In early winter, the thunder that people here call buriokoshi, the yellowtail-waker, starts sounding over the sea. When it does, the serious fixed-net fishing for yellowtail begins in the Uchiura district of Noto.

What goes into buri daikon is not the good part of that fish. It is the kama and the offcuts, briefly blanched, dropped into iced water, and washed while the remaining scales are rubbed off.

Then daikon, cut thick, and a piece of kombu for stock. Sake, ginger, and sugar to season. A drop lid, and time. The instruction given in the recipe is specific about what is supposed to happen: the flavor of the yellowtail is to be transferred into the daikon, and that transfer is the whole measure of whether the dish has worked.

Which means the fish is not really the subject. It is the delivery mechanism. By the time the pot is done the daikon has gone translucent and heavy and slightly oily, and that is what people are reaching for. The season runs November through February, and the same fish also goes into kaburazushi, packed inside turnip, and into fermented makiburi. One animal, filed away in several different directions, across a single winter. Nothing much is thrown out.