Seafood guide

One of the main sources of the engawa served at conveyor-belt sushi. Its large size yields thick, fatty engawa. Despite the English name, it is not a true halibut.

Family

Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders)

Habitat & origin

Deep waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, mostly several hundred to around 1,000 m down

Flavor

White, soft and rich in fat

Best uses

Engawa for sushi (raw or seared), simmered dishes, fillets

Our productsEngawa slices (4.5–10 g), slices (6–10 g), portions

Alongside Greenland halibut, a main source of conveyor-sushi engawa, giving strips with a melt-in-the-mouth richness.

Family

Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders)

Habitat & origin

Cold North Pacific waters such as the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk

Flavor

As its Japanese name (“oily flounder”) suggests, rich in fat with tender flesh

Best uses

Engawa for sushi and sashimi, simmered dishes, dried fish

Our productsKamchatka flounder engawa

One of the largest flatfish, sometimes over 2 m long. Halibut engawa from these big fish is also used as a sushi topping.

Family

Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders)

Habitat & origin

North Atlantic. We source from Greenland, Canada and Norway

Flavor

Lean, mild white flesh with a firm texture

Best uses

Sushi and sashimi, meunière, fried, teriyaki and saikyo-yaki

Our productsFillets and portions, sushi slices (halibut and halibut engawa), teriyaki and saikyo-yaki

What we eat as sushi is the adductor, the muscle that closes the shell. Sashimi-grade adductors are quick-frozen while fresh to keep their sweetness and texture.

Family

Pectinidae (scallops)

Habitat & origin

Cold waters from northern Japan to Sakhalin and northern Korea; widely farmed

Flavor

The adductor's sweetness comes from amino acids such as glycine and alanine

Best uses

Sushi and sashimi, seared, sautéed, fried

Our productsSashimi-grade adductors, slices, seared

Off Tasmania's east coast, a longspined urchin carried south from mainland Australia by a strengthening current has been stripping kelp reefs bare. Harvesting urchins for their roe helps protect those kelp forests.

Family

Echinoidea (sea urchins)

Habitat & origin

Rocky reefs around Tasmania, Australia, harvested one by one by divers

Flavor

The edible part is the gonad: rich and sweet

Best uses

Sushi (gunkan or nigiri), sashimi, rice bowls

Our productsPurple urchin, bafun urchin

Sashimi-grade tuna is generally kept at ultra-low temperatures of −50°C or below to hold its bright red color and freshness.

Family

Scombridae, genus Thunnus

Habitat & origin

Migrates through temperate and tropical open oceans worldwide

Flavor

Lean red meat is clean-tasting; the belly (toro) is rich in fat

Best uses

Sushi, sashimi, rice bowls, negitoro

Our productsRaw material, loins (semi-finished), slices

In a major seafood company's consumer surveys, salmon has been the most-eaten topping at conveyor-belt sushi for more than ten years running. Because farmed salmon are raised on controlled feed, they became a topping that can be eaten raw.

Family

Salmonidae

Habitat & origin

Farmed mainly in Northern Europe, such as Norway, and in Chile

Flavor

Fatty, soft and melt-in-the-mouth

Best uses

Sushi, sashimi, seared, grilled, processed foods

Our productsFillets, steaks, portions, belly, sushi slices, value-added products

A staple of grilled salmon on Japanese tables. Cutting it to the Japanese kirimi spec keeps every grilled portion the same size.

Family

Salmonidae

Habitat & origin

Native to the North Pacific; widely farmed in Chile

Flavor

Bright red-orange flesh, moderately fatty and mild

Best uses

Salt-grilled portions, bento and set meals, sushi

Our productsSkin-on fillets, kirimi portions, sushi slices

Norwegian mackerel is widely used in Japan for salted mackerel and shime-saba. Its rich flesh works well both vinegar-cured and grilled.

Family

Scombridae

Habitat & origin

North Atlantic. Ours come from Norway and Iceland

Flavor

Autumn-caught fish are fatty and tender

Best uses

Vinegar-cured for sushi, salt-grilled, lightly dried, simmered in miso

Our productsFillets, boneless fillets, butterfly cuts, shime-saba sushi slices, teriyaki and saikyo-yaki

Despite the name, it is not a true cod. Its rich flesh is especially good marinated in miso, making it a classic for saikyo-yaki.

Family

Anoplopomatidae

Habitat & origin

The seafloor several hundred metres down, from Hokkaido through the Bering Sea to California

Flavor

Very rich, soft and silky

Best uses

Saikyo miso or sake-lees marinades, teriyaki, simmered

Our productsSkin-on fillets, steaks, sushi slices, teriyaki and saikyo-yaki

It grows slowly in cold, deep water and is known for its bright red skin. In Japan it is a familiar fish for simmering and sake-lees marinades.

Family

Genus Sebastes (rockfishes)

Habitat & origin

Deep North Atlantic waters. Ours come from Norway

Flavor

White, moderately fatty, plump flesh

Best uses

Simmered, marinated in sake lees or miso, grilled, sushi

Our productsFillets, sushi slices

Most of the “shishamo with roe” sold in Japanese supermarkets is actually capelin. True shishamo is a different fish found only along Hokkaido's Pacific coast.

Family

Osmeridae (smelts)

Habitat & origin

Around the North Atlantic and the Arctic. Ours come from Norway

Flavor

Roe-filled females have a pleasant popping texture

Best uses

Grilled whole, fried, nanban-zuke (marinated fried fish)

Our productsFemales (with roe), males