Enjoy the most valued cut of bluefin fatty tuna belly with this recipe for Otoro Sushi. I show you two ways to prepare this delicacy—seared and drizzled with yuzu juice or with just a touch of soy sauce. Either way, the sushi practically melts in your mouth.
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.
Otoro Sushi Two Ways
Video
Ingredients
- sushi-grade otoro (fatty tuna)
- sushi rice pillows
- yuzu
For Serving
- soy sauce
- wasabi
- sushi ginger (for my homemade recipe, click here)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Remove the skin and trim around the piece.
- Slice to desired thickness. Due to the high fat content, a thinner slice is recommended.
- Scrape the meat off from the skin. This part is considered one of tuna’s most delicious part and you can use it to make negitoro donburi.
- With a kitchen blow torch, sear the otoro to bring out the latent umami flavors.
- Place on the sushi pillows… and squeeze yuzu juice on top of the seared otoro. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and sushi ginger.
Nutrition
Our Recommendations for Buying Sashimi Online
When we have a sudden craving for sashimi we usually buy from our local Japanese supermarkets. If you don't have a reliable shop to purchase quality sashimi nearby, we would recommend buying from Catalina Offshore online.
They've been in business for over forty years and all the sashimi products we've tried from them are outstanding. Use J1COOK20 for 10% discount. Disclosure: We earn a small percentage commission from your purchase of products linked to Catalina Offshore.
[…] many types of sushi do you know? The most common kinds of sushi in Japan include Nigiri Sushi, Maki Sushi, Temaki Sushi, Chirashi Sushi, Temari Sushi, and Inari Sushi. Have you tried them all […]
[…] 6. Otoro Sushi 大トロ寿司 […]
Dear Nami-san,
My husband really loves maguro and I want to try to make my own nigiri sushi. Is there any rules on how to cut the fish (or which angle is the best)? Because he said if I cut it wrong the flavour will be bad (I don’t know if it’s even true). Thank you very much
Hi Cindy! What he says is kind of true. The texture of sashimi cut kind of affects the overall experience. For example, a long sashimi knife is used to cut sashimi so that it’s cut in one stroke motion. No zig zag sewing motion. So… yes it’s important to cut against the grain and cut nicely… You may not get it done perfectly, but it’s more economical to eat at home than eating a few slices at the sushi restaurant. So it’s all about what you (he) want… 😀
Tuna belly is my favorite! I’ve only had prepared as sashimi but not torched. I definitely want to give that a try now! Your blog is very educational and I really enjoyed this blog post!
I once had it in a very fine five star hotel Japanese restaurant and i didn’t much appreciate it for it’s flavour,
my friends said the tuna belly is very fresh but i guess i can’t handle it as a personal preference, even when i think about wagyu beef marbled fat, but that thought won’t help too, lol
This was a great video and thanks for the wine pairing info. My husband has made sushi twice and I know he’ll want to make this as well!
Nami you are making me really hungry early this morning, thats a nice cut of fish,
If only I lived closer I’d order sushi grade fish straight away! It would be wonderful to have it for Christmas or New Year’s Eve! Thank you for this useful and very informative post.
You do such a beautiful job with sushi making. Looks great!