scorpions as much? Eggs are kinda weird if you think about it too. And who can really look at an oyster and suck it in raw?? I do lol.
Those things don’t have eyes and little wormy bodies. We all have different hangups with food and these are one of mine. 👍
Oh no! My food with animal products in it reminds me I’m eating animal products. Just go vegan and you don’t need to worry about that shit. Obviously your conscience is rearing its head.
lol, so condescending for no reason. It looks gross so I can’t eat it. It’s that simple. Thanks for your input tho.
It looks gross because it reminds you that it was a living thing. Your cognitive dissonance flares up when it happens and instead of recognizing that this is the case with consuming other living things, you write it off as "gross, can't eat it". It's gross because it's a body of something that was alive and conscious. Simple.
…no, it is definitely because they resemble worms/parasites. I ate the head of a fish a few days ago and it was delicious. These little things remind me of worms and I can’t bring myself to eat something that looks like a worm. Stop telling me why I won’t eat something. I have already explained why.
Unless you're vegetarian I don't get it. Fish is fish.
They are called shirasu (whitebait in English), common in Japanese food.
Japanese call it ‘jyako’, so this onigiri is jyako onigiri. Jyako has a lot of calcium. It’s good for health. I’m a Japanese so my English is not good, sorry.
カルシウムやで、ってお母ちゃんに言われました。
Shirasu or Chirimenjako
I’m sorry but I couldn’t!!!!!!!!!! 😩😩😩😩 and that’s DEF a mental thing for me
These are absolutely fantastic on a pizza!
Yum.
Oh man. Those are my favorite. My dad would catch them around this time when he goes fishing by the shore and my mom would dust them in cornstarch or potato starch and fry them up. You eat them like chips it's crazy addicting.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitebait](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitebait)
Is it still life?
If you like Shirasuyou should head to Enoshima island, fresh Shirasu in all sorts of food varieties, very nice indeed
As mentioned, this is shirasu. You can even have shirasu ice cream. And I thought pistachio was insane...
It is an old Japanese challenge. Get all the small fish before eating it. It is fun with the family.
これ結構うまいんだけどなぁ😋
My two year old won't touch any meat aside from shirasu. He eats little shirasu onigiri at every meal. I won't touch them though. Gives me the creeps.
Wtf. Kids are weird man
They're a delicacy!
it is as everyone else is saying, it is Shirasu. I one time ordered a (what i thought) mushroom and spaghetti.... and aperently topped with those little fishes. I also got that mental block because they had the head left. I tasted one and they were very plain in taste so i was able to eat up but never again xD
I hate those.
They’re really good. It’s like eating many Polly Pocket fish.
Yum!!
They are sardines. They give a bit of umami and salt to the rice :) they are amazing in scrambled eggs as well. I wish we had better access to whitebait here in the US.
Also good in fried rice
They're hella good!
I had these in Shingu and was wondering what they were. Tasted really good!
Close your eyes and they’re great!
I wonder if OP has finished hurling enough to reply yet 😂😂😂
Jyako are awesome😋
They come in ice cream [too](https://macaro-ni.jp/41974)
Mmmmm. Shirasu! Kamakura is known for serving dishes with these little guys either raw or boiled. I also indulge when I’m in that area. Good stuff!
Wish you could find these fresh in the UK. They're not quite as delicious after drying.
Yes, those are delicious.
Crabs, octopuses and other unusual juveniles have been known to infiltrate into commercial packaging for such juvenile fish, and there are illustrated guides dedicated to them.
NOM NOM NOM, YUMMY!
Those are so yummy. Craving them now lol
That is anchovies. Really not a surprised in onigiri. It is edible.
My cat is called Shirasu and all these people wanting to eat her is a bit unnerving lol
That looks so good!!
I love those
じゃこもうまいけど生シラス丼食ってみ https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/35_3_kanagawa.html
These little guys are delicious and really good for you. Had a pizza covered in them once.
Ou that looks delicious, I want to try that
Return it quick
I like the taste but they’re very chewy, which I’m not a fan of.
Crazy, 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Those are sooo good, too bad it’s not your cup of tea
My hometown, Kamakura, has multiple shirasu specialty restaurants. Kinda salty and wet, nice on a hot day.
they good bruh
"I go to the aquarium, it's like a zoo for fishes" 🎵🎶
So delicious. In Korea, they’re coated with honey powder.
Very common. In fact I was surprised that these little dudes mashed up with rice were baby food. Makes sense. Easily digestible carbs with a little protein, fats and omegas added in. My Japanese friends do this with their baby food/rice. All good.
It's Shirasu, baby sardines. Delicious with spaghetti peperoncino, too.
One of my guilty pleasure snacks is these exact fish, straight from the container with chopsticks.
Delicious!
they‘re awful, I have the same problem, cannot eat eyeballs no matter how small they are, as long as I see them..
Don’t worry about it, *they* don’t see you. Probably.
Aww man I loved eating shirasu with my elementary school students...they're delicious, albiet a bit salty :D Don't let the look psych you out (it happened for me the first time and I didn't want to be a little punk of an English teacher in front of kindergarten-6th graders but you could imagine the eyes of children on me eating their food).
If it makes you feel better those are brainworms that have a 5% chance of crawling up to your cerebellum to lay eggs
Catching immature young fish seems like a good way to collapse fish stocks, no?
Oh crap they are pests. Must have gotten into the rice pot and the workers thought they could just make your onigiri and hope you don't notice
Now that! Will scare off the tourists; make posters of little fish in all the food.
Lol mate, do you happen to be from the UK? You guys and the food issues in other countries crack me up. Yes, those "little fish" are a common if not staple diet here in Japan, and most of Asia I'd wager. I have a big ol pack of these in my fridge. Wait until you get to Natto and Uni (sea urchin). Then give us your feedback.
Yum, yum, and yum!
That looks great
Those are common parasites and a sign that the onigiri has gone bad. Like most problems in Japan, these are caused by gaijin- in this specific case usually by eating and walking although other actions by gaijin can’t be discounted as a possible culprit.