Common name: Japanese smelt, Surf smelt, Shishamo marine smelt

Japanese name: Chika (千魚)

Chinese common name: 日本公鱼

Korean common name: 날빙어

Scientific name: Hypomesus japonicus (Brevoort, 1856)

Nigiri sushi detail: Japanese smelt (Chika) Nigiri sushi

Characteristics:

Japanese smelt (Chika) are distributed along the Sanriku coast, Mutsu Bay, Hokkaido, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, and the Korean Peninsula. It is found from the coast to inner bays and acts in large schools. It resembles the Wakasagi smelt (Wakasagi), but is about 20 cm long, about twice the size of the Wakasagi.

The downside is that the bones are a bit hard, but the taste is light and similar to Wakasagi. It is suitable for salted and grilled, tempura, and fried. As a processed food, it is made into Tsukudani (food boiled in soy sauce).

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