History, meaning and kinds of engawa

Engawa is derived from Japanese architecture!?

Engawa is not fish name but parts of muscle in a fin of flatfish also called fluke fin. It tastes crunchy and chewy because of its muscle. This fish develops its muscle by swimming in the sea and diving into sea sand by its fin.

Engawa is derived from engawa (also called en) of Japanese architecture. This engawa is an edge of the verandah in ground floor. It consists floorboard made by wood or bamboo. A fluke fin was called Engawa after some Japanese said a fluke fin looks like engawa. Nowadays, engawa of Japanese architecture is decreasing year by year. Speaking of engawa in Japan, it is almost a term for fluke fin.

Engawa is one of the popular sushi toppings, but it is not well known that there are two kinds of engawa, Hirame and Karei. Hirame is known as olive founder or bastard halibut. Its engawa is expensive because it has a small fin for four sushi. Some sushi restaurants serve an engawa sushi with saying this sushi is used fin of olive founder.

Karei is known as Pleuronectidae or righteye flounder. Its engawa is cheaper than Hirame's engawa because it has big fin for about 20 sushi. A big Karei like Greenland halibut (Greenland turbot) has a bigger fin for about 60 sushi.

The taste of Hirame's engawa is different form Karei's engawa because of its life. Hirame has an instantaneous power to catch a swimming fish. Its fin is muscular, and the taste of it is chewier than Karei's fin. Karei eats small crab or shrimp with hiding in the sand, it need not swim frequently. Its fin is less muscular, and the taste of it is fatty than Hirame's fin. Some people like Karei's fin more than Hirame's fin though it is cheaper.

In addition, some belt conveyor sushi restaurants use engawa of Pacific halibut called Ohyo instead of Karei. Its engawa is cheaper than Karei's engawa because it is bigger. It tastes light and simple flavor. A few sushi restaurants serve not only engawa of flat fish but also engawa of tuna. It also called Se-toro is a rare part of tuna because 100 pounds tuna has an engawa for about 20 sushi. It tastes both chewy and fatty like tuna.

If you eat an engawa, you should go a sushi restaurant because sushi is the most popular engawa dish. However, you can enjoy other engawa dishes in some Japanese seafood restaurants of Izakaya. Some seafood restaurants serve slice of raw engawa or grilled or deep fried engawa. An engawa became juicy by grilling, became crispy by deep frying.

If you like sushi and conveyor belt sushi restaurant, you can invest it. Food and life companies (TYO:3563) and Kura Sushi Inc (TYO:2695) are listed in Tokyo Stock Exchange. If you like Japanese engawa, you can invest Kyokuyo Co. (TYO:3563) which is the largest fishery company in Japan. These companies are also included some ETFs for investing Japanese companies.