Quote:
Originally Posted by pingpangdang
Kind of confused me when I got here. I have attached a screen shot that explains horse mackerel aka jack mackeral. I just refer it as aji. When I was in japan all the sushi joints served aji raw with Ponzu sauce and green onions on top. Some have them swimming in the tank...i ordered one he scooped it from the tank made sushi then took the head and bones deep fried it and served. The bones, tail, and head when deep fried and salted tastes like a crunchy chip...good with asahi, sapporro, kirin, orion or whatever japanese beer of your liking. ..or just your favorite local ipa. I prefer aji grilled. As the screen shot explains it is not really part of the mackeral family...i don't like mackerel but aji is pretty good. I dip the meat in a vinegar soy sauce mix with hot sauce.
Ask any japanese person about aji and they will tell you they love it. Here's a youtube clip about aji as well. ..it's said that if you can clean aji you can clean any fish..
https://youtu.be/s4_opwO2SgU |
When you say "Aji" do you mean Ahi?
If not, then disregard my post. I don't speak Japanese, so I don't know if Aji means mackerel. Dumb Me.
If so, I think you might be confusing Ahi with the wrong species. Ahi is generally Yellowfin tuna. It might also be Big Eye tuna, but I'm not so sure about that. Last summer we were blessed with Bluefin tuna coming into the LJ fishing area. Bluefin might be higher on the list for Ahi aficionados, and it may have a different Japanese name in the sushi world.
Yellowtail (subject of this thread) is Hamachi. Hamachi sashimi is good too, but it's not as popular as Ahi. Next time you are hanging out in a Japanese restaurant ask if they have Hamachi Kama -- Yellowtail collars. They can be wonderful, washed down with a large bottle of ice cold Sapporo. Oh yeah.
The last guy who prepared Hamachi Kama for me was in Hillcrest at "Sushi Deli 1." He popped them in the deep fryer for a few minutes. It made the meat inside wonderfully fluffy white and perfect. There is plenty of meat on yellowtail collars. I tried Hamachi Kama at another Japanese Izakaya place in Convoy. It was grilled in a way that made it greasy. Not nearly as good.
Now I'm confused :P