Chikuwa?

[superrad]

Ran across this new food on flickr. Apparently it's some sort of fish tube, and it doesn't appear to be for sale on the internets, and I can't find a recipe. Anyone have any ideas, links?

[gfbentomom]

Yes, it's fish and a few other minor ingredients(may contain wheat for those who need to watch out for gluten) that are pressed to form a tube shape. It needs to be refrigerated so unless you can find an online source that will ship things in cold pack, you will most likely need to scour the asian markets-in the refrigerated or frozen section. One online grocer that I know of sells other types of fishcakes but not chikuwa. To the best of my knowledge, it's not something that can be made at home. My kiddo loves it when I stuff it with string cheese(and we've come across one recently that doesn't contain wheat).

[superrad]

I found a couple gluten-free (and that was a concern of mine) fish ball recipes online that I think might bind enough to work. I'm going to give it a try this weekend. I need to find a stick though.

[gfbentomom]

Do report back and let us know how it goes! Sounds very interesting!

Some of the oden mono that is shaped like chikuwa has a piece of gobo(burdock root) in the middle, I wonder of that could serve as your stick if it was a nice fresh, firm one? Whole Foods here sells burdock root.

[superrad]

Alas the nearest Whole Foods, or Trader Joes or decent Asian market is 300 miles away. I'll have to improvise.

[superrad]

My first attempt was pretty much a miserable failure. It was just too malleable and sticky, but not the good kind of sticky. The "it sticks more to my hands than holds its shape" kind of sticky. But I have another idea that might work for my next attempt. And I get fish ball soup out if it anyway.