I'm having some kind of hair issue here...
Hey guys, how's it going? My name is Micaela and today we are in Okinawa at Tomari Iyumachi,
which is a "sakana-ichiba", a fish market where they mainly specialize in selling tuna,
"maguro", and today we are here to see a special show that showcases how one whole fish is
cut into different types of sashimi!
Check it out!
Today at Tomari Iyumachi Fish Market, they're carving a "bincho maguro", or, in English,
an Albacore Tuna.
Although there are many factors in determining the price of a single fish, a tuna fish about
this size will usually sell for around 2man yen, or $200.
In less than a minute of carving the fish, we already have our first piece of sashimi.
Zuniku is taken from the head of the fish, is considered rare and a delicacy, as you
can only get two stems per fish.
One interesting thing to note is that the entire carving of this maguro is done with
only one knife. This is partially thanks to the soft and smooth texture of the albacore
tuna, once the skin is broken, the knife glides cleanly along the inside of the fish.
The next piece of sashimi produced before us is “kamatoro” it's an oily and fatty
meat, located near the collarbones of the fish. Since this rare cut only makes up about
3% of an entire tuna fish, you’re not likely to find it in sushi restaurants.
Next, up, “ookakumaku”, or the diaphragm of the tuna. You might be surprised to know
that yes, this can be eaten as sashimi as well.
By the way, as one fisherman carves the fish, another is preparing the sashimi so that onlookers
can enjoy the different flavours and compare the textures, right there on the spot.
Finally the main cuts of the tuna are produced. These massive cuts are what go on to become
sashimi and sushi in traditional Japanese restaurants.
But there is one more special portion of the tuna that shouldn’t be overlooked:
The leftover flesh on the spine of a fish is called “nakaochi”, it’s scooped up
with a spoon and served raw, and it's so soft and delicious~
The larger blocks are then cut into smaller pieces of sashimi, and as you can see, just
a single quarter of one fish can produce a lot of sushi.
For only $200 per fish, it doesn't seem like such a bad investment, does it?
Finally, it's time to eat!
Here we are:
Kamatoro, Ookakumaku, Zuniku, and Naka-Ochi.
Four delicacies you can probably only experience when you eat them straight at the source.
Itadakimasu!
It's very chewy!
All the different areas of the fish are like...
Yeah, the flavors are all different, the textures are totally different too.
We're at a folding table in a fish market, but it tastes like we're eating a full-tuna
course in a high-end sushi restaurant!
So as I'm sure a lot of you guys know, "Bluefin Tuna" is an endangered species on the brink
of extinction, the fish we saw today, the Albacore Tuna is also although not endangered
~yet~ , the populations are decreasing, so it is really important that when you consume
tuna, to keep responsibly, don't waste your food, and be conscious of the fact that the
less we consume the better.
I know it's a weird message to kind of like, stick at the end of a video that shows you
how sashimi is made but I think it's important to say! You know, it's educational but it's
also, you should know that we do have to be careful with how we consume tuna in the next
couple of years, or else our future generations wont be able to enjoy it! And it is very delicious,
so that would be a shame.
Anyway.
Gotta go.
Bye!