Species sheet · The Edible Ocean
Pacific saury
It arrives early and could not be happier.
- Salt-grilled whole with grated daikon
- Canned and simmered in soy
- Raw, as very fresh sashimi
- In French
- Balaou du Japon
- Scientific name
- Cololabis saira
- In the water
- Open water of the North Pacific, from the surface to 230 metres, in vast shoals.
- Season & buying
- Autumn. In Japan it is the fish of the season.
- Common length
- ~30 cm
- How to identify it
- Very long, slender body
Short jaws forming a small beak
Separated finlets before the tail
On the plate
Rich, forthright flesh with a pronounced flavour that stands up to a bare grill.
Avoid: Discarding the guts. Their bitterness is part of the dish in Japan.
Sanma is written with the characters for sabre, autumn and fish. Catches have fallen so far in ten years that its autumn price has become a television news item.
In Umay recipes
One Umay recipe calls for it.
