IKEJIME BLUEFIN TUNA
クロマグロ 活け締め
Turn your kitchen into a high-end Japanese restaurant creating authentic delicious sushi using Japanese Grade quality fish delivered to your door!
Our company has the honor of supplying ikejime bluefin tuna of exceptional quality to a number of the most renowned traditional Japanese restaurants in France and Europe as well as to many renowned Michelin-starred European chefs.
For more than 20 years and through our privileged relationships with Japan, particularly with the iconic markets of Tokyo that started initially with Tsukiji and now with Toyosu, the largest fish market in the world, we provide you different cuts of bluefin tuna that would envy some of the greatest sushi-ya in Tokyo.
This magnificent bluefin tuna of “JAPAN” quality is now available for immediate delivery to your home at the same time as its essential companion, our famous fresh wasabi. You can also enhance it with our beautiful range of traditional sake, Uji green teas and other delicious artisanal products from our passionate producers.
Without leaving your home, we transport you to Japan for a unique culinary experience filled with extraordinary and authentic flavors!
Bluefin tuna, or maguro (まぐろ) in Japanese, is one of the most popular fish in the world, and although there are various species of tuna, bluefin tuna is widely considered the king of tuna. Our company sells exclusively bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) caught by the trap method practiced in different regions along the coasts of the Mediterranean. Some tuna caught weigh more than 550kg.
This fishing method is an artisanal, sustainable, three-thousand-year-old practice that has been used since ancient times by the Greeks and Phoenicians. This responsible technique makes it possible to catch tuna coming from the Atlantic Ocean during their migration and heading towards spawning grounds in the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians most likely brought this fishing technique with them during the wars for colonization of the western Mediterranean in the 6th century BC. Today Bluefin tuna fishing is very strictly controlled and regulated by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).
The trap season takes place in spring between March and the end of June. To meet the needs of an extremely demanding Japanese market, once caught our tuna are fattened for 3 to 4 months. When the desired optimum fat level is reached, Japanese freezer ships harvest the fattened wild bluefin tuna using the ikejime method.
Immediately on the boat, the tuna are bled, gutted then filleted and put in ULT freezing at -60°C (Ultra Low Temperature). This freezing allows us to have the best tuna in the world all year round, retaining all its organoleptic properties intact. This is why when you defrost it, you can see the “chijire” (縮れ) effect, the contraction of muscle tissue that occurs, just like with ultra-fresh fish that is processed before the rigor-mortis effect takes place. happen.
All these processes, from capture to ULT freezing, ensure that the bluefin tuna's fat is perfectly infiltrated, guaranteeing exceptional flavor and texture. The final product is sublime, with the mouthfeel of wild bluefin tuna and a homogeneous fat content close to that of tuna fattened for several years, but without too much fat. It also has a firm yet melt-in-the-mouth texture.
The different cuts of ikejime bluefin tuna:
In short, our bluefin tuna is produced specifically for the Japanese market, and is caught and processed by Japanese experts using techniques acquired through over half a century of history and experience; hence the label of this
exceptional product as
"JAPANESE QUALITY BLUEFIN TUNA".
Ikejime Bluefin Tuna Saku ULT -60ºC :
In Japan, a tuna saku (さく) is the term meaning a piece of tuna, fresh or ULT, cut into a rectangular block 2 to 3cm thick and used in all sushi bars. Saku are prized by Japanese chefs as the basic shape for cutting sashimi slices and sushi neta because of their uniformity. They are also used for other presentations such as maki or poké bowls. The poké bowl is a traditional Hawaiian dish that has now become popular and is very easy to prepare at home.
Fresh Ikejime Bluefin Tuna:
The ikejime bluefin tuna cuts we offer below are delivered fresh and are made from fresh tuna, never frozen; each tuna loin weighing around 50 to 60kg. The bluefin tuna used for these cuts comes from fattening sites in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Much larger than saku, these pieces are particularly well-suited to maturing tuna over several days or weeks, producing incomparable flavors and pushing culinary limits in the manner of the great sushi-ya of Japan and France! For deliveries outside France, please contact us.
