【Reading】たま

【English Name】Tama

"Tama" is one of the industry terms used at sushi restaurants, widely known as an abbreviation for "tamago" (egg). It mainly refers to tamago-yaki (rolled omelet), which is also a standard neta for nigiri sushi.

At sushi restaurants, the general form is to thinly slice a sweetly seasoned atsuyaki-tamago (thick rolled omelet), place it on the shari, and serve it wrapped with a band of nori. The blend of dashi and the way it is grilled differ from shop to shop, and it is also said to be one yardstick for measuring a chef's skill.

Note that the word "tama" itself has many meanings in Japanese, with a wide range of usages such as sphere, ball, jewel, bullet, and soul. In the sushi context, it is used exclusively as a code word meaning tamago-yaki.

It is said that there was once a time when, in a sushi apprentice's training, whether one could grill tamago-yaki well was the standard for being a full-fledged chef, and it is one of the neta that, while appearing simple, has great depth.