Other words for and familiarity of 桜でんぶ?


I have some questions about 桜でんぶ/おぼろ.

As I understand, 桜でんぶ is the name for the pink, fluffy stuff in sushi made
from fish.

My questions are:

1) Are there any other common words for 桜でんぶ? I read other places that おぼろ and
そぼろ is used for 桜でんぶ, but are these words common?

2) Is the word 桜でんぶ widely known in Japan? When I ask friends about 桜でんぶ, many
don't seem to know what I'm talking about, but maybe this is just limited to
my friends.

Thanks!

Edit: Changed question to make it more about the word rather than the object.




There seem to be at least two reasons that no one so far has answered your
questions.

1) Food names -- the older foods in particular -- differ greatly from one
region to another.

2) おぼろ has become increasingly unpopular during the last few decades;
therefore, the younger members may actually have never seen or eaten it.

> " Are there any other common words for [桜]{さくら}でんぶ?"

No, not that I know of -- except for plain でんぶ. I grew up calling 桜でんぶ just
でんぶ without adding the color name. In fact, I could not recall ever seeing でんぶ
in any other colors besides pink. I have lived half of my life in Tokyo and
the other half in Nagoya.

> "I read other places that おぼろ and そぼろ is used for 桜でんぶ, but are these words
> common?"

To me, the three food items that you mentioned are all different things.

おぼろ comes in much larger and heavier flakes than でんぶ does. おぼろ feels "wet"
while でんぶ is pretty much dehydrated. One could arguably say that the two taste
pretty much alike because they are both made with white-fleshed fish like red
snapper.

I have not seen おぼろ in more than a couple of decades, honestly. Grandma used
to make it and she was the last person to do so in my family.

Moving on to そぼろ, it usually refers to ground pork or chicken fried and boiled
in soysauce and sugar. It is still very popular and I am sure you have seen it
in convenience store bentos covering the rice with eggs cooked the same way.

> "Is the word 桜でんぶ widely known in Japan? When I ask friends about 桜でんぶ, many
> don't seem to know what I'm talking about, but maybe this is just limited to
> my friends."

All I could say is that the word 桜でんぶ should be widely known pretty much
everywhere because I do hear/see it in the media. Your friends may be too
young to know the word. I am sure they have seen and eaten it in inexpensive
sushi, but it is just not something many people buy by itself, let alone cook
at home anymore.




There seem to be at least two reasons that no one so far has answered your
questions.

1) Food names -- the older foods in particular -- differ greatly from one
region to another.

2) おぼろ has become increasingly unpopular during the last few decades;
therefore, the younger members may actually have never seen or eaten it.

> " Are there any other common words for [桜]{さくら}でんぶ?"

No, not that I know of -- except for plain でんぶ. I grew up calling 桜でんぶ just
でんぶ without adding the color name. In fact, I could not recall ever seeing でんぶ
in any other colors besides pink. I have lived half of my life in Tokyo and
the other half in Nagoya.

> "I read other places that おぼろ and そぼろ is used for 桜でんぶ, but are these words
> common?"

To me, the three food items that you mentioned are all different things.

おぼろ comes in much larger and heavier flakes than でんぶ does. おぼろ feels "wet"
while でんぶ is pretty much dehydrated. One could arguably say that the two taste
pretty much alike because they are both made with white-fleshed fish like red
snapper.

I have not seen おぼろ in more than a couple of decades, honestly. Grandma used
to make it and she was the last person to do so in my family.

Moving on to そぼろ, it usually refers to ground pork or chicken fried and boiled
in soysauce and sugar. It is still very popular and I am sure you have seen it
in convenience store bentos covering the rice with eggs cooked the same way.

> "Is the word 桜でんぶ widely known in Japan? When I ask friends about 桜でんぶ, many
> don't seem to know what I'm talking about, but maybe this is just limited to
> my friends."

All I could say is that the word 桜でんぶ should be widely known pretty much
everywhere because I do hear/see it in the media. Your friends may be too
young to know the word. I am sure they have seen and eaten it in inexpensive
sushi, but it is just not something many people buy by itself, let alone cook
at home anymore.

