【Reading】みやづとりがい

【English Name】Miyazu cockle

Miyazu torigai is the brand name of the cockle (torigai) landed in Miyazu Bay and the Aso Sea in Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture. The torigai is a type of bivalve, and it was so named because the foot of its shucked meat has a shape resembling a bird's beak (tori means bird).

Miyazu City is widely known as the location of Amanohashidate, one of Japan's three scenic views, and torigai holds an important place as a regional food-tourism resource alongside snow crab (matsuba-gani). The calm environment of the inner bay of the Aso Sea is suited to the growth of torigai, and in Kyoto Prefecture, research into juvenile-shellfish release and aquaculture techniques has also advanced.

The season runs from late spring to early summer, with May to July being the peak. The meat is thick and tender, characterized by a distinctive sweetness and a faint marine aroma. As a sushi topping, the standard preparation is to quickly blanch it before shaping the nigiri, and heating brings out a beautiful purplish-black color in the meat. When served raw as sashimi, its more delicate sweetness can be savored.

At Kyoto's ryotei (high-end Japanese restaurants) and sushi establishments, it is prized as an early-summer delicacy and counted among the luxury ingredients representative of the Tango region.