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Kisu (Whiting) Sushi

Kisu / Sand Borer / Japanese sillago

Silver-skinned Fish
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きすSushi

Perciformes, Sillaginidae

It lives on sandy bottoms near the coasts of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific, but is also sometimes found in river mouths and fresh water. It grows from 45 cm up to a maximum of 70 cm, and with its low-fat, tender white flesh, it is used for food and is also very popular as a target for fishing.

Generally, when people say kisu, they mean the Japanese sillago (shirogisu). The kisu (shirogisu) is widely distributed along the coasts of East Asia, including Japan, the Korean Peninsula, the coast of China, and Taiwan. From spring to summer it comes up to shallows of 15 m or less to spawn, but otherwise it lives near the seabed at depths of 40 to 50 m, and has the trait of burrowing into the sand at night. The fat content of the kisu is extremely low, about 1%, but because it gains fat before the spawning period from June to September, its season is said to be early summer to summer. It is also popular as a fish that is relatively easy to catch by casting from land.

Delicious ways to eat kisu sushi

When fresh, the kisu's flesh has a translucent quality, but since about 80% of its body is water, rather than using it as a sushi topping or sashimi as is, lightly washing it in salt water before removing the skin increases the firmness of the flesh and makes it more delicious. Also, curing it with salt, vinegar, or kombu concentrates the umami, allowing you to enjoy a richer, springier flavor. In addition, the kisu has an aroma peculiar to its skin, and the flavor changes greatly depending on whether the skin is present or not. In the past, curing it with vinegar with the skin on was mainstream, but recently it is often skinned and used as a raw sushi topping. It is also recommended to try various sushi toppings, such as skinless kisu with the skin removed, kawashimo-zukuri kisu with hot water poured over the skin, and yakishimo-zukuri kisu with the skin seared.
Dried Japanese sillago (shirogisu) Dried Japanese sillago (shirogisu)

The origin of the name of the sillago (kisu)

There are two ways to write kisu in kanji. One is composed of characters literally meaning "mouse-head fish," derived from the fact that the kisu's head resembles a mouse's head, while the other combines the "fish" radical with the auspicious character read "ki" (meaning joy), said to have been created by using it as a phonetic substitute for "ki."
The name kisu is presumed to have existed since around the Edo period, but "kisu" was the name in Edo, while in the Kansai region it was called "kisugo." Because the kisu is often found near the shore, one theory holds that "kishi" (shore) was corrupted into "kishiko" (kishi-ko, shore child) and then into "kisu." There is also a theory that, because its flesh is pure white, it came from "kiyoshi" (purity, from spotlessness) and became "kisu."

幸田露伴の随筆集『長語』(明治34年)で 現れる鼠頭魚釣り

https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/889169

There are two ways to write kisu in kanji. One is composed of characters literally meaning "mouse-head fish," derived from the fact that the kisu's head resembles a mouse's head, while the other combines the "fish" radical with the auspicious character read "ki" (meaning joy), said to have been created by using it as a phonetic substitute for "ki."
The name kisu is presumed to have existed since around the Edo period, but "kisu" was the name in Edo, while in the Kansai region it was called "kisugo." Because the kisu is often found near the shore, one theory holds that "kishi" (shore) was corrupted into "kishiko" (kishi-ko, shore child) and then into "kisu." There is also a theory that, because its flesh is pure white, it came from "kiyoshi" (purity, from spotlessness) and became "kisu."

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