This article is part of our series on other kinds of bushi. We recommend reading our article on how katsuobushi is made, how it is shaved, the different parts of katsuobushi and the different kinds of katsuobushi to better understand the terminology used here.
Sanma, just like urume, are fish that are more commonly dried into niboshi rather than smoked into bushi and can be used interchangeably. Compared to most of the other types of bushi listed above that are available all year round, sanmabushi is seasonal and only available for the first few months of the year before selling out. This is because production is limited and it is fairly sought after.
Sanmabushi (さんま節) is made in the same way as katsuobushi, where it is boiled, smoked and dried into arabushi. However, it is not fermented further into karebushi. Interestingly, it is usually sold as whole pieces of fish rather than in filets or shaved packets. This is because they are designed to be boiled or soaked in water to make a niboshi-style dashi, even though technically classified as a bushi.
If one wishes to, sanmabushi can also be shaved into flakes, though its thin shape can make it a slightly precarious process if not careful. If shaving, select larger fish and remove the head and innards first if not already cleaned.
This ingredient has been slowly gaining popularity since a few restaurants that have rated highly on ranking websites have started using them. It yields a similarly rich stock to other niboshi and bushi but has a cleaner taste as sanma is a white fleshed fish so doesn’t have the metallic taste that red fleshed fish has.
