Sujiko vs. Ikura: Salmon Roe in Japanese Food Culture

In Japanese food culture, Ikura (いくら) is an orange caviar made of mature salmon roe or trout roe, typically pickled in soy sauce.

It comes in individual-shaped spherical balls, well-known as a Sushi or Onigiri ingredient.

In addition, as you may know, there is one more Japanese delicacy called Sujiko (筋子), made of salmon or trout roe.

Sujiko is similar to Ikura, but do you know the difference between the two?

Sujiko vs. Ikura

Sujiko (筋子)

As you can see in the photo above, first and foremost, Sujiko has a dark reddish color compared to Ikura.

Sujiko consists of a skein of immature salmon roe or trout roe surrounded by the ovarian membrane, and each egg is slightly smaller than Ikura.

While Ikura is caviar typically pickled in soy sauce, Sujiko is often brined, and that prevents its shape from collapsing.

Ikura (いくら)

In other words, unless pickling the small immature egg in salt, it is fragile compared to Ikura.

As for usage, unlike Ikura, Sujiko is rarely used as a Sushi topping, for it is within the egg sac.

But as with Ikura, we commonly use the dark reddish roe in Onigiri rice balls.

Summary

In summary, here is the comparison table of Sujiko vs. Ikura.

(Reference Pages: マカロニ, 違いはねっと)