Toasted baby sardines and sesame seeds coated in a sweet honey soy sauce glaze, Tazukuri is a crispy savory snack commonly served as part of Osechi Ryori. They are also great little bites to enjoy with a cold beer!
I feel a bit odd to post recipes for Japanese New Year foods, Osechi Ryori (おせち料理), before Christmas arrives. But if you’d agree it’s better early than late, I know you wouldn’t mind me sharing the osechi ryori recipes right now since these two holidays are so close to each other.
New Year (お正月, oshogatsu) is the most important and biggest holiday in Japan and I hope you enjoy the traditional Japanese new year dishes as we do. The first recipe I’d like to share for 2014 osechi ryori series is Tazukuri.
Watch How to Make Tazukuri (Candied Sardine)
Toasted baby sardine and sesame seeds coated in a sweet honey soy sauce glaze. Typically served as part of Osechi Ryori.
Tazukuri – Well-Meaning & Savory Bites for Osechi Ryori
Tazukuri (田作り) is a very popular dish for Osechi Ryori and it is made of roasted baby sardines coated in a sweet soy sauce glaze. Cooked in low heat over a frying pan with sesame seeds, these baby sardines are then tossed in sake, soy sauce, sugar, and honey until caramelized and crispy. They are sweet, deeply savory, and even meaty, which make them such delicious snack to enjoy along with the other delicacies served during the new year.
Baby sardines play an important role in Japanese cuisine. We eat Tazukuri on New Year’s day as it symbolizes a bountiful harvest. Tazukuri (田作り) literally translates as “making (作り) rice paddy (田)” as sardines were once used as fertilizers for rice fields. Besides Tazukuri, other common uses for baby sardines include making dashi (iriko dashi).
As far as health benefits, sardines are a great source of calcium. Growing up, my mom always made sure I ate some of this dish as it’s great for strong bones. Now it’s my turn to make sure my children eat this dish for strong bones and embrace the traditional Japanese cuisine.
Growing up in Japan, we typically make Osechi Ryori a few days prior to New Years. The reason for this is in the past, most stores were not open for 3 days during New Years. However, similar to Thanksgiving in the U.S., the meaning of the holiday has changed and now stores are open even on New Years Day in Japan.
To keep each meal interesting and appetizing over the three days, Osechi Ryori includes a variety of dishes that can be kept for several days. If you enjoy a nutty, crunchy savory snack, you don’t want to miss out Tazukuri on the menu.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Toasted baby sardines and sesame seeds coated in a sweet honey soy sauce glaze, Tazukuri is a crispy savory snack commonly served as part of Osechi Ryori. They are also great little bites to enjoy with a cold beer!
- 1 cup iriko or niboshi (dried baby sardines/anchovies) (1.4 oz or 40 g)
- 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 2 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp honey
- ⅛ tsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (optional, see Notes)
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Gather all the ingredients. You will also need a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
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Put dried baby sardines in a frying pan (no oil needed) and toast them on medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes or until crispy.
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Add the sesame seeds in the frying pan and toast for 2 minutes. Make sure to shake the pan constantly so the sesame seeds won’t burn. When you can break the sardine in two pieces with your fingers, transfer to the parchment paper.
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In the same frying pan, add sake, soy sauce, and sugar.
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Add honey and oil.
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Bring to a simmer on medium-low heat and reduce the sauce until the sauce gets thicken and you can draw a line on the surface of the pan with a silicone spatula.
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Add the sardines back to the pan and coat with the sauce. Once the sardines are coated with the sauce nicely, transfer back to the parchment paper. Spread the sardines to let cool.
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Once cool, serve at room temperature to enjoy or put them in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.
Oil: A drop of oil is added so that the baby sardine won’t stick to each other when they are cooled; however this is optional.
Optional red chili pepper: Some people add red chili pepper while simmering the sauce.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
LOVE the new site Nami! Happy holidays and HUGS from DC!
I find it amazing how pretty you make sardines look. I am unlikely to make it myself but I love learning more about Japanese culture and cuisine.
I loved these as a kid! I had odd tastes. =D
Really interesting dish! You’re right that sardines with the heads are a pretty tough sell in the US, but they are incredibly nutritious. Super dish – thanks.
Where can I buy baby dried sardines? This recipe sounds great!! I love sardines!!
Hi Kathy! Japanese and Korean grocery stores have these… Maybe Chinese supermarkets too, but it might depend on how much they carry Japaense/Korean stuff. Hope this helps! 🙂
Nami – I’ve seen these in the Asian market, but never thought to make them at home – thanks so much for the recipe!
The thought of eating fish heads is pretty foreign to me but sweet and small and with a holiday tradition, I think you’ll find a lot of us will give this a try. Merry Christmas, Nami.
Are these the very same wee little fish I’d eat as a snack as a child? My Japanese auntie had them & she’d just give them to me as is, from the bag. Yum. Not to mention the dried squid I’d prefer over candy.
Hi Kathleen! These are sweetened, so if you ate the sweetened one, this is it. Also there are some snacks we just eat as it is… I used to eat it too. There are small packages for Otsumami (beer snack) etc too. Oh yes, I also prefer squid over niboshi (sardine). 😀
もううちではおせち料理は作らないですよ、主人も私も好きではないので、でもビデオで見た限り、とっても簡単そう。
甘辛のとこ、ご飯のお供にいいなと今考えてます。 なみちゃん立派な奥さんだね相変わらず。頭が下がる思いです。
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¨¨¨¨**o**♥***♥*o*
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**♥**o*****o**♥** ¨
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o***♥**o***o***♥ * ¨¨¨¨¨
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Happy Holidays Nami!
Alessandra
These sardines sound so delicious! Crunchy sardines in sweet sauce sounds like a great appetizer.
I would love to try this… we have something similar in Sri Lanka with deep fried sprats… but it’s more savory, salty and spicy. Wishing you and your family a Happy Japanese New Year.
Sounds really tasty, my mom loves sardines and she will really love this. Thanks for sharing Nami and hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season 🙂
Adore this! it is so uniquie.
I have to try this for my new year! Simply stunning photos nami!
Oh this is such an interesting recipe! I went every year over the summer on Mediterranean sea and loved eating whole sardines. They were caught and prepared by locals fishermen or people that were living there, and I remember them as crunchy and salty or in good olive oil…taste memory is still here, but I never ate candied ones. Beautiful presentation, Nami, as well as pictures and your post!
I think this is the most appetising of all osechi ryori dishes I have ever seen (to be frank, I haven’t tasted any osechi ryori!). I would also love it as a party snack or simply as a snack. I love sardines and always have several cans of sardines in oil at home. It’s a very healthy snack, as long as bones are still there (they are the biggest source of calcium in sardines apparently). Thank you for this wonderful idea! (Actually I might have dried sardines somewhere too!).
These sardines look quite gorgeous my friend 😀
Although having them candied is totally new to me!
Happy Holidays!
CCU
Nami, these look so family to the ones my grandma used to make. She would make a spicy version and dry it out for couple of days.
Looks yummy dear. Happy Christmas!!
You know honestly I have never seen baby sardines before.. lol… I know.. But this looks such an interesting dish…
I have to try this one!!!
B/w I love these bowls of yours. … 😉
勉強になりました。昔い農家はいりこ肥料を使ってたことは始めで学びました。
なみさんは本当に勤勉ですね。おせち料理は何日前から準備することは
良い考えですね。
I have never heard of this dish nor have I ever tried it. I can certainly understand how good it is for you as an Italian chef told me that sardines are one of the best foods you can eat xx
Happy Almost New Year Nami-san! I know how you feel. Christmas is not really celebrated in HK but everyone is starting to mingle and shuffle in preparation for the Chinese New Year. Both Japanese and Chinese New Year actually comes a lot sooner this year. I use the dried whole sardines to make my homemade dashi but i have never have made a little sauce to eat them as a treat. Interesting idea, Take Care, BAM
i love sardines and as long as the fish is prepared for me, I love everything about it. Hope you have a great holidays.
this treat seems so new but totally addictive delicious to us…we have been enjoying soy and honey glazed nuts for the holidays lately so why not sardines…love the balance of flavors from sake,sugar,honey and soy….perfect munch time treat,thanks for sharing 🙂
Dear Nami,
Wishing you and your family all the beauty of this lovely time of year!
Hugs,
Yelena
We have a nearly similar recipe, I guess this is where it came from.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to your family Nami!
No offense but my first reaction to “candied” sardines was to laugh. Not being a fan of sardines, the last thing I thought I would ever see is the word candied associated with sardines. 🙂 Therefore, I find this recipe quite interesting because it’s a recipe I would never have imagined existing and then only to find out it’s a traditional recipe in Japan. Just proves that there is still so much more to learn about the world’s cuisines. What fun!
Some people get really funny about fish with the head on, don’t they?! There’s something very satisfying about handling and preparing a whole fish. I don’t like the idea of eating the head so much but I have no problem preparing it. When the fish is small though, like this, I don’t mind at all… I’ll happily eat it all because it’s so small it’s no problem!
These look good – even if the title is a bit funny for me :D. I automatically think of fish-flavoured candies or something 😀
Love your recipe, easy to make and delicious!!
Thank you so much, Emily! 🙂
First time ever eating sardines and it wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately, my family did not appreciate the aroma of the sardines cooking. My puppies and I enjoyed it!
Hi Daehyun! Hahaha! Great job! I know this is not for everyone… Even kids who eat fish may not like this dish too. 🙂 And you got good calcium from this dish. Thank you for trying this recipe!
Dear Nami
Could you use normal sardines for this recipe or does it have to be dried “baby” sardines?
Hi Naseera! We only use dried sardies that are small for this recipe. They have to be dried or else I think the texture of outcome will not be crunchy. 🙂 The size may not be that much of an issue, but must be dried. 🙂
I love this recipe. Thank you!
Thank you Patty! So happy to hear that! 🙂
Do you need to rinse the sardines?
Hi Gertrude! I don’t – usually only clean ones are in the package. But if you see yours are not good condition, maybe it’s okay to rinse quickly. Not soaking. 🙂
Thank you. Nami. Will definite make this.
One of the first ‘local’ specialities that I immediately developed a love for — and today here in Japan my grocery store is filled with Tazukuri and I’m nibbling away. But it’s not New Years! No matter … num num num.
Haha! This was often in my lunch box too for extra calcium intake… 🙂 The quality of fish is good here. Definitely good snack! 🙂
Hi, may i know how should I prepare Tazukuri with the baby anchovies leftover from Iriko dashi? Hope to hear from you please!
Hi Fiona! I don’t think it tastes good with leftover anchovies which flavors are taken out to make daashi. So I personally don’t recommend.
Hi Nami, thank you for getting back to me!
Oh dear, I’m guessing I may have mistaken this point ‘You can make Tazukuri (Candied Sardine) with leftover iriko. If you don’t make it right away, you can freeze the iriko and defrost to make it later on.’.
I believe you meant the remaining dried iriko in the packet & not the reserved iriko from making dashi right? Hahaha.
Hi Fiona! I should have explained better earlier. IF you already have the leftover sardines/anchovies from making dashi, and do not want to throw away, YES you can season it just like Tazukuri recipe and eat it. But it’s more of enjoying the texture and seasonings.
What I meant earlier in the comment was that this traditional recipe is not supposed to be made with leftovers from making dashi. In the iriko dashi recipe where I mentioned “you can make Tazukuri with leftover iriko”, I should have said you can “season the leftovers” just like Tazukuri recipe, NOT “make Tazukuri”… Maybe less confusion. 🙂
Thank you very much for the thorough explanation on how to make this delicious snack! Now for people with delicate teeth, I’d like to share my experience: I’ve noticed that the fish eyes are really hard, just like small spherical rocks. Think biting medium to large sized grains of sand! After a couple of very painful episodes, I am now thoroughly extracting and discarding all the eyes in a first step. Some might note that important nutrients are located just around the eyes… but I’d rather prefer not to damage my teeth -once eroded, enamel won’t regenerate.
Hi J.M.! Thank you so much for your detailed feedback and tips for others! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you!!