How to Cut Yellowtail for Sushi

Yellowtail flesh is very flavorful, even when raw.

Sushi, which is also known as nigiri sushi, is a Japanese dish of sliced pieces of fish, usually raw, laid atop a chilled sushi rice balls. It's often flavored with a smear of wasabi (Japanese horseradish) between the fish and rice. Sushi can be eaten with chopsticks or your fingers and is sometimes dipped in soy sauce. Tuna is frequently used for sushi. The best kinds of tuna for sushi are yellowfin, big-eye or bluefin. Yellowfin has an oily texture and is very flavorful in a raw state. A sharp knife and the right slicing technique will produce the best yellowtail cuts for sushi. Does this Spark an idea?

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Boning knife
Sharpening steel or whetstone (optional)
Tuna steak
Cutting board
Cut-proof glove (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  
  Choose sushi grade yellowtail tuna. Inform your fishmonger that you intend to use the fillet for sushi. Only use fresh yellowtail, if possible. Otherwise, buy yellowtail was flash frozen after processing. Avoid yellowtail that has been frozen for a long time. The fish should be light red in color and have no white lines in the flesh.
- 2
  
  Make sure that your knife is extremely sharp prior to use. Hone the blade on a sharpening steel or whetstone to sharpen the knife. Rinse thoroughly with water after sharpening.
- 3
  
  Remove the yellowtail from the refrigerator. Trim any ragged pieces from the edges of the fillet. Ideally, you will use a rectangular-shaped fillet about 3 inches wide and 1 inch long. Reserve any trimmings to use in sushi rolls.
- 4
  
  Slice one of the narrow ends of the yellowtail fillet at a 45-degree angle on the initial cut. Reserve that slice for sushi rolls or sashimi.
- 5
  
  Make the next slice at about a 35-degree angle, about 1/8-inch thick.
- 6
  
  Continue slicing the remainder of the fillet in the same way as detailed in Step 5.