Normally, I simply browse my Instagram feeds (most are food sites) without doing a deep dive into individual posts. However, our favorite sushi restaurant had a post with one of their specials – toki shirazu salmon. I heard about toki shirazu salmon many years ago on a Japanese show called “Soko ga Shiritai” broadcast weekly on the local Japanese station. Caught in Hokkaido, fisherman there often kept the prized salmon for their families instead of selling it on the open market due to the superb fat. Further research on my own discovered that toki shirazu spawn in the Amur river in Russia then swim along the Hokkaido coast as if getting ready to spawn – but these salmon are still sexually immature so all of their fat stays in the flesh instead of being used for ikura (eggs) or shirako (sperm). So we made a last minute reservation to Tanuki Sushi…
As usual, Ms S opted for the omakase which started with the ankimo or monkfish liver – Tanuki does the best ankimo with the perfect balance of citrus, onion and shiso…
The first plate consisted of Mikan Madai, Akami, Yukimasu, Kampachi with a slice of jalapeno and Kinki with pickled konbu…
My faves for the 1st plate was the Mikan Madai – because this farm raised fish is fed ground tangerine peels, it has a slight citrusy flavor…
The Yukimasu or winter trout which I call the poor man’s Nodoguro due to the luscious fat…
And the Kinki for that perfect balance of fat and fish flavor…
The 2nd plate consisted of Kijihata, Toki Shirazu, King Salmon, Abura Bozu and Chuutoro…
The Kijihata or red spotted grouper was a new item with firm flesh (almost like Tai) topped with a citrus relish…
And it was great to have the Toki Shirazu and King Salmon side by side. You could tell the Toki Shirazu had more fat as it had a lighter color and a very silky texture. The King Salmon wasn’t as silky but had a more pronounced salmon flavor probably due to being mature…
But the epiphany for this plate was the Abura Bozu or Skilfish. This fish is quartered before it’s sold but it was like consuming the fattiest Yukimasu or Nodoguro and it was topped with a jalapeno relish…
Plate number 3 consisted of Kintonki or big eye snapper, Kinmedai, Otoro, Hokkaido Uni, A5 Wagyu and tamago…
Ms S loved the Kintonki, very firm and flavorful…
While my fave was the A5 Wagyu which was torched to release the fat…
We sampled a 4th plate with our faves…
And finished with Miso Shiru…
I also uncorked a bottle of Ruppert-Leroy Martin Fontaine, a Blanc de Blanc or pure Chardonnay bubbly which worked with all of the courses especially the richer courses (we normally sample just sake with our sushi – I also opened a Heavensake and left the remainder with the staff)…
So we finally sampled Toki Shirazu and it was as advertised with that silky texture and luscious abura… it’s only caught in summer and Tanuki said they’d likely run out sometime this week… I briefly debated doing a take-out for tomorrow (they’re closed on Mondays)…
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