August Seasonal Japanese Seafood

Look for these seafood when eating out in Japan or in the supermarkets or at your fishmonger. Most of the seafood listed here you can enjoy as sushi or sashimi. At home we like to have tachiuo as sashimi with a bit of sesame oil and sea salt. Karei we like either simmered in a delicate dashi with some soy sauce and mirin or cooked in butter and lemon meuniere-style. Ayu is best salted and grilled. And while we don't cook hamo at home we look forward to having it out at restaurants, especially with a bainiku (umeboshi) dressing. We had katsuo over the weekend at a restaurant. The chef seared the outside (tataki), sliced it, and served it over a bowl of rice with grated nagaimo.

Aka isaki　赤伊佐幾 Schlegel's red bass (Caprodon schlegelii)
Ayu 鮎 sweetfish (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis)
Hamo 鱧 pike eel or pike conger (Muraenesox cinereus)
Hoya ほや sea squirt(Halocynthia roretzi)
Inada 鰍 young amberjack (or yellowtail) (Seriola quinqueradiata)
Stages of buri: wakashi, inada, warasa, buri
Isaki 伊佐幾 chicken grunt (Parapristipoma trilineatum)
Kanpachi 間八 amberjack or yellowtail (Seriola dumerili)
Karei 鰈 right-eye flounder (Pleuronectes herzensteini)
Katsuo 鰹 skipjack tuna (or bonito) (Katsuwonus pelamis)
Kensaki ika 剣先烏賊 swordtip squid (Loligo edulis)
Kijihata (Akahata) 雉羽太 red-spotted grouper (Epinephelus akaara)
Ko yari ika 小槍烏賊 baby spear squid (Loligo bleekeri)
Maiwashi 真鰯 Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus)
Matsubu (Ezobora) まつぶ（えぞぼら Japanese neptune or whelk (Neptunea polycostata)
Mehikari 目光 greeneyes (Chlorophthalmus borealis)
Saba 鯖 Japanese mackerel (Scomber japonicus)
Saragai 皿貝 Northern great telling (Megangulus venulosa)
Shiira しいら　鱪 dorado or mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus)
Shima aji 島鯵 striped jack or white trevally (Pseudocaranx dentex)
Shinko (Konoshiro) 鰶 dotted gizzard shad (Konosirus punctatus)
Surumei ika するめいか　鯣烏賊 Japanese common squid (or flying squid) (Todarodes pacificus)
Suzuki すずき　鱸 Japanese sea bass (Lateolabrax japonicus)
Tachiuo 太刀魚 cutlassfish (Trichiurus lepturus)
Tobiuo 飛魚 flying fish (Cypselurus agoo)