1.
icefish; whitebait
A small, slender, translucent-white fish (Salangichthys microdon) that runs up rivers from the sea in early spring to spawn. Traditionally eaten whole, raw or lightly cooked, and prized as a harbinger of spring in Japanese cuisine.
A small transparent fish treated as a seasonal delicacy in Japan. Because icefish appear in rivers only during a brief spawning run in early spring, they are strongly associated with that season in haiku and traditional cuisine.
Usage
- Commonly served as tempura, in clear soup (お吸い物), simmered with egg, or — most famously — as 踊り食い, eaten live while still wriggling.
- The name literally means 'white fish' because of the body's translucent, whitish color.
- The similar word シラス refers to the juvenile stage of sardines and anchovies, not the same fish, though both are small and whitish.
Cultural note
- The idiom 白魚のような指 ('fingers like icefish') is a classical compliment for a woman's slender, pale, delicate fingers.
- 白魚 is a spring seasonal word (春の季語) in haiku.
- Harvesting icefish with 四つ手網 (square lift nets) on the Sumida River was a famous sight of old Edo.
Common collocations
- 白魚の天ぷら: icefish tempura
- 白魚の踊り食い: eating live icefish
- 白魚漁: icefish fishing
- 白魚のような指: delicate, pale fingers
Similar words
- シラス: shirasu — juvenile sardines/anchovies, a different fish commonly dried and eaten over rice.
- 素魚: ice goby — a different species sometimes confused with 白魚; often written in hiragana しろうお.
- 稚魚: fry; juvenile fish — general term for very young fish.