- Best viewed large, but I suggest you come back and read the description, which I wrote for You.
- i like this part, looks like a fish's tail - DIgital DI
O-toro Nigiri Sushi
This is yet another in a series of Japanese food photos designed to provide knowledge to those who may not be familiar with such food.
Other educational Japanese food photos can be found in my photostream
by searching for the tag; SushiEd
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Those of you who have eaten at a Japanese sushi bar are familiar with tuna, or "Maguro" in Japanese. It's a dark red, semi-translucent fish with minimal taste, but people always seem to order it just 'cause it's raw, dead fish, which, after all, is what they came to the Japanese sushi bar to eat.
What you should know is that there are higher quality parts of the tuna fish which can be ordered.
Pictured here is the top-of-the-line portion of the tuna; O-toro. This meat comes straight from the belly of the fish, which is the fattiest and most tender portion for a human to ingest. It's also the tastiest.
There are two grades of tuna between Maguro and O-toro. Those are named; Toro and Chu-toro.
So, to recap, in order of most common to the best tasting, the grades of raw tuna to look for at a Japanese restaurant are as follows:
Maguro
Toro
Chu-toro
O-toro
O-toro can be quite expensive, by the way. The four pieces you see here, which is two orders, cost approximately $34 USD. Compare that to two orders of Maguro, which would cost somewhere around $10-12 USD.
Though this restaurant serves their O-toro with lemon and shiso, which is a leaf from the mint family, it's best eaten plain. The taste of O-toro should be enjoyed without any other substance, aside from a dip in your shoyu sara (shoyu is the Japanese word for "soy sauce" - sara means upside down - dip the fish into the shoyu, not the rice.)
If the Japanese restaurant you've wandered into offers nothing better than Maguro, I'd turn around and find some other place to eat.
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This delicious fish was eaten last evening at a Japanese restaurant
which opened just this past Monday here on the Big Island. Its name
is Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar.
This is the second Japanese restaurant opened here on the Kohala Coast since the first of this year. Including Norio's, we now have three Japanese restaurants within a 5-mile radius.
Sansei's provided a really good customer experience last evening. They're an established restaurant company with two locations on Oahu and one on Maui. The sushi chef previously worked at one of their Oahu restaurants, then transferred over to the Big Island for the opening of this new location.
The staff was well-trained and the overall operation seemed to run quite nicely for a place that opened just this past Monday.
The sushi prices are about 30% less than that of Norio's, but don't expect that to last long. New restaurants always use a bait and switch pricing scheme in the early going. Their prices will rise.
Personally, price is the least important element. Good customer service and consistent quality of fish is what I look for in a Japanese restaurant.
The third restaurant here, which I have eaten in on four occasions, isKenichi Pacific. Though their fish is of good quality, they leave a whole lot to be desired in the area of customer service. Their sushi prices are not as low as Sansei's, but not quite as high as Norio's.
Comments and faves
makeupanid, speediene, alrobertson314, yanikegroup, and 147 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Friendly Joe (64 months ago | reply)
Great shot and description, Bill!
Thanks for the education.
How do you say "You forgot to cook this" in kyōtsūgo?
:)
Love Street Photography (Melanie) (64 months ago | reply)
Well I'm not sure I can ever bring myself to eat sushi but you take the most beautiful pictures of food!
I will, however, go eat sushi with you next time you come to Atlanta. That way I can have an expert show me the good stuff :-)
Beefus (64 months ago | reply)
Bait and switch...sounds appropriate.
Scoutj (64 months ago | reply)
This is so beautiful and I want to eat it so badly!!!
lucy96734 (64 months ago | reply)
Oh yummy!!
phlewte (64 months ago | reply)
this information would've been helpful on tuesday, when i went out for sushi.
thanks a lot, man.
petergibbons949 (63 months ago | reply)
Beautiful, Bill! I almost ate my iPhone.
Matteo Di Nicola (63 months ago | reply)
I wanna eat it !!
seem so good ;)
dinali77 (63 months ago | reply)
Thanks.. straight to the point and easy to understand.
:-)
I'm not to keen to raw food... but the image looks beautiful.
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Son of Groucho (63 months ago | reply)
Fascinating stuff, Bill.
alessio grazi (63 months ago | reply)
This Amazing Work is born from a Noble Soul !
Please add to Royal Group:
Royal Group(Post 1 - Give 3 Crowns)
deletted [deleted] (63 months ago | reply)
i now i have PgDIP in O-toro.
great series.
tv writer (63 months ago | reply)
Oh, this looks so amazing.
If you send me an airline ticket, I'll be happy to try it out in person.
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makeupanid (63 months ago | reply)
I kinda miss Julius ;)
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The One [D Chosen 1] (63 months ago | reply)
Yum Yum ..!
Melissa.Photography. (63 months ago | reply)
yum!!!
Dally (63 months ago | reply)
Wow, Bill, that's great! You have choices now! And all within 5 minutes!
Thanks for the detailed breakdown of various qualities; I honestly was not aware of all the levels of tuna. I assume the same goes for all types of fish (albeit with other names)?
Not that I can afford the Otoro!
Bill Adams (63 months ago | reply)
Oh, I forgot there was one more level of tuna....
Bill Adams (63 months ago | reply)
Dally, tuna has the most variety of any sushi-quality fish.
Hamachi, or Yellow Tail, which is also of the tuna family (amberjack), has varying tastes of meat, depending on the cut.
In addition, the belly meat of salmon is fattier and tastier than the regular part of the fish.
For those of you who may be vegan and are repulsed by all this meat talk, remember, youwere born an omnivore.
pendeho (63 months ago | reply)
Can I have some fruit instead?
!!wat_dat!! (63 months ago | reply)
research material that you eat...it don't get better then that, bill-san!
speediene (63 months ago | reply)
Hmmm....deadly sushi shot. =9 Great info too!! Brought back memories of my sushi obsession days while living in Taiwan. O-toro is expensive there as well, but much less so compared to here. In Chicago, it is in general unavailable.
cyanatic (63 months ago | reply)
Great, great food shot. By the way, how are their cheeseburgers?
Bill Adams (63 months ago | reply)
*sigh*
eye of einstein (63 months ago | reply)
guess I missed this in all the hubbub,,
I love this stuff when I can get to do it..
There is one more grade which I was watching a documentary about
referred to in a documentary I was watching a while back
something like the king meguro fish which the priciest meat comes from
Chutoro (choo-toh-roh), which is sometimes labeled chu-toro, is the belly area of the tuna along the side of the fish between the akami and the otoro. It is often preferred because it is fatty but not as fatty as otoro.
these photos ar a doublo fave for me
Bill Adams (63 months ago | reply)
Thanks, einie...More later...Right now I'm dwivin' in my caw...I've turned on the wadio...
Off to eat sushi at Sansei's...
itucker (63 months ago | reply)
thanks for the capture as well as the info. how's the breathing?
Pockafwye (63 months ago | reply)
I've had Toro before, but nothing quite as fine as Chu-toro or O-toro before. I can only imagine how luscious this must've been.
Watari Goro 渡五郎 (63 months ago | reply)
That's a lot of sushi!
Hmm...I wonder if I can get any decent sushi for lunch tomorrow.....?
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Beefus (63 months ago | reply)
They sell breathing there too? Now I'm really confused.
bigkyle28 (63 months ago | reply)
Very nice photo.The restaurant made a great presentation with this dish which always helps.While I have never tried sushi this looks very appealing.
kazam media (63 months ago | reply)
I think your images are great and we would like to invite you to include ONE in a book!
Come and be "1 of 1 million" members in the "1 Million" group.
Click HERE and bring your best photo.
Creative Minds 808 (63 months ago | reply)
So Ono looking!
konakoka (63 months ago | reply)
Is Sushi en Fuego considered Japanese?
Bill Adams (63 months ago | reply)
Scott, Sushi En Fuego is an Americanized Japanese restaurant. I'd try it just to try it, but will always prefer more traditional-style Japanese restaurants and fare.
Ira, starting yesterday, the breathing began returning to normal. Though it's early, today is starting off relatively okay. Thank you for asking.
Thanks to Everyone for commenting!
.btezra (63 months ago | reply)
Oh-Toro, how I love thee...
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AmyEmilia (63 months ago | reply)
Incredibly clear focus and light. Not a fan of sushi, but you make it look appetizing.
twk333 (63 months ago | reply)
thank you
Gary Hoover (63 months ago | reply)
Shucks, this is absolutely sharp. And the photo itself is and amazing one.
anna.hawaii (63 months ago | reply)
finally ate there just tonight. enjoyed ourselves completely, we sat at the sushi bar too :). i'm thinking maybe (?) the prices won't go up, i was in maui recently, at one of the older (maybe the original) sansei's, and the prices were the same. hopefully they stay that way. thinking about applying to work there...better start brushing up on my dead fish knowledge. oh, and i like this picture too.
Bill Adams (63 months ago | reply)
Anna, let me know the next time you head down there. I'll come down and join you two.
You're probably right about the pricing. I've since spoken to an F&B executive at one of the local resort hotels. They performed a market cost analysis of their pricing structure. They do keep their sushi prices down, but the other menu items are higher than those of other comparable restaurants.
This SushiED series might be a good place to start with your brushing-up. That's the reason I created the series.
Thank you for the nice comment!
And, thank you, Everyone, for your nice comments!
Photography-In-PJ's (60 months ago | reply)
I love sushi, and i digg photography... when i sarch sushi on Flickr... i get abundance! To much i see trays, plates, and cookie sushi... AND HAMSTERS, i like this it is simple, elegant, and a little sassy with the black and red, but moslty classy (who would have guessed suhis could be classy! eatng with sticks!)
Aegistance (58 months ago | reply)
lol. Maguro is the name for tuna. the word your looking for is Akami. And if your going straight to the best tuna just add (hon)maguro, haha..The akami part is not the least tasty part. all parts have unique tastes. I think your taste buds are failing you my friend.
Bill Adams (58 months ago | reply)
Sorry, sunshine...This is o-toro, just like the title suggests.
"Akami" is used to indicate the dark red meat of fish/meat. Akami fish/meat has little fat, much like maguro. O-toro has lots of fat, which makes it mucho tasty. It's also lighter in color than akami maguro.
Do your research before you come wandering in here lecturing about things you know not a lot about.
twk333 (58 months ago | reply)
now, bill ... i'm sure he was just trying to help ...
i mean, he did refer to you as friend ... (-__-)
this reminds me that i need to take some pics (or find some) of some sashimi i had ... so i can ask you what they are ... ;D
(they way it was cut/served,) they look like small pieces of fatty flank steak ... (o__O)
Bill Adams (58 months ago | reply)
John McCain also refers to me as his friend, but I'm not.
twk333 (58 months ago | reply)
ahahaha! ... good point ... ;b
i, for one, thank you for your sushi series ... ;)
Aegistance (58 months ago | reply)
I will now quote you,
"Those of you who have eaten at a Japanese sushi bar are familiar with tuna, or "Maguro" in Japanese. It's a dark red, semi-translucent fish with minimal taste, but people always seem to order it just 'cause it's raw, dead fish, which, after all, is what they came to the Japanese sushi bar to eat."
"So, to recap, in order of most common to the best tasting, the grades of raw tuna to look for at a Japanese restaurant are as follows:
Maguro<--Akami. not Maguro. Maguro means Tuna.
Toro
Chu-toro
O-toro"
You said it got minimal taste. That part that you speak of is called "Akami". its not just called regular "Maguro". All parts are tasty in their own ways. The thing is that "Akami" is the one part there is more % of in the hole fish. O-toro is very rare. There for the cost.
I work as a sushi chef. Just going in my 4th year. I dont mean to lecture you. just to make you change what you missed in the line of quality. =)
Aegistance (58 months ago | reply)
btw. I like your pics. they are neat.
Bill Adams (58 months ago | reply)
Well, heck, Aegistance, if you had explained it that way initially it would have made much more sense.
Thanks for the clarification and the nice comment...