【Reading】わらさ

【English Name】Young Yellowtail

"Warasa" is the name given to the growth stage of buri (Japanese amberjack; scientific name Seriola quinqueradiata) before it reaches full adulthood, and it is an expression widely understood centered on the Kanto region. Individuals of around 60 to 80 cm in length correspond to this.

Buri is a leading example of a shusse-uo (a fish whose name changes as it grows), and in Kanto the transition follows the order wakashi → inada → warasa → buri. Fish of the same size range are called "mejiro" in the Kansai area and "gando" or "gandoburi" in the Hokuriku region, and such regional differences in naming are conspicuous. It is customary to regard a fish as buri once it reaches over 80 cm in length or over 8 kg in weight.

When served as a sushi ingredient, compared with the adult buri its fat content is gentler and its aftertaste cleaner. It is characterized by flesh with moderate firmness and is widely used for nigiri and sashimi. Buri's fat is at its fullest in winter (mainly around December), but warasa tends to appear more on the market from summer to autumn.

It is a migratory fish belonging to the family Carangidae of the order Carangiformes, with a wide range of distribution in the northwestern Pacific. The main fishing areas were traditionally centered on the Sea of Japan side, Kyushu, and Kanto, but against the backdrop of rising seawater temperatures in recent years, landings in Hokkaido have surged, and statistics for fiscal 2021 show Hokkaido ranking high in catch volume of amberjack-type fish.