Common name: Skilfish, Black cod

Japanese name: Aburabouzu (油坊主、脂坊主)

Taiwan common name: －

Chinese common name: －

Korean common name: －

Russia common name: монах морской, Эрилепис

Scientific name: Erilepis zonifer (Lockington, 1880)

Nigiri sushi detail: Skilfish (Aburabouzu) Nigiri sushi

Feature:

Skilfish (Aburabouzu) is distributed in the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and central California north of Honshu. As it grows, it migrates to depths of several hundred meters. The body color of adult fish is dark gray. The length is 150 cm.

The longtooth grouper (Kue) looks similar to Aburabouzu. For this reason, in the past, Aburabouzu was sometimes used as a substitute for Kue. When cooked in a stew, Aburabouzu has a rich, sweet flavor due to the large amount of fat it contains. Aburabouzu can also be eaten raw as sashimi, and is called “White flesh toro”. We’ve heard that it is also eaten as nigiri sushi in the Odawara area.

Like the oilfish (Maramutsu) and the Escolar (Aburasokomutsu), it contains a large amount of fat in its muscles, but the fat in this species does not contain any harmful components for the human body, and its distribution is not prohibited. However, eating too much of it can cause diarrhea.