Toro(fatty tuna) and fillet of blue-fin-tuna!

by Kazu

I got the sushi-grade meat of blue-fin-tuna landed on the  Port of Ohma in Aomori Prefecture. To be honest, one of my relatives in Furubira Town, Shiribeshi sub-prefectural area gave me what he was given by his friends.
This part is so-called "TORO" the fatty belly of blue-fine-tuna. It can be said that the TORO is like beef on the face of it but much healthier than beef.

This is the fillet of blue-fin-tuna. Before the culture of eating beef and pork was introduced in Japan, the fatty part of tuna was thrown away because this part tended to be damaged and rotten earlier than other part due to the fat contained in the part. Dioxide fat is bad to our health and accelerates aging of our body. After refrigerator was invented and popularized, it enabled the fishermen and wholesale to preserve the fatty
 part without damaging the quality of the meat. Many years ago the fishermen used to recommend to their guests to eat the fillet of tuna as the precious part of tuna.    

Now that the fatty part of tuna can be served with its highest quality and is expensive, this part is the favorite of many Japanese as well as Japanese food lovers.
After binge drinking, it may be dangerous to eat the extremely fatty part of tuna called
"Oh-toro" but a few pieces of "Oh-toro" sushi make your skin refreshed with its collagen next day.  

I prefer the fillet of tuna called "Akami" but depending on the quality of fatty tuna, I wolf down pieces of Oh-toro as long as my wife allowed me. Slightly-grilled fatty tuna is another draw to enjoy enough the blue-fin-
tuna. As it requires the gas-burner to scorch the surface, it can be done only in sushi bar.
To strike the balance of preservation of blue-fin-tuna and delivering delicious tuna to the consumers,  stockbreeding of tuna is developed by Kansai University. The staff of the team to develop the cultivation of tuna had a tough time again and again but at last,  they established the way to cultivate tuna. Kudos to Kansai University and its efforts!