I had bought sardines here before, but had not visited for a while. Today, I saw homemade pickled mackerel and asked for one. The owner asked if it was okay that the skin and bones were not removed, and when I said it wasn't, they quickly took care of it for me. They said it can be quite a hassle to do it yourself. With advancements in ice-making technology, the freshness of the mackerel has improved, making the pickling process lighter. The pickled mackerel here was lightly pickled and tasted very delicious.

I visited the Shinshun Market in April 2016 in New Chitose. It is a very lively market. At Honma Suisan, they had small but fresh live button shrimp at a reasonable price! I also bought some impressive large male horsehair crab that will be in season soon. When I got home and looked at the button shrimp, they were not moving but had vibrant colors. I ate them as they were, without adding anything, and they were sweet and deliciously firm. The horsehair crab, although frozen, had rich and tasty meat. I would like to visit again when the horsehair crab is in season next time. ✿ฺ(๑´ڡ`๑)✿ฺ.

One side of the Nakanoshiki Market is lined with fishmongers. Today, I went there looking for shako (mantis shrimp) and found it. There were three shops selling them, ranging from medium to large sizes. The larger ones, which were female, were priced around 1000 to 1200 yen for 5. Ultimately, we decided to buy a medium-sized pile for 1620 yen, as we needed more for the three of us. I also bought some shelled clams that were already prepared. When I got home and opened the shako, there were 10 of them. Although they weren't big, when I cut open the shells, they were filled with eggs. The meat had a good texture and was delicious, almost entirely made up of eggs. It was a great find. The clams were also good, with enough for each person to have one, and we even had some left for the next day. Every bite had a good texture, truly showing the quality of the fish market.

This is one of the many fishmongers in the Shin Minato Market. I bought a menu item commonly seen in izakayas, "tsubodai." There are various types of fish from the waters near Otaru available at this market, but tsubodai seemed to be a fish from the north. The shopkeeper mentioned, "I opened and dried it overnight yesterday. Oh, are you taking a photo? Is the price tag in the way?" "No, it's fine as it is. Can I just grill this fish normally?" I grilled it on my gas stove at home. Let's try it. The flesh is soft and fluffy with a white color. The fish oil slowly seeps out. With such quality, just a little salt is enough. It tasted delicious, like something you would eat at an izakaya. It seems it was dried perfectly. Fish is so delicious.