Fish for dinner

I love the basement of Japanese department stores.  They are a food paradise for the very rich.  Everything is beautiful and elegant and delectable for both the eyes and mouth.  Even Kit Kat displays are top of the line in department stores.  Any chance I get to peruse these food displays I do!

Seibu, one of the major department stores all across Japan, is always filled with delightful things to check out.  So, when we have time and are near one (the department store in Hikarigaoka isn't very fancy), I always ask to go in.  I'm like a kid in a candy store - looking wide-eyed at everything and wishing calories didn't add up so quickly.

In my most recent exploration of Seibu, there was a tuna in the fish department.  Not just pieces of tuna for sale, but an entire fish.  Tuna is a huge fish and are always eye catching.  My son stopped in his tracks to see the big fish.  People were beginning to gather and there was a buzz in the air.  We were told they were going to butcher the fish shortly.  We quickly decided to hang around to see the demonstration.

An employee approached my husband and asked what he thought the fish weighed.  He guessed 53.4 kilograms.  Since I'm still trying to figure out pounds versus kilograms, I guessed 59.6 kilograms.  As soon as they announced the weight, my husband smirked.  He was right.  Only off by .1 kilogram.  Everyone politely clapped as he was notified he won one of the tuna collars and some Asian pears. 

The butcher then began to cut the tuna.  He started with removing the tail and fins.  Then he removed the head.  With every cut, my son turned around and reported what was going on.  He was especially enthralled with the head and the diameter of the body.  It is not every day one sees a whole tuna and he wanted to take it all in.

Once the sides were removed, he asked if he could take a photo. 

With the removal of various parts, the staff would play jan ken pon (rock paper scissors) to raffle off the other half of the collar, the scrapings around the bones, and the eye balls (which my husband says is used to make a gelatinous broth). 

The side pieces were handed to another employee, who then cut it into smaller pieces.  People quickly started purchasing the freshly cut tuna.  We joined them and bought a lovely chunk to eat raw for dinner.

It was chaotic and fun.  We eat a lot of fish and it was great to be able to see how a fish is processed.  It is definitely something you don't usually see in the grocery store in the US.