Tail belly at 90 degrees: Negitoro gunkan · 315

The flesh between the sinews should look bright and glossy, never dull. Graded by scrape yield and freshness, not a fat stamp. The belly towards the tail. It runs through with sinew, so it is scraped rather than sliced — this is the cut behind negitoro, the minced tuna and spring onion filling.

Colour, sinew, where the fat sits, and thickness are what you check before you pay. Ask for the thickness that matches “Negitoro gunkan.” Use 90 degrees and 90 when you cook. Salt after you know the job. Do not play with undercooked meat. Cook Tail belly to 90 degrees and serve it as “Negitoro gunkan.” The other figure to watch is 90. Do not time a hard-working muscle like a thin steak. Colour before heat is not doneness. Scraped from the sinew with a spoon and folded through chopped spring onion, it makes the best gunkan topping there is.

Cook Tail belly to 90 degrees and serve it as “Negitoro gunkan.” The other figure to watch is 90. Do not time a hard-working muscle like a thin steak. Colour before heat is not doneness. Scraped from the sinew with a spoon and folded through chopped spring onion, it makes the best gunkan topping there is.