Soy sauce marinated ikuras are also available and growing in popularity.
Salted salmon eggs have a long history in Japan. The book 'Enkishiki' printed in 927 describes how ikura and sujiko were appreciated and regarded as valuable products.
Grading: As the salmon prepares to spawn, the female's eggs mature in the ovary, becoming larger and stronger as the salmon migrates from the ocean to the estuary and finally up river to the spawning grounds. For Ikura production, the eggs are carefully selected from salmon captured just before entering the river system, when the eggs are fully formed, but are neither too soft nor too hard. High grade salted ikura has a bright, red-orange color. All eggs should be whole, not broken or squashed, and easily separated from one another.
Ikura
Product name: Salmon Caviar or Ikura
Ikura is a Russian word (Nkpa) ) which means 'fish roe' in general, and is widely used in international commerce, especially referring to salmon caviar.
Definition:
Salmon caviar is the salt cured individual eggs of salmon. Most wild Alaska salmon caviar comes from Pink and Chum salmon. The basic manufacturing method for salmon caviar is:
Parent salmon are captured
Eggs are removed from females
Eggs are washed in 3% salt solution
Eggs are separated from ovary sac, and
cleaned of all skins and veins
Soy Ikura
Salted Ikura
Marinate in soy sauce for one half to
one day
Eggs are agitated and cured in a salt
brine solution
