shuto (salted, fermented bonito entrails)
dish / dish-shuto
酒盗
Shuto (salted, fermented bonito entrails) is a shiokara made by salting the viscera (stomach and intestines) of bonito, with tuna or other fish sometimes used, and fermenting or aging it for half a year to 1 year or longer. Kochi Prefecture is described as its main production area.
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「酒盗」 (shuto) is a shiokara made by salting the viscera of fresh bonito (stomach, intestines, and organs near their junction) and fermenting or aging them for half a year to 1 year or longer, traditionally for about 10 to 13 months. The production area is described as all of Kochi Prefecture; some makers also use tuna or red sea bream instead of bonito. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries introduces this preparation on its traditional-food page.
A legend about the name 「酒盗」 (shuto) recounts that 「山内豊資」 (Yamauchi Toyosuke), the 12th lord of the Tosa Domain, ate it with sake and found it so good that the sake seemed to disappear as though stolen, or that he wanted to steal sake just to drink it with the dish. Another account traces it to the use of viscera left from making katsuobushi rather than wasting them; its establishment is estimated to go back to the Enpō era (around 1673 to 1681). These accounts are recorded as legend or inference, not as a historically established origin.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Checked the preparation described on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries traditional-food encyclopedia page. / Checked the account of the lord's anecdote and the traditional dating of the dish.
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
How processing and cooking change it (1)
Scope: Shuto (「にっぽん伝統食図鑑」 (Nippon Dentōshoku Zukan), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).
Show data
dish-shuto —is_prepared_from→ "The viscera of fresh bonito (stomach, intestines, and nearby organs) are salted and fermented or aged for half a year to 1 year or longer (traditionally 10–13 months). Some makers are described as also using tuna, red sea bream, or other fish. The production area is described as all of Kochi Prefecture."Culture (1)
Scope: Shuto (「にっぽん伝統食図鑑」 (Nippon Dentōshoku Zukan), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).
Note: The anecdote about the lord is recorded as legend, not as a historically established origin.
Show data
dish-shuto —has_historical_origin_narrative→ "A legend records that when 「山内豊資」 (Yamauchi Toyosuke), the 12th lord of the Tosa Domain, drank sake with shuto, he praised it as so good that the sake disappeared as though stolen, or that it made him want to steal sake. Another account traces it to the use of viscera left from making katsuobushi, and its establishment is estimated around the Enpō era (1673–1681)."