Maguro. – [Sushi|Foodlore]

Description

Maguro – Hiragana: まぐろ – Katakana: マグロ – Kanji: 鮪 – AKA: 本鮪 “Honmaguro”*

• About this Fish: Tuna is quite often called the “King of the Fish” but that royal title wasn’t always so; in fact, tuna used to be seen as a “Neko-matagi” or “A fish that even cats would avoid!”  it only gained its royal title more recently over the last hundred or so years! – Around the time Nigiri-sushi became popular as a fast food (in the late Edo Period starting around 1820.) Tuna itself was initially 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 didn’t work as well as it did on smaller Mackarel & other fish.  – However, tuna thankfully had plenty of other uses: its oil was frequenly used as lamp-oil, its meat was used as fertilizer! – As time went on and technology advanced; the idea of eating Tuna as food largely changed with the arrival of convenient & reliable home refrigeration & “Ultra-low temperature freezing” (Which was invented in the 1940’s and quickly spread world wide!) –

Today; Tuna is highly prized by fishermen & chefs alike for its large size & amount of meat; Tuna can weigh up to 1000 pounds!  it’s said that One 400 pound Tuna can dish out up to 10,000 servings of nigiri sushi! So, Auctioneers at Fish Markets will compete & bid for the best & biggest fish; generally selling in the general price range of $80-$600 (Often far more, because it’s an auction; sometimes these fish can go for cartoonish amounts – Just earlier this year in january of 2026, a 537 pound tuna sold for ¥510.3 million yen. Thats about $3.33 million USD! Record Breaking!) 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.)

• When served as a Nigiri, Maguro typically comes in three different cuts:
• Akami. – (Red Lean Meat.) – Tasty, firm, lean, red meat from the fishes back. if you order Tuna in Japan, this is what you’ll usually get (unless you specify that you want a different cut!) Akami is the firm back muscle meat of a tuna, well toned, because of their lives spent swimming nonstop!
• Chu-toro. – (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. – (Fatty Belly.) – The pinkest, fattiest part of the tuna & thus the most expensive, it melts in your mouth!
• Rarer cuts – include the head-meat (Kashima-niku) cheek meat (Hoho-niku) & fatty collar meat (Kama-Toro.) but you’re more likely to find these cuts at a butcher shop or a fish-market than at a restaurant!

*NOTE: The suffix “HON-” “本” when set before a fishes name is often added by marketers when selling fish at Fish Markets. 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.” …On that note: All of species of “Bluefin” tuna are sadly over-fished and not sustainable. Reminder to eat sustainably if you can!

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