【Reading】すいかん

【English Name】Siphon

Suikan (siphon) is a tubular organ that bivalves have, referring to the part that protrudes outward from the gap in the shell. Many bivalves have two siphons, an inhalant siphon and an exhalant siphon, with a mechanism in which food such as plankton is taken in along with seawater from the inhalant siphon, and unneeded water is discharged from the exhalant siphon.

In the world of sushi, there are several toppings that use this siphon part as an ingredient. A representative one is miru-gai (geoduck/gaper clam), whose thick siphon protruding greatly from the shell becomes the edible part. Its distinctive crunchy texture and the sweetness that spreads the more it is chewed are its characteristics, and it is often served as nigiri or sashimi. Shiro-miru (namigai, false geoduck) is also known as a shellfish whose siphon is eaten, and it has a somewhat softer texture than miru-gai.

At sushi establishments, rather than calling it "suikan," it is generally called simply by the topping name (such as miru-gai), but it is a useful term to remember for understanding the parts of shellfish.