Chutoro at 95 degrees: Chutoro nigiri · 594

Mid-fat belly; grade talk is really about boat and handling. The meeting point between the savour of the lean loin and the fat of the belly. If otoro is spectacle, chutoro is balance — which is why it usually anchors a course rather than closing it. Less cloying than otoro, so it can be eaten piece after piece without tiring the palate.

Colour, sinew, where the fat sits, and thickness are what you check before you pay. Ask for the thickness that matches “Chutoro nigiri.” Use 95 degrees and 95 when you cook. Salt after you know the job. Do not play with undercooked meat. At the counter, read the use on Chutoro before the photograph. 95 degrees is the internal heat, “Chutoro nigiri” is the dish, and 95 is the stage of the fire. Marbling alone does not split stew from grill. Pink flesh with fine white fat lines showing faintly through rather than sitting on top.

At the counter, read the use on Chutoro before the photograph. 95 degrees is the internal heat, “Chutoro nigiri” is the dish, and 95 is the stage of the fire. Marbling alone does not split stew from grill. Pink flesh with fine white fat lines showing faintly through rather than sitting on top.