northern shrimp; sweet shrimp; red shrimp
Refers to Pandalus borealis, a small pink shrimp known for its sweet taste. Often served as sashimi or sushi. Also called 北国赤海老.
See also: ホッコクアカエビ
I often order sweet shrimp at conveyor-belt sushi restaurants.
Sweet shrimp sashimi is sweet and has a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
A different species (kuruma prawn), larger and with a firmer texture, not as sweet as 甘えび.
Common kanji-kana mixed spelling; the kanji 甘 means 'sweet'.
Full kanji spelling; less common but still seen.
Katakana spelling is very common, especially in menus and packaging; usually written in kana.
From 甘 (ama, 'sweet') + 海老 (ebi, 'shrimp'), referring to its sweet flavor.