The holidays are behind us now, but it's still the season for celebrating the New Year. From mochi rice dumplings to mikan mandarins, there are so many festive foods in Japan. Few are more auspicious, or supremely delicious, than madai, known in English variously as sea bream or red snapper.
More often simply called tai, this is the fish you see depicted under the arm of the deity Ebisu (most visibly on the labels of Yebisu beer). It's an essential course at wedding banquets and other felicitous occasions. Partly this is due to its hue, red being the color of good fortune; partly because the word "tai" is thought of as a contraction of medetai ("celebratory").
Not that any wordplay is needed with a fish of such fine flavor. That is why, now that the dust has settled and supplies of fresh seafood have resumed, I will soon be making my way to Uchiyama, an excellent little restaurant on the outer edge of Ginza, where madai forms the centerpiece of the menu.