BotanEbi – [Sushi|Foodlore]

Description

• Botan-Ebi – (Peony shrimp.) – Hiragana: ぼたんえび Katakana: ボタンエビ Kanji:牡丹蝦 

• About this fish: This sweet shrimp’s Peony-Red shell is very thin, shiny and nearly translucent! So, it’s often called the “Jewel of the North Pacific.” These shrimp are often served alongside their heads for presentation: quite often as the centrepiece of a meal! (It’s also the best way to show that it’s fresh! their faces turn a few shades darker as they go bad.) Botan shrimp begin their lives as males and eventually transform into females to maximize their ability to reproduce!! As with Ama-ebi it is very sweet, some say they taste identical! However, Botan is a bit larger and is usually prepared with an iconic “Butterfly cut” along the Shrimp’s back so the meat completely coats the rice!

A close relative to ‘Botan-Ebi’ is the “Spot-Prawn” which is caught locally off the west coast of BC Canada, I mention this as we have a local spotprawn festival here in Vancouver celebrated annually in May!!!

[Sticker art by @Samkalensky, Part of my Nigiri Sushi/Foodlore collections.]