The story behind the 9.63 million yen tuna The economy is tanking right now, but Tsukiji’s first tuna auction of 2009 has shown us that the super rich can still afford to pay big bucks for premium tuna: The 282-pound (128-kilogram) premium tuna caught off the northern coast of Oma fetched 9.63 million yen ($104,700), the highest since 2001, when another Japanese bluefin tuna brought an all-time record of 20 million yen, market official Takashi Yoshida said. Yoshida said the extravagant purchase _ about $370 per pound ($817 per kilogram) _ went to a Hong Kong sushi bar owner and his Japanese competitor who reached a peaceful settlement to share the big fish. The Hong Kong buyer also paid the highest price at last year’s new year event at Tokyo’s Tsukiji market, the world’s largest fish seller, which holds near-daily auctions. Here’s a Fuji TV news segment about the what the buyers did with the ultra expensive fish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NcD5QYq4Y The clip starts by introducing Ricky Cheng, who owns a very successful restaurant chain called Itamae Sushi. His original restaurant was in Hong Kong back in 2004 and he has since opened two Itamae Sushi stores in the Ginza and Akasaka districts of Tokyo. Cheng won last year’s auction by himself, but this year he shared the purchase of the fish with the owner of Ginza Kyubei. Most of the part Cheng bought was flown off to be served in Hong Kong, but some parts of the special tuna did get served to customers of the Tokyo branches of Itaemae Sushi. One 5-kilogram section of the fish is shown being cut up and prepared at the Akasaka branch, apparently to be sold as part of a 2980 yen sushi plate. Huge signs plastered all over the outside of the restaurant announce its winning of the special tuna auction, attracting a great many customers. Cheng readily admits he is losing quite a bit of money by letting people eat the premium fish at such a low price, but there is some value in showing the world that his restaurants serve high quality dishes. Meanwhile, Ginza Kyubei sold their portion of the fish for a much higher price (2000-2500 yen for one piece). Ginza Kyubei has a long reputation as one of Japan’s finest sushi restaurants, and its owner had no intention of having a foreign-owned sushi restaurant take all the premium tuna glory.
that price for a fish, maybe i''ll quit my job and become a fishermen.. since the economy is bad aalready, 1 fish like that could feed my whole family
Ricky-san, seen him on those food shows where he won the auction for tuna, it almost seem like some of those other people were really pissed off with him. so expensive, can't believe they used to chop tuna up and feed it to dogs.
i know... everyone spoke abt it... when i heard it on the radio i thought Ricky Cheng as like a grandpa... -lol oh well... i like salmon better than tuna
In the past I only eat salmon sushi, but seeing more programs about food, I also like tuna sushi. Yummie
Sea Urchin Sushi is also yummie, but expensive: A sea urchin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PakhDt8W4I4
oh yeah... sea urchin sushi is yummy too... come to syd... sea urchin sashimi is only around AUD$10 a box~~ n oysters r cheap too!!! puahahahaha i feel like having seafood now... or if u want the really really fresh ones... u can go to a beach n catch ur own sea urchin... my dad used to take us along n catch them... it was sooooooooo nice!!
Don't know if there's a difference but I've had bluefin sushi at Morimoto's in NYC. It's like $5-6 a piece. It was good but I prefer toro.
Well, isn't it time for your to do it again? Or is the sea so polluted that it is a health hazard to do it? Blue Tuna is a big fish, so sushi can be made from many parts. Of course the price will differ greatly. In Japan, I have seen toro sushi of $400+ a piece -sweat
no la... i think sydney is THAT polluted yet... some of my friends still go... but i realise i get rashes when my skin touches sea water so i try to stay away from the beach as often as i can...
