【Reading】うろことり

【English Name】Fish Scale Remover

A urokotori is a dedicated cooking tool for removing fish scales, also called "uroko-hiki." It works by pressing a metal projection against the fish body and scraping the scales off, moving from the tail toward the head. It is indispensable when handling fish species with hard scales, such as sea bream.

Typical products are cast from brass or stainless steel and fitted with a wooden handle, but inexpensive products made simply by bending sheet metal are also on the market.

In professional processing facilities, electric types are widespread and have been adopted at many sites, including Tsukiji. They have been featured repeatedly on television, and the electric model sold by Hokuto Giken was reported in 2012 to have surpassed cumulative sales of 10,000 units. Electric types were already in production in the 1990s.

In food factories, automatic water-pressure machines have also been put to practical use. According to a fisheries newspaper, a single machine has a capacity equivalent to more than ten workers, and in the case of autumn salmon it can process 15–20 tons per day.