Fish & Shellfish

In my little neighborhood in Tokyo, there were two major places to buy fish: the big supermarket, which boasted a huge assortment of beautiful fish and shellfish packaged neatly in cellophane, and the local sakana-ya, or fish shop, in this case a small storefront run by a fishmonger and his wife and with opening hours that I could never quite figure out. The sakana-ya carried a smaller selection of perfect fish, shellfish, and other items from the sea, presented in their natural state—shiny scales, bright eyes, fins and tails intact. I always headed to the fish shop in hopes that it would be open. The fishmonger would walk me through what was good that day, and tell me how to prepare it. He introduced me to things from the sea that I had never seen or heard of, let alone eaten before, and gave me tastes of the sashimi (the freshest raw fish) so that I could learn what I liked—and what I didn’t. Sometimes I didn’t like a particular flavor or texture, but for the most part, the unusual items were both revelatory and wonderful.