At a supermarket in Tokyo I saw a demonstration, in which the whole tuna fish was cut into chunks using a broad-bladed knife.
Such an event is sometimes held at a fishmonger’s in a department store or a supermarket to attract customers.
The salesperson said the fish was from southern sea of Japan and weighed fifty-five kilograms except for the viscera.
A fishmonger holding a knife of thirty to forty centimeters on his hand cut the large body of tuna.
Usually the knife to cut tunas is longer and thinner, like the ones I had posted in my previous blog. But those knives are expensive and difficult to handle.
Firstly he cut the head out of the body. The tail had been cut off beforehand to indicate its quality and freshness.
The head meat is called Kama and valuable because it is only a small amount per fish.
Then the knife was inserted along the backbone.
And the upper body was further cut into two chunks.
Next, the backbone was removed with some meats on. This meat, called Naka-Ochi, contains less fat and I like it very much.
Finally the rest of the body were cut into two chunks.
And each chunks will be later cut into small chunks and further sliced, and then be sold at the store.
If you are lucky, you can see such a demonstration somewhere in the fishmonger’s.
And if it is not shown publicly, a lot of fish are cut everywhere in Japan.
