Lately, I started to make my own Nigiri Sushi (握り寿司), which is the most common type of sushi with a slice of raw fish on top of a sushi rice pillow. Today I’ll show you how to make this delicious Otoro Sushi (大トロ寿司) in two ways; seared and un-seared.
What’s Otoro (大トロ)?
Otoro is the most prized part of the tuna belly and it’s also the fattest part of the tuna/maguro (鮪). This delicious cut tuna belly is located at the lowest section of the tuna belly and it is highest in fat content and light in color. The well-marbled Otoro is so soft and tender that it literally melts in your mouth. Otoro is very rare so you may not see it offered in most sushi restaurants, and the price is usually ridiculously high because less than 1% of the tuna body can be categorized as Otoro. Image from Metropolitansushi.com
Sushi-grade tuna for Chutoro & Otoro Sushi
Online sashimi stores like Honolulu Fish Company, Sizzle Fish, and Seattle Fish Company carries varieties of sushi-grade fish, including Otoro and Chutoro. For those of you who don’t have access to high-quality sushi-grade fish in your local area in the US, you can now enjoy sushi at your own home by placing the order online!
Making Otoro Sushi at Home
I highly recommend serving Otoro with sushi rice because Otoro can be too fatty to eat on its own. For Otoro, a very popular way for sushi restaurants to serve is slightly seared (Aburi, 炙り). Simply use a blow torch to lightly sear Otoro pieces to bring out the latent flavors and umami. Seared tuna resembles more like a slice of marbled steak than a piece of fish. Now just close your eyes and let it melt away in your mouth… Just a quick note, true Otoro is really fatty and it’s like eating a stick of butter. If you haven’t tried it before, I recommend trying Chutoro first. Chutoro also has a very high-fat content but with a bit more red meat.
What alcoholic beverage goes well with sushi?
Typically with sushi, we love enjoying it with sake or beer as an alcoholic beverage of choice. Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
