Fried shrimp

It's ebi fry, Japan's breadcrumbed deep-fried shrimp with the tail on.

Ebi fry (エビフライ, ebi furai, literally “shrimp fry”) is a large shrimp straightened out, dipped in flour, egg and panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried until golden, with the tail fan left on as a handle. It belongs to yōshoku, the family of Western-inspired dishes Japan made its own around 1900 alongside the pork cutlet and the croquette. It comes with shredded cabbage, a lemon wedge and tartar sauce or thick brown sauce, and it is a fixture of bento boxes, children's plates, lunch sets and department-store food halls. Many Japanese people name it among their favourite childhood foods.

It is not tempura, though the two are often confused abroad. Tempura shrimp is dipped in a thin, airy batter and comes out pale and lacy; ebi fry wears a crunchy, bumpy breadcrumb crust and comes out deep gold. In a message, 🍤 happily covers both, and any fried shrimp anywhere: popcorn shrimp, scampi, gambas rebozadas, a basket of fried prawns at the seaside.

The emoji exists because the first emoji sets were built for Japanese mobile phones, where ebi fry was as obvious a menu item as a hamburger is in an American diner. That is why it sits among bento, oden and rice balls rather than with Western fast food.

What does 🍤 mean when someone sends it?

Usually hunger: a craving, a plate in front of them or a dinner plan.

Next to a photo it labels what they are eating. In a “what do you fancy tonight?” exchange it is a vote for seafood or for a Japanese place. On its own, late in the day, it is the food equivalent of a hungry sigh. Restaurants and food accounts use it in menus and captions the way they use 🍣 and 🍜, and people living in or visiting Japan use it as shorthand for a Japanese meal.

It is cheerful and uncomplicated. There is no widely established slang or hidden meaning behind it, so a stray 🍤 from a friend is almost always about food. If someone means the animal, the catch of the day or a zodiac-style joke about shrimp, the right emoji is 🦐; 🍤 is already cooked.