Bluefish Tuna Q

[msommers]

The other night I was at Zipang, and I noticed on their board they had bluefish tuna on special. Having never eaten it before, I was excited to try something new, right up to the point where I saw it was 6 pieces of sashimi for $85.00. What makes this particular fish so expensive compared to the others?

[dj_rice]

Well for one, its caught in certain areas of Japan, also I believe they are getting to the point of almost being endangered due to the fact of overfishing


And lastly, bluefin tuna is deep red, very rich and high in oil content


Some restaurants usually substitute yellowtail or yellowfin tuna for bluefin

[Amysicle]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2009/08/11/calgary-bluefin-tuna-pei-restaurants.html

Sounds tasty, too bad I can't afford it. :(

[nonlinear]

mmm... sounds delicious! not sure i would drop $85 on just a few pieces, though.

[malcolmk14]

It's amazing fish, I would never spend $85 for 6 pieces though.

It's reasonably priced at a few of the higher end places in New York that I've been.

Sooo good.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by dj_rice
Well for one, its caught in certain areas of Japan

It is actually fished for off the shores of Eastern Canada.

There is a "Chef Abroad" episode on Food TV about it.

http://www.foodtv.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=120266

[GQBalla]

what!
zen 8 is selling it at 4.90 a piece?

i got to go there

[06civic]

Zen8s prices fluctuate. First time i went it was 4.90, second time i went they only had the blue fin toro and it was 5.20

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by sputnik
It is actually fished for off the shores of Eastern Canada.


yeah, OP if you get the chance, watch 'Swords: Life on the Line' documentary about these guys who are commercial fishermen basically the deadliest catch in fishing form, mostly for swordfish(another pricey fish for the dinnertable). i'm sure there are tons of CDNs who do it but these guys are from the states they go up to the plentiful grand banks off newfoundland, sometimes they catch bluefin tuna and the sizes those things grow to are insane (the record is 1500lbs i think), the price for a 300-400 pounder was about $1000 i think, something insane like that.

so in regard to the $ difference. i guess it comes along with the risk for catching those crabs in alaska and the tuna/swords off the east coast, life threatening weather conditions etc. The movie 'The perfect storm' was based on swordfish fishermen out of the same area.

edit: oh yeah its on ninjavideo

[eglove]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2009/08/11/calgary-bluefin-tuna-pei-restaurants.html

[msommers]

Interesting for sure, and I'll have to check out that documentary. The eco-nerd in me can't really support (ie: buy) something like this when it's an endangered species though...well, maybe once ;)

[szw]

Originally posted by GQBalla
what!
zen 8 is selling it at 4.90 a piece?

i got to go there

You can't always trust what a restaurant tells you. I'm sure almost all of us have had sushi that isn't what the restaurant calls it.

[clem24]

Originally posted by szw


You can't always trust what a restaurant tells you. I'm sure almost all of us have had sushi that isn't what the restaurant calls it.

I really highly doubt they are selling even chutoro for $5.90 a piece. 5 pieces for $85 is over the top but for many Calgarians, probably their only chance of getting it.

On another note, Zipang's offering likely isn't the same one offered by Zen 8 and Osteria de Medici. They do have bluefin every once in a while and it's usually shipped from Japan.

In any case, it's good, but I don't think it's $85 good... For comparison, I Love Sushi in Seattle usually sells 5 pieces of otoro for about $30.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by clem24
On another note, Zipang's offering likely isn't the same one offered by Zen 8 and Osteria de Medici. They do have bluefin every once in a while and it's usually shipped from Japan.

If there is anything to question it is the claim that their bluefin tuna was shipped in from Japan.

[GQBalla]

Originally posted by szw


You can't always trust what a restaurant tells you. I'm sure almost all of us have had sushi that isn't what the restaurant calls it.

true, i know many places use tilapia fish and say its red snapper

[dj_rice]

Theres 3 varieties of bluefin tuna

Northern bluefin tuna
Southern bluefin tuna
Pacific bluefin tuna

Pacific bluefin tuna spawn in the Western Pacific between Okinawa and the Philippines and probably the Sea of Japan, then migrate over 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) to the Eastern Pacific, and eventually return to their birth waters to spawn again.


I'm just taking this off Wikipedia

[Impreza]

My dad was able to get a good sized chunk of that exact bluefin tuna, straight from CityFish, and it was friggin good!! Can't say it is worth the price though.

[clem24]

Originally posted by sputnik
If there is anything to question it is the claim that their bluefin tuna was shipped in from Japan.

Talk to the sushi chef. They usually have specialty stuff flown in on Thursdays or something like that. That would also explain the unreasonable price for it. In any case, again, I don't know where this batch came from, but if you visit Zipang regularly, they'll have blue fin toro on the specials board every once in a while.