Seafood ── Fish
Buri
yellowtail — a winter fish whose name changes as it grows
A 'shusseuo' whose name changes with size. Winter's fat-laden 'kanburi' is prized raw, teriyaki-glazed, or simmered with daikon — bays where it fattens before wintering, then is taken in set nets, are valued for both fat quality and yield.
- Blue-backed fish
Lineage
What it's made of
A 'shusseuo' whose name changes as it grows, winter's fat-laden kanburi turns almost creamy raw, glazes into a sweet-savory teriyaki where sauce and fat bind together, and simmered with daikon it renders enough fat that the daikon is sometimes said to outshine the fish itself. Summer yellowtail, by contrast, runs lean and is called 'natsu-buri', suited to lighter dishes like frying.
How it's made
The core method is a set net that receives an entire shoal that has fattened in a bay before wintering, with each fish bled individually once netted to keep off any off-flavor. Techniques diverge from there — searing the skin briefly for a dish called yu-shimo adds smoky depth to the rich flesh. Resting it a few hours after bleeding lets the fat and umami settle together for a richer taste.
Why it took this shape
Yellowtail riding the Tsushima Current through the Sea of Japan fatten up once they enter a steeply plunging bay like Toyama Bay, building reserves ahead of winter before running into set nets. In Toyama's Himi, fish taken this way are sold as 'Himi Kanburi', valued for both fat quality and yield. The more sharply a bay's seabed drops away, the more likely a wintering shoal is to linger there.
Before You Go
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- Roadside stations, direct-sale stands, and marketsHow to enjoy buying food near where it's produced, visiting and shopping at morning markets and fish markets, what to expect at farm stands, and finding local food at roadside stations (michi-no-eki).
- Foods to look for in springA guide to foods often seen in Japan around spring — early bonito, bamboo shoots, sakura mochi, hanami bento, new-season tea, and butterbur sprouts — with rough pointers for finding them.
Dishes in the same style
- AjiA blue-backed fish sold year-round, served raw, minced as tataki, or fried. Fish that settle in one fast-flowing strait rather than migrate firm up and fatten, and are pole-and-line caught there under premium regional brand names.
- IwashiA small, schooling blue-backed fish eaten raw, simmered with plum, or as tsumire dumplings. Its fat quality tracks the tidal boundary it feeds along, and ports facing where cold and warm currents meet land the most — dried, it becomes niboshi dashi stock.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Known for it here / Known source
- Known for it here: Toyama, Himi
Yellowtail fatten up in Toyama Bay along the Tsushima Current before wintering, and are taken in set nets as the branded 'Himi Kanburi'.
- Known source: Niigata, Sado
Related lineage
- KanpachiRelated to yellowtail but firmer and leaner, at its best in summer. Wild fish come from Kuroshio-adjacent waters while farmed ones grow in calm bays, so firmness and fat content vary noticeably by where the fish was raised.
- SuzukiA 'shusseuo' whose name changes with size, at its best in summer. Its mild white flesh is served as chilled 'arai' or salt-grilled — it spends its juvenile stage in brackish river mouths, and ports at the head of such bays have long fished it as it grows.