Hamokiri

June to August is hamo season in Japan. Pike Conger! In soups, tempura, in a vinegar marinade or lightly fried there's nothing that quite matches this fish's delicate flavour. 

But hooley dooley, dem bones.

Is it possible to expend more calories pulling them out of your mouth than you get from the fish? Possibly not, but if you need to deal with hamo bones during your meal things can get quite busy.

That's why we worship the hamokiri, and those who wield it. Twenty-four cross-slices every three centimetres of fish length, and those bothersome bones virtually dissolve.