【Reading】おどり

【English Name】ODORI / Fish alive

"Odori" is a technique and style of serving live shrimp as nigiri sushi. Mainly kuruma-ebi (Japanese tiger prawn) and botan-ebi (botan shrimp) are chosen, and the fresh shrimp—just after being shelled—is served while still moving on the shari.

The name derives from the fact that the live shrimp leaping and moving "looks as if it is dancing" (odotteiru). In English-speaking countries it is also known by the name "dancing shrimp."

Because freshness is more important than anything, it must be prepared immediately after being taken from the tank, and it is difficult to offer except at establishments equipped to handle live fish. The flesh is translucent, characterized by a firm, springy texture and a strongly sweet flavor. It is a dish that lets you enjoy a sweetness possible only when raw, distinctly different from cooked shrimp.

At counter sushi restaurants it is popular, including the staging of butchering and forming the live shrimp right before your eyes, and it can be called one of the nigiri that embody the spirit of Edomae sushi, which values freshness above all.