Maguro. – [Sushi|Foodlore]

Description

• Maguro. (Tuna.) – Hiragana: まぐろ, Katakana: マグロ , Kanji: 鮪 
•  AKA: 本鮪 “Honmaguro*”) – Best Season: All Seasons.

• About this fish: Tuna is quite often called the “King of the Fish” but that royal title wasn’t always so; in fact tuna only gained its title recently over the last hundred or so years! – In the Edo period (Around the time Nigiri-sushi became popular (approx 1820.) Tuna itself was considered “Low grade & Cheap.” (it was not typically eaten as it would spoil quite quickly on its way from the docks.) Vinegar & other Marinating techniques just didn’t work as well as it did on Mackerel & other fish. (However, tuna thankfully had plenty of other uses: its oil was often used as either lamp-oil & its meat worked well as fertilizer!) – However as time went on and technology advanced; the idea of Tuna as food largely changed with the arrival of convenient & reliable home refrigeration & “Ultra-low temperature freezing” (Which was invented in the early 1940s and quickly spread world wide!)

Today; Tuna is highly prized by fishermen & chefs alike for its large size & amount of meat! – it’s said that One 400 pound Bluefin Tuna can dish out up to 10,000 servings of nigiri sushi! So, Auctioneers at Fish Markets compete & bid for the best & biggest fish; which sell in the general price range of $80-$600 (often more, because it’s an auction; sometimes these fish can go for cartoonish amounts, into the thousands!) it’s often said that a day without tuna is a day that a restaurant simply cannot open!

Despite all of the high-praise for these fish; in modern japanese slang; to refer to someone as a “Maguro” is a bit of a sexist insult: like calling someone “Lazy”, “Boring” or “Unenthusiastic in bed.” (Supposedly likening their partners to the rows of dead tunas sold at fish auctions!) However, tuna are hard working fish, they never stop swimming from the moment they are born! so, I’d suppose the opposite could be true too! (context is key.)

As a Nigiri, Maguro typically comes in three different cuts:

• Akami. – “赤身” (Red Lean Meat.)   Tasty, firm, lean, red meat. if you’re ordering Tuna in Japan, this is what you’ll usually get (unless you specify that you want one of the other types!) Akami is the firm back muscle meat of a tuna,  well toned, because of their lives spent swimming nonstop!
• Chu-toro. – “中トロ” – (Middle Meat.) A blend of the other two’s firmness, located towards the middle of the fish, towards the tail, it is the least plentiful and most likely to be served in a maki roll or fried.
• Otoro. – “大トロ” – (Fatty Belly.) – The pinkest, fattiest part of the tuna & thus the most expensive, it melts in your mouth!

*NOTE: The suffix “HON-” “本” when set before a fishes name is often added by marketers when selling fish at market. Often as an indicator meaning “true” or”genuine” [To avoid confusion with a similar looking fish, or a substitute fish.]  As an example, Pacific Bluefin Tuna is usually called “Honmaguro.” – All of species of “Bluefin” tuna are sadly overfished and not sustainable, (Thankfully there are plenty of other types, often served as substitutes.) Farmed Bluefin are also often considered inferior flavour, texture and taste. Reminder to eat sustainably if you can! (Thankfully these are just stickers!)

[Sticker art by @Samkalensky, Part of my Nigiri Sushi/Foodlore collections.]