Blue Fin Tuna Sushi Cuts Explained

With approximately 80% of the world’s Blue Fin Tuna catch being used for sushi, we thought we would help unravel the mysterious names for all the different sushi cuts from this wonderful fish. 

Tuna for the purpose of sushi is meticulously handled to make certain that the entire flesh will not be bruised or harmed.

In Japan the Blue Fin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus - Thon Rouge, in French), is traditionally known as ‘Maguro’.

Tuna sushi is separated into grades based on the fat content, which happen to be recognized according to the marbling through out the steak, very similar to grading beef. 

Akami is the leaner meat from the sides of the fish. If you ask for ‘Maguro’ at a restaurant, or order any kind of tuna roll or sushi without requesting ‘toro,’ you will get this cut.

Toro is the term for the fatty part of the tuna, found in the belly portion of the fish. Toro is further broken up into two distinct subtypes, and they are more expensive due to their relative scarcity as a proportion of the entire fish. The two types of toro are:

Chutoro is the belly area of the tuna along the side of the fish between the akami and the otoro. It is often preferred because it is fatty but not as fatty as otoro.

Otoro is the fattiest portion of the tuna, found on the very underside of the fish. This cut is fatty almost to the point of falling apart and can literally melt in your mouth. The unique and delicious taste of otoro charms the majority of people as soon as they sample it. The amazing sirloin feel of raw tuna fuses together with the fatty tissue from the belly to generate a rich and creamy experience inside your mouth. 

Although sushi includes many various tuna types such as yellow tail as well as big eye, excellent quality Otoro is ONLY obtained from only the Blue Fin Tuna.

 An exceptional part of Otoro is going to be soft pink together with vibrant white colored lines. Otoro comes with a lot of delicious oily lines, which typically give it that distinctive and magnificent tastiness. Chutoro is normally much less veined by means of fat, even though it remains a lot more oily compared with pieces from the higher area from the fish, Akami. 

Fine Yacht Provisions specialises in high quality fish, seafood and caviar, supplying yachts, villas and palaces all along the Riviera. We also have a ‘boutique’ fish shop near Cannes with a wide customer base that has been loyal to us for over 15 years.

Fine Yacht Provisions specialises in high quality fish, seafood and caviar, supplying yachts, villas and palaces all along the Riviera.

We also have a ‘boutique’ fish shop near Cannes with a wide customer base that has been loyal to us for over 15 years.

We will cut, fillet and vacuum package any product to your exact specifications and we have a flash freezer should you with to receive anything already frozen and labelled accordingly. We also smoke all our own salmon and home marinate gravalax. We also often home smoke other fish e.g. tuna, marlin and hot smoke salmon on order, we need approximately 5 days notice to do this for you.

Please do contact us for anything e.g. Chilean Seabass, Black Cod, French Abalone, Live King Crab etc. as we can normally source almost everything through our extensive network of suppliers and fishermen.

Please feel free to come and visit our 400m² boutique and laboratory in Mougins so you can see how we work, discuss your requirements, see (and of course taste) our products and get to know our team.