Gyoniku Sausage : Classic Japanese Fish Sausage

Globally, sausage is typically made with pork and beef, but in Japan there is the one whose main ingredient is fish.

Gyoniku Sausage (魚肉ソーセージ)

The Japanese sausage is generally called “Gyoniku Sausage (魚肉ソーセージ)” or literally called fish sausage, which was first created in 1949 and afterward was popularized. By the way, the Japanese term “Gyoniku (魚肉)” means fish meat.

The classic Japanese sausage is made with 50 to 60% ground fish meat (typically walleye pollack), lard, seasonings and spices, and the mixture is packed in a casing and heated.

Sakana Sausage 

Gyoniku Sausage is sometimes called Sakana or Osakana Sausage. “Sakana (さかな, 魚)” means fish in Japanese and the word “O (お)” in “Osakana (おさかな)” is the prefix to make a polite expression. This Nissui’s fish sausage is named “Osakana Sausage (おさかなソーセージ)”, by the way.

The package contains the fish sausage packed in the orange-colored plastic casing. 

You can easily cut open the plastic casing by tearing the notch.

The sausage looks like a Vienna sausage, but its main ingredient is fish.

Ingredients 

In fact, as you can see from the ingredient list, the Nissui’s Osakana sausage is made with fish meat, wheat protein paste, starch, soybean protein powder, vegetable fat and oil, sugar, salt, brewed vinegar, onion extract, spices, bonito extract, yeast extract, amino acid, bone calcium, and colors (Cape jasmine, tomato lycopene).

Taste

Gyoniku Sausage isn’t fishy at all and really easy to eat. If you didn’t know what it is, you might think the sausage is made from pork. But the texture of the fish sausage is soft and smooth compared to that of pork sausages.

Where to Buy Gyoniku Sausage

Gyoniku Sausage is one of the most beloved sausages in Japan, so the fish sausage is available in many supermarkets and convenience stores. Besides, despite its deliciousness, Gyoniku Sausage is inexpensive compared to pork sausages.

(Reference Page : Wikipedia 魚肉ソーセージ )