noun
ikejime; draining blood from a live fish to preserve freshness
Only with reading いけじめ
A specific technique where blood is drained from a live fish by cutting near the gills and tail, then often placing it in ice water. Primarily read いけじめ.
活け締めした魚は刺身にすると格別だ。
Fish that has been ikejime-processed is exceptional as sashimi.
漁師は釣った魚をすぐに活け締めする。
The fisherman immediately performs ikejime on the caught fish.
noun
fasting fish before transport; purging fish to improve quality
The practice of keeping fish without food for several days to empty their digestive tracts, improving flavor and reducing stress during live transport. Often read いけしめ.
活け締めのため、出荷前に数日間絶食させる。
For ikejime, the fish are fasted for several days before shipping.
noun
killing fish in a tank just before cooking; tank-killed fish
Refers to killing fish kept in a tank immediately before preparation, or the fish itself. Often read いけしめ. Common in restaurant settings.
料理の直前に生け簀で活け締めにする。
They perform ikejime in the tank right before cooking.
この店では活け締めの鯛が自慢です。
This restaurant prides itself on tank-killed sea bream.
Abbreviated irregular okurigana form; rarely used.
Irregular kanji usage with 〆; occasionally seen in restaurant contexts.
Irregular kanji usage with 〆; occasionally seen in restaurant contexts.
野締め refers to killing a fish by leaving it to die in the air without bleeding, resulting in lower quality compared to 活け締め.
神経締め is a more advanced technique that destroys the spinal cord after bleeding, further delaying rigor mortis; 活け締め often includes this step but the term alone may not specify it.
Compound of 活け (ike, 'keeping alive') + 締め (shime, 'killing'). The reading いけしめ is a variant, possibly influenced by rendaku or dialectal pronunciation.