平目 · ヒラメ · hirame
Hirame
Hirame is olive flounder (fluke) — a lean, delicate white fish at its best in winter. Its thin fin muscle, engawa, is a prized chewy delicacy.
- Also known as
- fluke, olive flounder, left-eye flounder
- Species
- Paralichthys olivaceus (Olive flounder)
- Category
- White-flesh fish (shiromi)
- Texture
- firm, delicate — clean, subtle, lightly sweet
- Peak season
- Dec, Jan, Feb
- Sustainability
- varies — Status depends on the fishery; some flounder/fluke stocks are well-managed.
- Mercury
- Not in the FDA consumer table
- Pregnancy
- Eat in moderation
- Price tier
- $$$
A winter white fish
Hirame is olive flounder (fluke) — lean, firm and delicately sweet, the archetypal shiromi. It peaks in winter, when chefs slice it thin (usuzukuri) so you can almost see through it, or cure it briefly in kelp (kobujime) to draw out umami.
Engawa: the prize cut
Run your eye along the fin: the narrow band of muscle that works it is engawa, chewier and richer than the fillet, and a connoisseur’s favorite.
Hirame vs karei
The old rule: “left-eye hirame, right-eye karei” (hidari-hirame, migi-karei) — hold the fish with the pale belly down and hirame’s eyes sit on the left, karei’s on the right. They’re close cousins with flipped seasons; see the flatfish compared.