Scale the crucian carp, take out the guts, wash it well. Then grill it plain, with nothing on it. The grilling before the simmering is the point of the whole method.

It goes into the pot with soybeans that have been soaked back, and the two cook together for a long time. Bean miso and coarse sugar go in after that, and the low simmer continues until the bones themselves have given up and can be eaten.

The miso is the red bean miso of the Tokai region, made with a higher proportion of soybean than other misos and correspondingly stronger in savor. Heated, it also softens the smell of whatever it is cooking with, which is exactly what river fish requires.

Taking a small fish this far is not about refinement. It is about leaving nothing behind. The dish belongs to Seino, the basin of the three rivers, and is eaten across the border in Owari in Aichi and around Kuwana in Mie. It was made when the river fish were running and held as a store through the cold months, feeding a household through the season when the water was too cold to work. From November to about April you can still find it at the roadside markets and specialty shops of the Seino district, sold by weight in the same form.