Yellowtail Nigiri

May 3, 2008 Nigiri Recipes

I first tried yellowtail sashimi late last year, and it was love at first bite. Now, if you held a gun to my head and forced me to choose (please don’t, by the way) yellowtail would be my sashimi of choice, even over tuna and salmon! It has such light flavor and just melts between your teeth – it’s not chewy at all! There’s nothing not to love about yellowtail!

A little background information about yellowtail: A lot of people think that yellowtail is a type of tuna. This is a huge misconception… Yellowtail is actually a type of Jack Fish, but is also called yellowtail kingfish in Australia and New Zealand. It’s called yellowtail because… you guessed it – it’s tail is yellow! The yellowtail is a super duper powerful swimmer and has a very aerodynamic… er… aquadynamic? (edit: one of my readers, Lodewijk, has informed me it’s actually hydrodynamic 😀 ) body, shaped like a torpedo. This makes it very fast and a popular game fish. It is one of the top three game fish in Southern California – I’ve even found it at my farmers market! It is generally found in the tropical waters of the Southern Hemisphere and in the northern Pacific. (California, Baja California, Japan!)

yellowtail nigiri

Ingredients

1 cup sumeshi
1 oz yellowtail sashimi

Cooking Directions

Cook sushi rice.
Using either your hands or a rice mold, form the rice into 5 or 6 small oblong balls.
Cut the yellowtail into slices larger than your rice balls.
Place each slice of yellowtail on top of a rice ball. You may place a small dab of wasabi on the underside of the yellowtail if you wish.
Serve with shoyu, wasabi, and ginger if desired.

20 thoughts on “Yellowtail Nigiri”

Yvo May 7, 2008 at 1:06 pm -

Yumm! My favorites are white tuna and salmon for its creamy butteriness. White tuna for its salty brininess when you bite into it, but so soft and yielding… and I don’t believe white tuna is actually tuna, but I’m feeling a bit lazy to look it up 😉
Allison May 7, 2008 at 11:17 pm -

🙂 According to wikipedia, white tuna can refer to two different species of fish, one of which is tuna, and the other which isn’t. 🙂
Yvo May 14, 2008 at 9:46 am -

lol thanks. I think I first learned it wasn’t really tuna (commonly) on your site, a commenter ages upon ages ago mentioned it. *shrug* If it tastes good, I’ll eat it 😉
Allison May 14, 2008 at 11:58 am -

Oh hehe. Well then! Glad someone here was of help. 😀
May 19, 2008

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May 19, 2008

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matt wright June 3, 2008 at 4:37 pm -

I love yellowtail – a really awesome fish for eating raw. Have you tried Kampachi yet? A Hawaiian hamachi that is just amazing raw.
Allison June 5, 2008 at 10:38 pm -

Nope, I’ve never tried Kampachi. I would love to though, it sounds delicious! Can it be found outside of Hawaii? Or do I have to travel there to get some? (What a *huge* sacrifice, having to travel to Hawaii to eat sashimi! 😉 )
SavoryTv August 28, 2008 at 10:12 pm -

Thanks for the post! Yellowtail is my favorite as well, the texture to die for 🙂

SavoryTv’s last blog post… A simple latin chicken salad video, prepared by Chef Timothy Hughes
micael March 13, 2009 at 9:41 am -

HOw DO U MAke something so good
Allison March 30, 2009 at 12:36 am -

SavoryTV – You’re welcome, and I agree – yellowtail is quite delicious.
Apex Professionals LLC April 6, 2009 at 12:23 am -

Personally my favorite is tako(octopus). Yellow tail is usually on the list of things I order as well though. As far as the confusion about the tuna thing.. you mentioned its actually in the jack family? Isn’t skip jack a type of tuna? Could be where the confusion is coming from. Thanks for the read 🙂

Apex Professionals LLC’s last blog post… RCI Points Demystified
Allison May 10, 2009 at 12:23 am -

Very true, skipjack is a type of tuna so that could definitely be the cause of all the confusion. Thanks for bringing that up. 🙂
Randy Cannon May 26, 2009 at 1:47 pm -

Kampachi is available throught his company. It is sushi grade and 9.50 per pound.

http://www.catalinaop.com/Fresh_Whole_Farmed_Kampachi_p/sushi_fish_1b2.htm
katehudson July 8, 2009 at 10:39 am -

As a Newbie, I am always searching for articles that can help me. Thank you.
Bill Mangrum July 19, 2009 at 12:01 pm -

I’m traveling to hawaii soon and this post was great for me. Love me some sushi!
Raymond July 25, 2009 at 11:21 pm -

I would put a gun to your head if you said otherwise. Just kidding..or am I.. no really though, I agree with you 100%. Yellowtail is in a league of its own. Tuna is like rare steak, salmon is like soft butter, but yellowtail.. is like soft buttery rare steak haha. When someone asks for a recommendation on fish, I always answer with yellow tail. Yellowtail nigiri with just a bit of scallions on top. Delish!

Love your posts and vibrant pictures. You can count on me to stay tuned.

Raymond
ResponsibleFish June 26, 2010 at 4:12 pm -

It’s best to avoid yellowtail if you care at all about the environment.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=88
May 27, 2011

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SushiNut February 19, 2012 at 1:00 pm -

When you go to a sushi restaurant, be careful to distinguish between Buri and Hamachi. Buri is wild Yellowtail, while Hamachi is farmed Japanese Yellowtail. Both are yellowtail, but they have extremely different flavor profiles and texture. I personally prefer the Hamachi.