【Reading】さくらShrimp

【English Name】Sakura shrimp

The sakuraebi (sakura shrimp) is a small deep-water shrimp symbolizing Suruga Bay, with adults about 4 cm in body length. With a transparent body bearing numerous red chromatophores, it appears tinged with pale pink while alive, hence the name "sakura" (cherry blossom). About 160 luminous organs are distributed over the whole body.

The sakuraebi landed in Japan come only from Suruga Bay, and the fishery operates in two seasons a year: the spring fishery (mainly April-June) and the autumn fishery (October-December). Because mid-June to the end of September is the breeding season, it is a closed period. By day it migrates in schools in the 200-300 m depth zone, and at night it ascends to shallow layers around 20-50 m in depth—a diel vertical migration that is well known.

At sushi restaurants it is often served raw, as well as in kakiage or kamaage. Because it can be eaten shell and all, in addition to umami components such as glycine and taurine, one can also savor the aromatic toastiness derived from chitin in the shell. The plain-dried product is highly nutritious, with 2000 mg of calcium and about 65 g of protein per 100 g.

Its distribution has also been confirmed in the seas of southwestern and eastern Taiwan, where it is caught and circulated at market under the name "yinghua xia." From 2018 to 2022, record-setting poor catches continued in Suruga Bay, but in spring 2023 the catch recovered.