How to buy quality fish with language guide

Cuts of tuna

When you go to a fish market – or even supermarket – in Japan, you’ll see three different parts of the tuna being sold.

    Fatty tuna – 大トロ/おおとろ/Ootoro

    Medium fatty tuna – 中トロ/ちゅうとろ/Chutoro

    Red tuna – 赤身/あかみ/Akami

Usually whole tuna is cut into three sections across the body: 

    The head part – かみ/Kami

    The head part – なか/Naka

    The fin part – しも/Shimo 

Each of the three parts include a section of the back and the stomach. 

    The back part – 背/せ/Se

    The stomach part – 腹/はら/Hara

So, for example:

   The middle stomach –  腹なか/はらなか/Haranaka

   The back head –  背かみ/せかみ/Sekami 

Fatty tuna – 大トロ/おおとろ/Otoro 

This can be taken from the stomach part of the head section (腹かみ/はらかみ/Harakami) to the middle part of stomach (腹なか/はらなか/Haranaka). Otoro is taken only 1 out of 5 in the fatty part that is called Toro, that’s why it’s expensive because it’s rare. But the taste of the Otoro is so rich and once you put the Otoro into your mouth, you don’t need chewing, it just melt in your mouth, the texture is just like heaven. Otoro included many DHA that activate your brain, EPA that improve your blood flow. Also it’s included vitamin A, D and E 5 times as much as red tuna (赤身/あかみ/Akami) so Otoro is not only delicious, but very nutritious.  

Medium fatty tuna  – 中トロ/ちゅうとろ/Chutoro

This can be taken from the back part of the head/Sekami/ せかみ/ 背かみ, the back part of the fin/ Seshimo/ せしも/ 背しも, the stomach part of the middle/ Haranaka/ 腹なか, the stomach part of the fin/ Harashimo/ 腹しも. It’s less fatty than Otoro and less sour than Akami.

Red tuna – 赤身/あかみ/Akami

This is all of other parts of Otoro and Chutoro. You can taste tuna-derived component and slightly sour flavor. It’s more containing protein than Toro, and Akami has only 5% of fat of Toro has. So if you want to reduce to take fat, Akami is very good. The quality of Akami is very important. If you could get very good quality of Akami, the taste is like the good soft red meat. But the quality is not so good, sometimes the meat is watery