The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

There are three types of Maguro that you will encounter at the sushi bar: Yellow Fin Tuna, Big Eye Tuna, and Blue Fin Tuna. While all three appear similar with their reddish hue, there is a world of difference among them.

Yellow Fin is found in warmer waters, and generally accumulate up to two percent fat. Big Eye live in temperate and tropic waters, but swim deeper where the water is colder. They can accumulate up to eight percent body fat. Blue Fin, the "king" of tuna, can grow up to 1,500 lbs and live in cold waters, enabling them to accumulate up to fifteen percent body fat. Why all this talk about fat you ask? There are different types of Maguro meat served at a sushi bar. They are:

Red Meat - Akami
Fatty - Toro
Medium Fatty - Chu-Toro
Very Fatty - O Toro

The word toro comes from the Japanese word "torokeru" which is used to describe something melting. The "Chu" in Chu-toro means "middle" and the "O" in O Toro means "very." Toro and Chu-toro can come from Big Eye or Blue Fin Tuna, but O Toro can only be found in Blue Fin; which makes it the most sought after cut of meat in sushi. O Toro can be as much as forty percent fat, and literally melts in your mouth!
So the next time you're at the sushi bar, and see Big Eye or Blue Fin, you can try and impress the chefs with your knowledge of maguro cuts!

Kanpai!

-Henry Chan, Giapponese Sushi 

As with seasonal fish, seasonal sake is something often overlooked, or unfamiliar. Most Midwesterners are used to sake served warm, and cold sake is still new and unfamiliar.

Namazake is still fairly rare in the United States, especially here in the Midwest. Namazake is unpasteurized sake, fresh off the press and not aged.

I have been fortunate to taste a vast variety of great sakes, but this Taiheikai Shiboritate namazake genshu nigori is just amazing!

It's amazing because it is a namazake, but it is also a shiboritate (undiluted with water) and a nigori (unfiltered), which brings this sake to life literally, because it is actually alive.

It is alive because it is still fermenting, and that is why the bottle cap has a hole — so that gases can escape. Otherwise, the bottle would explode.