Japanese Sakura Ebi Dried Cherry Blossom Shrimp

Japan — Suruga Bay, Shizuoka Prefecture; harvest and processing tradition established 19th century; GI protected under Japanese law for Shizuoka production

Sakura ebi (桜えび, Sergia lucens) — cherry blossom shrimp — are tiny, translucent pink shrimp harvested almost exclusively from Suruga Bay, Shizuoka Prefecture, in two seasons: spring (March–June) and autumn (October–December). The name evokes cherry blossoms due to their delicate pink colour when fresh and their visual resemblance to falling petals when dried. Japan accounts for virtually all of the world's harvest of this species. Dried sakura ebi are the most common form outside Shizuoka — intensely flavoured, crunchy, with concentrated umami and a sweet ocean depth. They are used as a topping for okonomiyaki and takoyaki, stirred into rice dishes, folded into tamagoyaki, or fried lightly in oil with garlic as a flavour oil. Fresh (raw) and boiled sakura ebi are available only in Shizuoka during the harvest windows, and are considered among the most special seasonal ingredients in Japanese cuisine — served simply as kakiage (light vegetable-seafood tempura fritters), as sashimi (raw, with a vinegared sauce), or in a clear suimono. The fresh shrimp are sweet, delicate, and entirely different in character from their dried equivalent.

Dried: intensely sweet-ocean, concentrated umami, crunchy; fresh: delicate, sweet, translucent — two entirely different registers of the same ingredient