This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
During his visit to one of Tokyo’s famous fish markets, a keen-eyed Quebec tourist might come across snow crab caught a few kilometers from his home. Fond of seafood, the Japanese have made the Gulf of St. Lawrence one of their breeding grounds. Exploration of this 10,000 km long culinary bridge that connects our province and the Land of the Rising Sun, while Asian cuisine is honored here through various events in June.
It is rather rare to come across a Japanese citizen in a small coastal village of Gaspésie, Côte-Nord or Îles-de-la-Madeleine. But not in Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé, in the RCM of Rocher-Percé, where the largest snow crab processing plant in the province is located.
There, for decades, Japanese buyers have come every year to visually inspect the shipments of snow crabs they buy from the company E. Gagnon Fils.
“We’ve been doing business with Japan for almost 30 years, it’s practically become a traditional market for us,” says Bill Sheehan, vice-president of E. Gagnon Fils and president of the Association québécoise de l’industrie de fishing (AQIP).
This Japanese presence can be seen in several other processing plants in eastern Quebec, since Japan is one of the main international buyers of Quebec seafood products, along with the United States and Denmark. According to the latest figures available, in 2020, Quebec seafood exports to Japan were valued at $4.6 million.
While snow crab represents the majority of Quebec seafood exports (3.6 million) to this Far Eastern country, the invertebrate is also accompanied by products that are sometimes still unknown here: whelks (or whelks ), Stimpson’s surf clams, sea urchins or herring roe, as well as groundfish, such as halibut.
Exports to Japan once represented up to 25% of E. Gagnon Fils’ production, but this proportion is now around 10%. COVID-19 and the handling difficulties it has caused have particularly complicated exports to Japan. It must be said that the Japanese are rather… demanding customers.
For example, the Japanese want crabs with a bright red-orange shell, without scars or marks, with a high meat content. Each section of the animal is rewashed and rebrushed thoroughly before being packaged. At the factory, Japanese inspectors are present to visually inspect each box and do quality tests.
Production for Japan therefore requires a large workforce and a slower production rate, but provides an interesting “added value” to exporting companies, according to the president of AQIP.
“It’s a market focused on quality and not on volume,” summarizes André-Pierre Rossignol, export advisor for Gimxport, an organization that supports businesses in the Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine in the development of new markets. “They can afford to pay for quality and expect it. »
luxury products
There, Quebec seafood is largely treated as a luxury item.
“The quantities used per meal are much smaller than here. They are treated as a fine product, explains André-Pierre Rossignol. A crab roast, as we do in Gaspésie, or rolls, it’s not part of Japanese culture! »
Surfclam, for example, is used in sushi and nigiri, while sea urchins are popular in sashimi, among other things. A highly sought-after delicacy, the crab is prepared with all the sauces.
“Snow crab is a super popular product there. There are reputable restaurants where only that is served, from bisque as a starter to dessert,” says Bill Sheehan, who has visited the Japanese archipelago several times.
Something to inspire local chefs, more and more of whom are putting Quebec seafood products on the menu. This is the case of David Gauthier, chef and co-owner of Bar St-Denis in Montreal, who makes it a point to include as many local fish products as possible on his restaurant menu.
“As these products are only available a few months a year, you have to make the most of the stocks, a bit like seasonal vegetables in summer,” says the man who also went to Pied de Cochon and Montreal Plaza.
Its menu is currently full of oysters from Gaspésie, scallops from the Islands, halibut and whelks. And customers are responding in large numbers.
“Quebecers are more awake than ever [aux produits de la mer]. Sea urchins, I sell a lot of them, bourgots too,” says David Gauthier.
It is perhaps also in the mode of preservation that the Japanese can inspire us.
“Crab keeps very well thanks to freezing, but Quebecers don’t tend to want to eat frozen crab. We only eat it in season,” observes André-Pierre Rossignol.
Bill Sheehan agrees. “Lobster and crab are very popular here, but only during the fishing season. Quebecers like to eat them fresh, unlike the Japanese, who stock up during the season, freeze them and sell them all year round. »
No one is a prophet in his own country
This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.