【Reading】ぼんざる

【English Name】Bon-zaru (Flat Bamboo Strainer)

A bonzaru is a cooking colander shaped flat and shallow like a tray (bon). The technique of assembling thinly shaved bamboo boards has a long history.

In sushi-making, it shows its strength in scenes such as draining excess moisture collected in seafood, or spreading freshly cooked vinegared rice thinly to drive off heat. Because the bottom surface is broad, it is easy to arrange ingredients evenly, making it convenient also for the preparation of dried fish and the temporary storage of materials.

Colanders come in a rich variety of shapes, including the deep-bottomed round colander (maru-zaru), the kikko (tortoiseshell)-patterned kame-zaru, the rectangular kaku-zaru, and the handled e-zaru. Among these, the bonzaru is distinctive for having a flat bottom that can take in a wide area.

Today, many stainless-steel and resin products are also in circulation, but at sushi shops and Japanese-cuisine kitchens, the ventilation and character unique to bamboo are highly valued, and chefs who never let go of a bamboo bonzaru are not uncommon.

Note that the name "zaru" derives from an Edo-period dialect; in the Kinai region it was called "ikaki" and in the western provinces "souke," but the Edo term took hold as the standard language and spread nationwide.