Southern Bluefin tuna nigiri

Southern Bluefin tuna (Minami maguro)

【Nigiri sushi: Akami】
What is Minami maguro?
Along with kuromaguro (Bluefin tuna), minami maguro is a rare and highly valued topping at sushi restaurants. The meat is similar in quality to kuromaguro, but it has a unique fragrance and is characterized by having more potent fat than kuromaguro. The belly meat is thick and produces a higher volume of otoro and chutoro. The akami of minami maguro is darker and more vivid in color than kuromaguro. Minami maguro is a pelagic migratory fish that lives only in the Indian Ocean and can weigh up to 200 kg. Also known as "Indo (Indo means India) maguro" or "Goushu (Goushu means Australia) maguro" because it is caught mostly in the southern Indian Ocean. It spawns in the northwestern parts of Australia and lives in the cold regions of 30 to 50 degrees latitude. In Australia, between December and April, tuna caught by round haul net fishing are held in a fish preserve, where they are fed and fattened. These are exported to Japan in the summer when there aren’t high volumes of kuro maguro available.

What does Minami maguro (Southern Bluefin tuna) nigiri sushi taste like?
Some sushi connoisseurs even prefer Southern Bluefin tuna (Minami maguro), as the lean meat lacks the slight acidity and faint aroma of blood that can be found in Pacific Bluefin tuna. Frozen southern bluefin tuna is imported from New Zealand and Indonesia during summer since the regular Bluefin tuna’s fat content will be reduced in its spawning season. Its red meat is palatable and the fattiest part otoro is one of the expensive ingredients of sushi; its tastiness lingers on the palate. With an extra wasabi makes otoro even tastier.

【Related contents】
Types of tuna

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Do you know what kind of Tuna you’re eating at a sushi restaurant?

List of Red flesh fish (Akami)

(Revision date: December 29, 2023)