【Reading】たら

【English Name】Cod

Tara (cod), with its light, elegant white flesh, is most often kobujime (kelp-cured) before being formed into nigiri in sushi. Because it has modest fat, draping it in the umami of kelp adds depth to the flavor. As it is a fish that spoils quickly, only freshly landed or already kelp-cured products are used for raw consumption. It also pairs well with cooked preparations, with wide uses such as tara-chiri hot pot, dried fish, meuniere, and fried dishes. Tarako, made from the ovaries of suketodara (Alaska pollock), and the shirako (milt) of madara (Pacific cod) are also prized ingredients in winter.

By classification, it is a group of marine fish gathered into the subfamily Gadinae, family Gadidae, order Gadiformes, mainly inhabiting the cold seabeds of the Northern Hemisphere. Along the Japanese coast, three species—madara, suketodara, and komai—dwell, and when abbreviated to "tara" it usually indicates madara. Its distinctive fin arrangement of three dorsal fins and two anal fins catches the eye, and most species have a barbel at the tip of the lower jaw. Madara is a large fish reaching up to 1 m in body length, with irregular mottled markings of light and dark across its whole body. The closely related Atlantic cod is even larger, with reports of individuals grown to nearly 2 m in total length.

The character 鱈 for tara is a kokuji (Japan-made kanji) named after its snow-white flesh. In the Edo period, shintara, salted without slitting the belly open, was favored by the samurai class for its auspiciousness in avoiding any reminder of seppuku, and became a standard fixture adorning the New Year's celebratory table.