Amago is a freshwater fish, a form of the salmon family. About twenty centimeters, sometimes over thirty. Its flank carries oval parr marks with fine vermilion dots scattered across them, and that appearance has earned it the name queen of the mountain streams. Nara has designated it the fish of the prefecture.

The cooking starts dry. The fish is gutted, washed, and grilled plain with no seasoning at all. Then it goes into a pot and is simmered in hojicha, roasted green tea, which is there to hold down the smell that river fish carry.

Only after that does the sweetening begin, and it is done in stages: mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar added in three separate additions, then a long slow simmer until the flavor is all the way in.

It belongs to Yoshino and Uda, deep in the mountains, a long way from any coast. In a place like that a river fish cooked this thoroughly was not everyday food but the treat. Fresh amago barely reaches shops even now, going instead straight to restaurants; what circulates is the preserved version, which means the dish is available all year round and the fish itself mostly is not. Everything about the recipe is aimed at making one small fish last.