PrintI Bought the Entire Spinal Column of a 700-Pound Tuna (Oh, Yes I Did)
All effin-A's implied. Photograph by Greg Takayama
This past weekend Mitsuwa held its annual "Giant Bluefin Tuna Cut Performance." Figuring Mitsuwa would be even more frenzied than usual, we staked out our positions along the stage in advance of the demonstration. My co-conspirators Al and Greg took the front view; I took the side. (I haven't seen a crowd this urgent for blood 'n cutting since Ministry '92.)
But the strategy paid off. We made friends with one of the assistant butchers who offered to sell us the backbone for $2. A brief debate ensued about whether the length of it could be hauled home intact.
Read the whole story on Greg Takayama's blog and find out how we took our trophy home.
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14 Comments:
That is...awesome!!!
Kathy YL Chan at 2:01PM on 11/10/08
Uh... yeah!
Zach Brooks at 2:38PM on 11/10/08
Mmmm... would this make a nice broth?
hungrychristel at 3:00PM on 11/10/08
what does one do with all that vertebrae?
mh330 at 3:04PM on 11/10/08
Wow, I'm not quite sure what to think. Pretty dramatic photo.
dhorst at 3:15PM on 11/10/08
Bluefin Tuna are actually in an extreme amount of trouble. I know foodies love them, and with good reason (they're delicious), but if current consumption trends continue, they'll be gone soon. Read this article from The Economist, Managed To Death to understand why.
mr guy at 3:40PM on 11/10/08
wow you can make such an amazing and decadent fish broth out of this.. and you can make a WHOLE LOT of it for only the 2 bucks of fish parts :) congrats!!
blizzard854 at 3:43PM on 11/10/08
I wanted to buy the one at 12:00 PM on Sunday, but the wanted 5 dollars.
pookguy at 4:42PM on 11/10/08
You should list it on Ebay, I bet you can get a couple of hundred bucks for it.
redfish at 5:00PM on 11/10/08
Nifty, too bad it got hacked up. :(
Cassaendra at 6:11PM on 11/10/08
reminds me of my project for anatomy class in highschool. we had to extract and re assemble something's skeleton. " A fish!" I thought it would be easier. I ended up dissolving alot of the bones with chemicals. and It didnt look this cool.
delilah at 10:16PM on 11/10/08
YAY!
I bought the one from noon too!!
Reooo at 2:57AM on 11/11/08
nice work, tam. real nice.
riceoflife at 3:41PM on 11/11/08
@mr guy: Thanks for the link! For reasons of health, we don't often indulge in tuna. (This was, in fact, just the second time I've ever tasted o-toro.) But we're cognizant of the scarcity and try to be mindful of our consumption. The Mitsuwa event was an exceptional occasion for everyone who chose to partake in it. And it's heartening, too, that even the "nasty bits"—the bones, the head, the collar
—were relished by those who bought them. No part of this fish went unappreciated and very little went to waste.
@hungrychristel, mh330, blizzard854: We made a rich stock of the bones. A crazy amount of viscous fluid leaked out of the spine; it thickened the soup up nicely.
@Cassaendra: The full length of it could never fit on the Mitsuwa shuttle bus home. The other passengers woulda rioted for sure ...
@delilah: This would look perfect hanging over the couch. As too would this ...
@Pookguy: Hah. Who knew that the price was negotiable?
@Reooo: Noice! What did you do with yours? We'd love to see pics!
@Kathy YL Chan, riceoflife, et al.: High fives, all around.
Tam Ngo at 8:11PM on 11/13/08