tai
n. C / Un. a type of fish from the Pacific Ocean that is very popular in Japanese cooking. It is often called sea bream and is eaten at celebrations because its name sounds like a word for 'happy'.
n. any of several species of marine fish in the family Sparidae, particularly the Pagrus major or red seabream. Highly valued in Japanese gastronomy, it is frequently served at celebratory events due to a linguistic pun on the word 'medetai', meaning auspicious.
We ate fresh tai sashimi at the wedding feast.
The chef carefully sliced the tai to ensure the red skin remained visible for the traditional New Year's platter.
In Japanese culinary tradition, tai is considered the king of fish, not only for its delicate flavor but also for its cultural association with fortune and longevity.
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 邰 (Tái) and 斄 /𭤎 (Tái).
From the Wade–Giles romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 代 (dài).
From the Wade–Giles romanization of the Mandarin 戴 (Dài), as well as from its Cantonese pronunciation Daai³.
Used as an uncountable noun when referring to the meat as food; countable when referring to the biological species.