Tuna Species 2: Mebachi/Big-eyed Tuna

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We are nearing the season for savouring Mebachi or Big-eyed Tuna, afairly reasonable kind of tuna especially popular for its “akami” (lean part)

It has different names according to the areas: “Darumashibi” (Mie Prefecture), “Mebuto” (Kyushu). In Tokyo, Shizuoka and Wakayama, it is called “Daruma” when caught a young age.
The best seasons for catching are during the rainy season or the Fall.
This kind of tuna is mainly caught off the shores of Miyagi, Kagoshima, Kochi, Shizuoka, Kanagawa and Hokkaido Prefectures.

As siad before it is mainly appreciated for its lean beautiful red flesh, but also cooked and grilled as “kama”:

Inthe fall it is also a source of toro (fatty part) when kuromaguro is not available.
In recent years it has been extensively caught in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans and in the Mediterranean Sea. It also come frozen from Chile, Peru and North America. It is also flown fresh from Australia, Indonesia and New York. A lot equally comes frozen from South Korea and Taiwan.