【Reading】いたずり

【English Name】Itazuri (board rolling)

Itazuri is a vegetable preparation technique widely used in Japanese cuisine. It refers to the operation of coating an ingredient with salt and rolling it back and forth on a cutting board, pressing it down with the palm of the hand.

The main targets are green vegetables such as cucumber, okra, butterbur, and green beans. In the world of sushi, it is familiar as the preparation method for the cucumber used in kappa rolls and thin rolls.

This technique has several effects.

• It removes the bumps on the surface of cucumbers and the fine fuzz on okra, making them smoother on the palate
• By creating fine scratches on the skin, it makes seasonings and flavors easier to absorb
• The action of the salt adjusts the moisture inside the vegetable, so that when heated, the chlorophyll stabilizes and the green color develops vividly
• Cucurbitacin, the bitter component of cucumbers, is water-soluble, so during the itazuri process it flows out together with the moisture, easing the harsh bitterness
• With butterbur, it makes the skin easier to peel

It should be noted that in recent years, with the advance of selective breeding, cucumbers with fewer bumps and milder bitterness have become mainstream, so itazuri is sometimes said to be unnecessary.