Shiki Seafood 101: All About Tuna

Ootoro is the fattiest part of the Tuna, it is usually found on the belly side of the fish. When it comes to Ootoro, its meat is meticulously taken care of by the Tuna specialists. They make sure that the belly is always kept in pristine condition.

Ootoro is extremely fatty and looks almost like a cut of high end wagyu beef, it is pinkish white and highly marbled with thick streaks of delicious fat.

As it is the fattiest part of the tuna, it practically melts in your mouth. Ootoro is also known for its rich sweetness and intense flavour, every slice is packed full of umami.

Because of its rich and highly sought-after nature, Ootoro is also the most expensive part of the fish you will ever find on any tuna.

 Chutoro is usually found near the skin on the back and belly. It is less fatty than Ootoro but usually the most popular cut of tuna. This is because Chutoro has the right balance of Fattiness and Leanness which is pleasing to all palates.

Chutoro has a good combination of meat and fat, it is less pinkish and more reddish in colour with smaller lines of marbling in it.

It combines the lighter but deep, slightly bitter flavour of an akami with the sweet tenderness of an Ootoro. Chutoro melts in your mouth with its high fat content but also leaves a sweet tuna aftertaste.

Because it has the perfect blend of both types of tuna, it provides both a meaty and a fatty texture for a real celebration in your mouth. Chutoro is the most popular cut of tuna but is still more affordable than Ootoro.

When it comes to tuna, there's the Akami (which refers to the red portion of the Tuna) is usually found on the tuna's back, where there's little fat. It is the most common and frequently-used part of the fish in Japanese sushi and izakaya restaurants.  

This part is meaty and deep red, with little or no fat as compared to Chutoro and Ootoro.

Akami has an extremely rich and strong seafood taste, as it has little fat it does not melt in your mouth but is still full of tuna flavour.

It found most often on top of rice bowls or in a sushi roll. Because majority of the Tuna is made up of red meat, Akami it is much more readily available and easily sourced compared to chutoro or Ootoro.