Sarmon 鮭

Japan imports many kinds of salmon from around the world and is a major salmon-consuming country. Grilled fillets, onigiri fillings, salmon flakes - salmon appears in many familiar corners of Japanese cooking and is hard to leave out.

At conveyor-belt sushi restaurants, salmon is one of the standard toppings and is especially popular with children. King salmon served at higher-end sushi restaurants has a vivid orange colour, a moist texture, and a rich depth that can feel almost toro-like.

At the same time, some traditional sushi restaurants do not serve salmon, following the older Edo-style convention in which salmon nigiri was not part of the menu.

Origin: Hokkaido, Iwate, Aomori, Canada and others Season: Summer in places such as Hokkaido