Karasumi is a Japanese specialty considered to be one of the three great delicacies of Japan (日本の三大珍味). Similarly to the more familiar bottarga, it is made from grey mullet roe, but rather than simply curing the roe with salt and drying it in the sun as bottarga is made, the karasumi process is long and very hands on, with a sweeter, more complex, less salty and bitter result. First the roe is carefully pricked with a pin to remove any blood present. It is then salted for a week with any liquid poured off, following which the roe is soaked in sake. After a few more days the roe is moved to slowly dry in a cool place for about a month, during which it gets rotated and sprayed with Japanese shochu every day. We make karasumi each winter from mullet roe sent to us directly from a small fishing operation in Florida. They are very lovely fisherfolk and even cut the fish in a custom way we’ve requested, which helps keep the integrity of the roe sacs. All in all, a piece of karasumi you have at Foxface Natural was lovingly handled about 40 times!