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Yellowback seabream (Kidai)

【Nigiri: Shiromi】Yellowback seabream (Kidai) is distributed south of Chiba Prefecture on the Pacific Ocean side, south of Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan side, and in the East China Sea. They mainly inhabit the margins of the continental shelf at depths of 150 to 200 meters. The body length reaches 35 cm. As its name suggests, its body color is red with a strong yellowish tinge compared to Crimson seabream (Chidai) and Red seabream (Madai), but it does not have blue spots. It is also known as Renkodai. They are sometimes called shiba-ren, ko-ren, chu-ren, and dai-ren from smallest to largest.

Yellowback sea bream is mostly caught in the East China Sea and elsewhere by bottom trawl nets, and fresh ones are scarce. Its sashimi is also tasty when caught fresh by longlines or fished. When sashimi is prepared, it is better to use kawashimo-tukuri. Smaller fish can be made into sujime, used in Edomae sushi topping.

When there were no red sea breams in good condition at the Toyosu market, The sushi chef was offered a good one of the fishing yellowback seabream. If you are not told, you would think it is red seabream, the water is well drained out, and you can feel enough umami. It is a perfect example of the skill of a sushi chef.

Also called Pricess perch.