Japanese Monkfish Anko Liver Ankou Nabe and Ibaraki Winter Delicacy

Ibaraki prefecture (Oarai, Nakaminato fishing ports) — Pacific deep-water anglerfish; October–March winter season

Ankou (鮟鱇, monkfish/anglerfish) is Japan's quintessential winter deep-water fish — celebrated primarily in Ibaraki prefecture's Oarai and Nakaminato fishing ports where ankou nabe (monkfish hot pot) is considered one of Japan's great winter dining experiences. The fish's extraordinary liver (ankou no kimo), often called the 'sea foie gras,' is the most prized component — weighing several kilograms and representing the fish's stored energy reserves. Ankou preparation uses the entirety of the fish in an approach called 'ankou no nanamono' (seven-things of ankou): the skin, liver, ovaries (tomo), fins (hire), stomach (mizu-bukuro), gills (era), and flesh are all separated and used. This waste-free utilisation is demonstrative of traditional Japanese ingredient philosophy at its most complete. The distinctive preparation method 'tsurushi-giri' (hanging cut) involves suspending the entire monkfish from a hook and filleting it hanging — the fish's skin is too delicate and its body too gelatinous to be cut efficiently on a board. Ankou nabe broth is prepared from the liver mashed with miso, sake, and dashi — the liver's fat emulsifies into the broth creating extraordinary richness. The gelatinous collagen in ankou skin creates a particularly unctuous broth quality valued for its jiggly, lip-coating texture.

Rich, unctuous, gelatinous; liver creates deeply fatty-umami broth; skin gelatin makes the broth lip-coating; oceanic sweetness from flesh; miso-sake base adds fermented depth