Tai (Sea Bream)

Sea bream has a special place in Japanese cooking. There are many varieties of sea bream such as red sea bream, black porgy and yellowback sea bream. The red sea bream has a unique red color that is considered tovbe lucky and so the fish is served up whole on New Year's Day, at wedding ceremonies and other special occasions.

This fish appears in many Japanese proverbs. "Use a shrimp to catch a sea bream" and "Stale sea bream is still a delicacy." These well-known proverbs illustrate how in Japanese culture sea bream is synonymous luxury and high quality.

Sea breams have hard scales and bones and so properly filleting them takes some practice. The meat can be used for high-grade sashimi, the head section can be cooked and the removed bones and tail can provide a rich flavor to soup stock. Sea bream can be stored frozen or refrigerated, but should be used soon after purchase.

In Japan there is a popular snack called "taiyaki," which literally means "grilled sea bream." However, this is actually just a fish-shaped pancake stuffed with sweet bean paste.