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Sayori (Halfbeak) Sushi

Sayori/Japanese Halfbeak

Silver-skinned Fish

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Order Beloniformes, Superfamily Exocoetoidea, Family Hemiramphidae

A saltwater fish that lives in schools near the water surface along the coasts from Hokkaido to Kyushu. It is a slender fish with a blue-green back and silver belly, and semi-transparent flesh.
Adults grow to around 40 cm, with a thin, protruding lower jaw that is red at the tip when alive.

Sayori inhabits the inner bays and coastal waters from Hokkaido to Kyushu, swimming in schools while chasing prey near the water surface and leaping across the surface like flying fish when threatened. Similar to the sanma (Pacific saury) of the same order Beloniformes but even more slender, it has a protruding lower jaw that gives its mouth a pointed appearance. Its transparent body is thought to serve as camouflage against predators.

Small sayori are called "enpitsu" (pencil), while large ones are called "kannuki" (door bolt). The kannuki is known as an ultra-premium fish.
The peak season is from autumn through winter to spring, though the timing shifts later the farther north you go, with the season extending into early summer in colder regions. After spawning in early summer, the fat content drops and a bitter note develops, though some sushi connoisseurs appreciate this spring-like bitterness.

Sayori has an elegant flavor but is low in fat, making it relatively mild in taste. The flesh appears white at first glance, but it has the characteristic umami of blue-skinned fish along with a pleasant bitterness, and the skin has a distinctive flavor. This makes it a sushi topping favored by connoisseurs. Due to its clean taste, it pairs better with ginger than wasabi, and is sometimes served with oboro (sweetened, flaked fish paste).

Beautiful Even as Sushi: Sayori Nigiri

Although sayori's flesh is thin, it is surprisingly firm, making it well-suited for decorative knife work. Sushi chefs compete in showcasing various techniques, rolling, braiding, and layering the fish.
Sayori is a beautiful fish in its natural form, and it remains equally beautiful when crafted into sushi.
Sayori sashimi with its translucent beauty and refined flavor Sayori sashimi with its translucent beauty and refined flavor

The Complicated Beauty of the Sayori

The sayori is the beauty queen of the fish world, with its slender figure, silver-gleaming skin, and translucent, beautiful flesh.
However, when you open its belly, the inside is pitch black, as if painted with tar. Because of this, the sayori is used as a metaphor for someone who looks beautiful on the outside but is scheming on the inside ("haraguroi" - literally "black-bellied").
Since calling someone a "sayori beauty" implies they are attractive but devious, you should be careful when recommending sayori sushi to a beautiful person, lest they suspect an ulterior meaning.

The sayori is the beauty queen of the fish world, with its slender figure, silver-gleaming skin, and translucent, beautiful flesh.
However, when you open its belly, the inside is pitch black, as if painted with tar. Because of this, the sayori is used as a metaphor for someone who looks beautiful on the outside but is scheming on the inside ("haraguroi" - literally "black-bellied").
Since calling someone a "sayori beauty" implies they are attractive but devious, you should be careful when recommending sayori sushi to a beautiful person, lest they suspect an ulterior meaning.

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