Japanese Cockle
Japanese cockles are generally served boiled. Their color is graduated from dark-brown to white. Because of this color, we can clearly see its leaf-shape with pleats along the edge. For a long time, my only impression of this shellfish was that they were neatly lined up on trays, as a ready-to-eat food, and being sold at the local fish market. It is said that Japanese cockles are usually prepared in a workplace near the fishing ports as we usually eat only their feet. At a place beyond the range of our eyes, Japanese cockles are de-shelled, their feet are boiled, and opened up, and then distributed nationwide. Since I hadn’t known much about Japanese, I was quite surprised to learn that the leaf-shaped topping consists only of the feet. What a long foot they have!

Actually, it was not a topping which I liked as a child because; the color was not attractive, it had a dry texture like chicken*, and also it had a chewy texture which was a little hard for a child to keep chewing. Now, I appreciate their chicken-like, chewy texture as one important feature that enriches my sushi-time experience, and chose them if they are on the menu list. One more thing about Japanese cockle is that their raw form as a sushi topping has become available when they are in season due to the modern distribution system, or maybe due to the increase of Japanese people who are gourmet-oriented. Nonetheless, you can consider yourself lucky if you see it on the menu list, for it is still rather rare. The last time I had it was a few years ago, in Tsukiji, Japan’s central fish market.

*Its chicken-like texture was the one of the reason why the Japanese cockles was called “chicken cockle” in Japan.