๐จ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ใป๐๐๐ฆ ๐จ๐๐ก๐
One of the highlights of the omakase course at YOSHINO is the Japanese bluefin tuna sourced by our tuna monger, Yunoka, at the Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo. Being one of the few sushi restaurant in the U.S. that imports tuna directly from the Toyosu market, YOSHINO consistently serves the... More
๐จ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ใป๐๐๐ฆ ๐จ๐๐ก๐
One of the highlights of the omakase course at YOSHINO is the Japanese bluefin tuna sourced by our tuna monger, Yunoka, at the Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo. Being one of the few sushi restaurant in the U.S. that imports tuna directly from the Toyosu market, YOSHINO consistently serves the highest quality tuna outside of Japan.
Within the Toyosu Fish Market, there are five โsub marketsโ where auctions take place every morning. There is a specific hierarchy among the five and the quality/price of the fish are reflective of that. The pecking order is Tousui (yellow label), Touichi (green label), Daito (pink label), Daiichi (white label), and Marunaka (yellow label). Tousui will always have the highest number of โtop tunaโ and a high single digit ranked tuna from that market is on par with the top tuna auctioned off at Touichi or Daito. As with any auction, there are always hidden gems where Touichi or Daito may have a fish on auction that would be a single ranker in Tosui, in terms of quality. Each sushi restaurant has its own preference with respect to the type of tuna they like to use and itโs the tuna mongersโ job to bid down tuna that fits their clientsโ needs. Yoshino typically uses single ranked bluefin tuna from Tousui, Touichi and sometimes Daito, with a focus on tuna that has strong aroma and buttery tenderness.
At the bottom end, Marunaka has its own niche and specializes in bigeye tuna or yellowfin tuna as well as tuna caught outside of Japan. Youโll often see a top ranked bluefin tuna from the Marunaka market make its way to the U.S.; for the sake of comparison, the top ranked tuna from Tousui is typically priced at about 3-5x of that of Marunakaโs.
The big five tuna mongers (our partner Yunoka, along with Yamayuki, Ishiji, Fujita and Hichou) will split up their team to go to each of the markets every morning and duke it out during the auctions.
The same story goes for uni (sea urchin) and the misconception around the number one boxes but Iโll save that for another post.
ๅไนใงใฏ็ตไน่ฑใฎๆ้ซ็ดใฎๆฌใใฐใญใๆฏๆฅไฝฟ็จใใใฆใใใ ใใฆใใใพใใๆฅใ
ๆ่ฌใงใใไบๅบใใใ็ฌ็ซใใใงใจใใใใใพใ๏ผ
๐ธ Photo credit: @cellianhu Less
