A day for "Niboshi", dried sardines in Japan

Sardines are one of Japan’s most important and widely consumed fish, both culturally and economically. Sardines are a staple in everyday Japanese cooking — fresh, grilled, simmered, canned, or dried as niboshi for dashi. The latter, niboshi, is so popular that there is even a Niboshi Day 煮干の日 in Japan, on February 14th annually.

The reason the anniversary is on February 14th is due to Japan's beloved "goroawase", a play on pronunciation of numbers. The 2 (of 2/14, February 14th) can be read as ni, the 1 as bo and the 4 as shi; combined they make "niboshi".  The National Niboshi Association created the anniversary in 1994, but it wasn't until 2004 that it gained recognition, when a mention on a radio station shot the anniversary day to fame! 

I didn't have a photo of dried sardines, so the photo in this post is of "mezashi", another popular way to enjoy sardines. Sardines are also eaten in my home country, usually tinned sardines though. I was quite surprised how common sardines are in Japan. They are even more popular in recent years as they are a good, economic alternative to saury which has become very expensive in the last decade.