【Reading】さごし

【English Name】Japanese Spanish mackerel (young)

Sagoshi is the young fish of sawara (Japanese Spanish mackerel), the name for the stage at a body length of 40–50 cm. Belonging to the genus Scomberomorus of the family Scombridae, it is a shusse-uo (a fish that changes names as it grows) that, after passing through nagi (50–60 cm), becomes sawara at over 60 cm. The name derives from "sagoshi" (narrow waist), expressing a flat, slender body shape from left to right. Although whitish in appearance, nutritionally it is classified as a red-fleshed fish. It has less fat than the adult sawara, with a light yet refined flavor. As a sushi neta it is served seared (aburi) or kelp-cured (kobu-jime), and there is a culture of eating it as sashimi around Okayama Prefecture. The fishing grounds are along the southern Sea of Japan and the Seto Inland Sea coast, and in recent years there has also been a movement to commercialize it as niboshi (dried small fish).