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Kuruma Ebi (Tiger Prawn) Sushi

Japanese tiger prawn / Kuruma prawn

Shrimp & Mantis Shrimp

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Decapoda, Penaeidae

A large prawn about 15 to 30 cm in size that lives on the sandy-muddy bottoms of inner bays along the Indo-Pacific coast. During the day it hides in the sand and mud, and at night it becomes active on the seafloor. In Japan it is called "kuruma-ebi" (wheel prawn) because the pattern of its curled-up form looks like a wheel.

The Japanese tiger prawn is a large edible prawn, with large ones reaching 30 centimeters, living in inner bays throughout Japan south of Hokkaido, but wild ones have drastically decreased due to development and pollution, and farmed ones are now the main supply. It has long been a luxury ingredient, and even now that farmed ones are central, the high cost of farming means it remains a luxury ingredient as ever. The peak season for the Japanese tiger prawn is early summer to summer for wild ones and winter for farmed ones, but besides farmed ones, frozen and live ones are imported from China, Taiwan, Australia, and elsewhere, so they can be eaten throughout the year. Note that the pure Japanese tiger prawn refers to the kuruma prawn of the genus Marsupenaeus in the family Penaeidae, but the boiled shrimp at conveyor-belt sushi and the like is often the large, blackish giant tiger prawn (black tiger), which closely resembles the kuruma prawn, or the whiteleg shrimp imported from Southeast Asia and elsewhere.

The signature topping of Edomae sushi, good in looks and taste

Because the Japanese tiger prawn has a beautiful appearance and superb taste, it has long been used as a sushi topping and in tempura, and it often appears in ukiyo-e as a leading sushi topping of Edomae sushi. It is sometimes served live as nigiri, but because Edomae sushi assumes some degree of preparation, and because the Japanese tiger prawn gains more umami and chewiness when heated, it is generally boiled as a sushi topping, with freshly boiled ones said to be the most delicious. Among the many shrimp sushi, Japanese tiger prawn sushi is especially luxurious, and pieces costing over a thousand yen each are common. Because it contains more sweetness-imparting components than other shrimp, the flavor is strong once it enters the mouth, and the firm, springy texture when bitten and the sweetness felt the more you chew are flavors unique to the Japanese tiger prawn.

What kinds of shrimp are there at sushi restaurants?

There are nearly 3,000 species of shrimp, broadly divided into the suborder Dendrobranchiata and the suborder Pleocyemata. The family Penaeidae of the suborder Dendrobranchiata, including the Japanese tiger prawn, is often used boiled, while the family Pandalidae of the suborder Pleocyemata, to which the botan shrimp and sweet shrimp belong, is often eaten raw.
Also, at conveyor-belt sushi and the like, because they are inexpensive, black tiger prawns and whiteleg shrimp are often used, and much of what is called "mushi-ebi" or "nama-ebi" is whiteleg shrimp. Before the naming was made stricter, the Argentine red shrimp of the suborder Dendrobranchiata was sometimes served as botan shrimp (now called aka-ebi).
In the Kanto region, centered on Edomae sushi where a degree of preparation is assumed, shrimp sushi mainly means boiled shrimp, but in regions such as Hokkaido where fresh shrimp that taste better raw are easily available, shrimp sushi often means raw shrimp.
Small Japanese glass shrimp and sakura shrimp are also seen at sushi restaurants in battleship (gunkan) style.