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【English Name】Kobashira (Surf Clam Adductor Muscle)

Kobashira is the adductor muscle (shellfish scallop) taken from bakagai (Chinese mactra clam / also known as aoyagi). At sushi restaurants it is treated as one of the premium toppings.

On the inner side of a bakagai shell there are two adductor muscles, front and back; the larger is called "ooboshi" and the smaller "koboshi." Collectively these are called kobashira, and they are distinguished from the body (shita-kiri / the foot) portion. Being small compared to large adductor muscles such as those of tairagi (pen shell) is said to be the origin of the name.

The representative way of serving it in sushi is gunkan-maki, and it has a distinctive umami that does not lose out to the aroma of nori. As for the flavor's characteristics, it has the faint bitterness and slight peculiarity characteristic of bakagai, and one can enjoy the crunchy texture coming from its fibrous muscle structure.

Besides sushi, it is also widely enjoyed as an ingredient in kakiage (mixed tempura), and is used in sunomono, kamameshi, and sashimi as well. It is mainly an ingredient for raw consumption.

Its season is the time of the tree buds in early spring, when the body and adductor muscle become full. The main production areas are Hokkaido and Aichi Prefecture; in the past it was also caught in large quantities in Tokyo Bay and the Seto Inland Sea. In the Kanto region it is common to call bakagai "aoyagi," which is said to derive from the place name "Aoyagi" in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture.