September 19, 2010

Nakaochi Virgin

Maguro nakaochi (the meat along the spine of bluefish tuna) from Jige Barracuda in Tsukiji.

The mere sight of this huge slab of tuna was enough to drop jaws, and they dropped even further when we were told to use the edge of a shell to scrape off the meat.

The meat came off surprisingly easily, and tasted better than any maguro I've had in my life. God bless Tsukiji.

When you finish one side, flip it over and start working the other side. This was enough for 5 people to eat very, very comfortably. (I felt a twinge of guilt when I remembered that Japan's consumption of bluefin tuna greatly contributes to declining catch.)

So impressive was the nakaochi that the big tuna head that came immediately after felt anticlimactic. All this (and more) for 4,000 yen isn't bad at all.

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