【Reading】さくらだい

【English Name】Sakura Tai (Spring Red Sea Bream)

Sakuradai (cherry-blossom sea bream) is a seasonal name for red sea bream (madai) that approach the coast to spawn as spring arrives. The origin of the name is said to be that the peak of the fishing season overlapped with the time when the cherry blossoms bloom. There is also a theory that it originally referred to the state in which the flesh of winter kandai (cold sea bream) takes on a cherry-blossom pink.

As a sushi topping, its hallmark is a light, refined white flesh, and it is widely favored as spring nigiri. However, red sea bream facing spawning have their nutrients drawn off by the gonads, making the fullness of the flesh prone to decline. The peak of fattiness and umami comes from summer to autumn, and red sea bream of this period is given the name "momijidai" (autumn-foliage sea bream).

The main landing areas are the Seto Inland Sea, the East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan coast, with wild fish caught by pole-and-line and longline. At sushi restaurants the standard is to serve it as thinly sliced (usuzukuri) nigiri or kelp-cured (kobujime). Individuals whose flesh quality has declined after spawning are called "mugiwaradai" (straw sea bream) and are handled as a distinct category.