青柳 · アオヤギ · aoyagi
Aoyagi
Aoyagi is the round (hen) clam — sweet orange clam-foot with a briny snap. Its proper name is bakagai, 'the fool clam'; its little adductor muscles are the prized kobashira.
- Also known as
- bakagai, round clam, hen clam
- Species
- Mactra chinensis (Hen clam / Chinese mactra)
- Category
- Shellfish & clams (kai)
- Texture
- tender, snapping — sweet, briny, mineral
- Peak season
- Feb, Mar, Apr
- Sustainability
- varies — Stocks vary by bay and much is imported; no formal sushi-grade rating.
- Mercury
- Not in the FDA consumer table
- Pregnancy
- Eat in moderation
- Price tier
- $$
Two names, two parts
Aoyagi’s proper name is bakagai (馬鹿貝, literally “fool clam”) — supposedly because it so often gapes open with its orange foot lolling out, like a fool sticking out its tongue. “Aoyagi” is the polite market name, borrowed from a place in Chiba. Two parts reach the counter: the sweet orange foot (the aoyagi itself) and the pair of small round adductor muscles — kobashira, like tiny scallops, frequently served as gunkanmaki.
Sweet and briny
The foot is tender with a clean snap and a sweet, briny, faintly mineral flavor — lighter and more delicate than the bolder akagai. The kobashira are sweeter still, and prized in their own right.
At the counter
A late-winter-to-spring clam, aoyagi is a fine, affordable way into edomae shellfish — try it beside the springtime torigai.
Related neta
Torigai
Torigai is the Japanese cockle — its glossy blue-black foot blanched to a sweet, springy bite. Named 'bird shell' for a shape (and a flavor) that recall poultry.
赤貝 akagaiAkagai
Akagai is ark shell — prized for deep-red, crunchy flesh and a clean briny sweetness. Slap a fresh one on the board and it visibly flinches.
北寄貝 hokkigaiHokkigai
Hokkigai is surf clam — sweet and crunchy, with a signature blanched tip that blushes from beige to a vivid red-pink. A cold-water Hokkaido staple.