Aji (Horse Mackerel) Sushi

Aji / Horse Mackerel / Japanese jack mackerel

Silver-skinned Fish

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Carangidae, Caranginae

In Japan the Japanese jack mackerel (maaji) is generally known, but horse mackerel live in tropical and temperate waters around the world, and there are many species. The flesh is mainly pink, having the flavors of both red-fleshed and white-fleshed fish, and because it is also fatty, it is enjoyed as food all over the world.

There are more than a hundred species of horse mackerel around the world, but when people say aji, they generally mean the Japanese jack mackerel (maaji). The aji (maaji) is seen along coasts throughout Japan and is basically a migratory fish, but it can be caught both offshore and in bays. Open-ocean aji, because they swim about constantly, have firm flesh and carry less fat, but aji that settle in inner bays are called "sezuki aji" and are known for being fatty and especially delicious. Famous branded sezuki aji include the Seki aji of Saganoseki in Oita Prefecture, the Gon aji of the Goto Sea in Nagasaki Prefecture, and the Donchicchi aji of Shimane Prefecture. Thus the aji is a familiar fish beloved all over the country, and it is also extremely popular for fishing. It is known as a fish that is easy to catch even for beginners and families, and because it can be caught from breakwaters and quays, even amateurs can catch fatty sezuki aji.

A leading representative of Edomae sushi's hikarimono

Because the aji is also a fish found in abundance in Tokyo Bay, it has long been a leading representative of Edomae sushi, so much so that aji is the first to come to mind when speaking of hikarimono (shiny-skinned fish). Although it is a kind of blue-backed fish, it has little smell or quirk, and when fresh it is delicious even as raw sashimi, and is often used as a sushi topping too. In the old days it was generally cured with vinegar or salt before being pressed, but from around the period of high economic growth it also came to be pressed raw. Some sushi chefs insist on pressing it raw during its spring-to-summer season and vinegar-curing it at other times. Thus, when it comes to aji sushi, nigiri sushi is generally known, but because it is caught all over the country, it is also widely used in local sushi. The "aji no maru-zushi" of Saiki City in Oita Prefecture is a whole-fish aji sushi in which an aji with its innards removed is cured with salt and vinegar, filled inside with vinegared rice, and wrapped with red shiso.

Edomae aji sushi with decorative garnish work

Bowled over? The tasty origin of aji

The Japanese kanji for aji is written by combining the "fish" radical with a character read "san," and there are several theories about its origin: one that it is so delicious you are "bowled over" (mairu); one that the character read "san" (also meaning "the third") was used because its most delicious season is the third month of the old lunar calendar; and one that it is a miswriting of a character meaning fishy-smelling.
It is a fitting origin for the aji, which has long been beloved as a popular fish of good flavor since ancient times.