How should I have eaten yellowtail collar?

[scott duncan]

I had yellowtail collar last friday at my small town sushi spot and was offered yellowtail collar with the other items I had when I ordered omakase. It came as two sides stacked prettily on the plate in a thin pool of soy sauce. The pieces were fried and from the photos I have seen seemed to be the lower part so that they were primarily the section with the two fins. It was tasty and I enjoyed it but I am wondering, before I admit how I ate them, what is the proper or accepted way to eat them?

scott

[dosx]

i'm glad there is somebody to proclaim how great Tatsuki is. it might look like a hole-in-the-wall. but i love it.
we have not gotten to have the yellowtail collar, yet, though the staff knows us on sight when we're lucky enough to splurge on sushi (yumm)

[FlavoursGal]

Hamachi kama is the only cooked dish I order at my favourite sushi restaurant. It's grilled until the skin is crisp and the inside is just cooked through. It's absolutely addictive. I usually use my chopsticks to scrape the flesh off the cartilage, and I have no qualms about picking up the cartilage to get every last bit.

The hamachi kama is not even on the menu, but was brought to our table as a free offering on one of our visits. I've been ordering it ever since.

[barleywino]

did you pick them up with your hands and eat them like fried chicken or ribs ;) ? (if so, i would have to admire your boldness, with some of those fish bones sticking out, although you probably would have given the restaurant staff a shock)

[ricepad]

Shock? On the contrary, they would have said to each other admiringly, "Hey, look...that hakujin knows how to eat that..."

[steinpilz]

Interesting, I love ribs but wouldn't want to eat hamachi kana this way for some reason.

[jungleboy]

have never ever seen hamachi kama raw...always broiled and basted in a soy/ginger glaze of some kind...just attack that sucker with chopsticks...the meat may not be a "prized portion", but there's only one on each hamachi...I find it quite succulent

[zfalcon]

Hamachi Kama comes broiled/grilled. There's usually a pile of daikon oroshi (grated daikon) with ginger. You pour a liberal amount of soy sauce into the daikon oroshi and eat it with the fish you pick out.

I usally leave nothing but a pile of separated bones on mine.

[Stephanie Wong]

My favorite sushi master would say, "The cat would pass by it", meaning nothing left on the bones to interest the kitty; good job.

[aussiewonder]

I love Hamachi Kama and have only ever eaten it cooked, usually broiled but sometimes flash fried. One fav place broils it and dresses it with slices of lemon, green onions and a soy dipping sauce. And like other posters, I just pick away at it w/ chopstikcs - although admittedly, rather cleanly.

[Silverjay]

It's usually well-broiled (yaki) and seasoned in sea salt and soy sauce. You simply pick at it with your chopsticks. It's not a prized portion, but more of a throwaway that's mostly served at izakaya and not sushi-ya. Since, the preparation you describe sounds a little bit atypical (i.e. fried, plated), there's probably no hard rules with how to eat it.

[steinpilz]

I've had the broiled variety and just picked at it with chopsticks, as Silverjay describes.

[porkmuffin]

Usually Hamachi Kama is eaten raw. It's a prized portion of the collar and/or "cheek" because of the rich flavor. Unfortunately I don't know enough about which sections are best suited to sashimi vs. a cooked dish. The two times I have indulged the hamachi collar it was served sashimi style.