How many fish for sushi can you name? You could say mainstream fish, such as salmon, tuna, sea bream… Given that some fish are only home to some regions of the world, you can guess there are local-specialty sushi you would never know. It may surprise you how many fish are used for sushi. Here, we will show you some essential fish on the sushi menu you want to know if you work at a Japanese restaurant.
Different Kinds of Fish for Sushi Menu
Customarily, sushi ingredients are categorized into akami (red meat), shiromi (white meat), hikarimono (silver-skinned fish), and shellfish. We will explain each of these categories in detail below.
Akami
Akami refers to red-colored fish, while not all akami fish have reddish meat. As often exemplified by tuna, akami fish is everyone’s favorite for sushi. Akami fish often contain a lot of fat, and each has a distinct taste on its own. Examples include tuna, bonito, yellowtail, etc. The freshness of akami fish tends to fade quickly, making it crucial to choose the freshest fish possible.
Generally, the red color of akami results from the body structure and living environment, causing them to turn red due to their high meat and blood content. But some fish with whiteish flesh are considered akami fish as well. As many people misunderstand, amberjacks, such as great amberjack and Japanese amberjack, are also members of the akami family.
Tuna (Maguri)
Japan is the world’s largest tuna consumer and one of the leading tuna producers. Eight kinds of tuna exist worldwide, and six are available in Japan.
Pacific bluefin tuna and Northern bluefin tuna are also among the most expensive tuna available in Japan. Yellowfin tuna, with pinkish-red flesh, is the largest catch in Japan and the world. Bigeye tuna, another common tuna in Japan, is a medium-sized tuna home to the warm waters around the equator. It is the most consumed tuna in Japan, although its catch is the second largest in the world after yellowfin tuna. Other commonly heard of are Southern bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, and albacore tuna.
Bonito (Katsuo)
The two best seasons for bonito in Japan are spring and fall. The fish is rich in nutrients, including high-quality protein, iron, and nutrients to help prevent diseases like heart disease. Served at a wide range of sushi restaurants, bonito is among the fish that take more effort to handle because it tends to lose its freshness quickly.
Yellowtail (Buri, Hamachi)
With its taste and fatty flesh, yellowtail is one of the most popular fish for sushi among the locals in Japan. The best season is winter. Because it becomes more fatty in the season, the yellowtail has a seasonal name, kanburi (“cold” yellowtail).
As a side note, yellowtail is one of the fish categorized as “shusseuo.” The term is unique to Japan, referring to fish claiming different names according to different stages of growth. That means people in Japan call the same fish differently based on their sizes as if they are being “promoted.” For this reason, the locals use these fish traditionally on ceremonial occasions.
Shiromi
Shiromi refers to white-colored fish. They tend to have firm flesh with an almost crunchy texture. Compared to akami fish, sushi beginners could also enjoy them because of their lighter flavor. In addition to sushi, it is suitable for a wide range of cooking methods, including sashimi, carpaccio, fried, boiled, steamed, and more. Additionally, since the fish becomes elastic when it is ground, shiromi fish is a perfect ingredient for fish paste such as fish cake.
You could guess sea bream and cod are shiromi fish. Other examples include Japanese flounder, sea bass, and threeline grunt.
Salmon
Surprisingly, salmon is also a part of the shiromi fish family. It is one of the most popular fish for sushi worldwide today. As a chef, the skills to handle salmon professionally give you credit for being a great sushi chef.
You may think any sushi restaurant in the country serves salmon. The fact is that only a few high-end sushi restaurants in Japan serve salmon. With the background of the inability to eat salmon in Japan in the old days, some upscale restaurants and other establishments respect the traditions and do not serve salmon.
However, because you can enjoy imported salmon in Japan today, sushi restaurants like sushi-train restaurants serve salmon, earning people’s vote as their favorite sushi fish.
Sea bream (Tai)
Sea bream, considered to bring good luck, has a long life span of more than 40 years. Spring and fall are the best seasons to enjoy sea bream in Japan, and the fish has a relatively high nutritional value compared to other fish. There are many types of sea bream, of which red sea bream is the most representative. Its price reaches the max when the fish is 40 to 55 cm and around 3 kg. And when it gets larger, its taste deteriorates, resulting in its price going down.
For sushi, chefs can perform a variety of cooking methods for sea bream, such as seasoning with vinegar, searing, and boiling.
Sea bass (Suzuki)
Sea bass is among the shusseuo fish described earlier. The best season is summer. The larger the fish, the more fatty and tasty it becomes. With a few dark, high blood-content parts called “chiai,” it has clear, white flesh and a faint, distinctive aroma similar to river fish.
Hikarimono
There is no such category as “hikarimono (silver-skinned fish)” in the original classification of fish. Essentially, these fish are classified as akami fish. However, the word is a commonly used classification for sushi fish. Popular choices in Japan include mackerel, such as Spanish mackerel and horse mackerel, sardines, and Pacific saury.
This kind of fish takes more steps to prepare than akami or shiromi fish. As very delicate fish, they quickly deteriorate without proper aging techniques.
Because many of them have a peculiar taste, their main characteristic lies in how they are served or prepared. For example, you can often find them served with green onions and ginger or seasoned with vinegar. However, it is not rare to see horse mackerel and other fish raw for sushi these days.
Mackerel (Saba, Aji)
Mackerel inhabit the coastal areas of the world’s tropical and temperate zones, and you can find them, especially in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. They become particularly fatty in autumn in Japan. Having a high umami content, the extremely high-fat content of mackerel makes their eyes appear milky white and cloudy.
There are many local dishes made with the fish. For example, saba-zushi is a famous nationwide dish made from salted mackerel that has been vinegared. You can find it in many forms, including pressed sushi and nigiri.
Sardine (Iwashi)
Sardines are migratory fish that swim in schools near the surface of the sea. In Japan, sardines inhabit all areas of the country except Okinawa. They have been popular among the public in the country for a long time. They used to be inexpensive, nutritious fish that were an essential part of their meals. However, the price of sardines has recently skyrocketed because of the availability of fresher fish and the decrease in catch. As a result, they have become considered expensive fish.
Sardines lose their freshness quickly, so they need extra care when preparing them.
Pacific saury (San-ma)
Japanese saury, a fish about 30 cm, lives widely in the North Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most representative autumn foods in Japan. Although only Japan and some parts of Russia consumed Japanese saury in the past, it has become popular in more countries in recent years.
Because the fish tends to lose its freshness easily, its availability at sushi restaurants is limited. At sushi restaurants, chefs usually serve it with shiso leaves, ginger, and/or green onions on top. Also famous in Japan is a local specialty called sanma-zushi. It is a pressed sushi with butterflied, lightly salted saury on top of sushi rice.
Shellfish (Kai)
The history of sushi with shellfish dates back to the Nara period (710-794), and there are old records of sushi with abalone and mussels. Unlike today, people in the old days used the ingredients after marinating them in vinegar, soy sauce, and/or mirin.
The crunchy texture of shellfish grabs many people’s hearts. Examples of shellfish items for sushi are ark-shell clams, whelks, Japanese cockles, abalone, and scallops. Some shellfish are cooked before serving. Thus, those not comfortable with raw shellfish can also enjoy shellfish sushi.
Ark-shell clams (Akagai)
Ark-shell clam is one of many names this shellfish goes by. As one of the staple ingredients for nigiri, it is on the menu even at sushi train restaurants. It is high in nutrients and has a tender texture, which gives a mild aroma and flavor across the tongue as you chew. It gains its flavor during the cold winter months.
Scallops (Hotate)
Scallops live in cold seas, and Hokkaido accounts for the majority of natural scallops caught in Japan. The best seasons for scallops in Japan are summer and winter. However, most scallops commonly distributed are farm-raised so that the locals can enjoy scallops throughout the year. They are a healthy food with low calories and high protein, and have a somewhat sweet taste and a delicate, creamy texture.
Other Kinds of Sushi Menu to Remember
We explained some major fish types above, but they are only some of what you should know. You may have seen sushi with ikura (salmon roe), tobiko (flying fish roe), sea urchin, eel, octopus, and vegetables including cucumber and pickled radish.
Seasonal Sushi Menu
Thanks to the development of preservation technology, we can eat delicious fish all year round. However, knowing the seasonal trends of fish is also important as a chef.
For example, you may see horse mackerel on the menu as the seasonal fish in spring in Japan. One of the most representative fish of summer is sea bass. In autumn, Pacific saury is rich in fat and tastes excellent raw or lightly seared. As the weather gets colder, yellowtail gains fat and flavor and becomes a signature dish at many sushi restaurants.
Last But Not Least, Egg (Tamagoyaki)
Egg sushi is always on the menu at sushi restaurants in Japan. It is a staple item, popular with young and old alike. You may wonder why sushi restaurants serve egg sushi.
This would require an explanation of the Japanese omelet (tamagoyaki) before egg sushi. Even today, many sushi restaurants serve tamagoyaki. You may ask, why do they serve tamagoyaki at sushi restaurants anyway? The origin goes back to the Edo period (1603-1867).
One popular theory is that the sweetness of tamagoyaki is a palate cleanser for sushi rice. Also, the color and appearance of the egg make an attractive presentation. In the past, tamagoyaki was such a substantial dish to judge the skill of a sushi chef. And this has stayed the same even in this day and age.
Some people believe that the custom of serving tamagoyaki led to the development of egg sushi – a style of nigiri with tamagoyaki on top.
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