Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Tsukiji Fish Market

19th Oct, I must say waking up at 4am is ridiculous, just to see a bunch of dead fishes. Japanese are notorious for their Sashimi, creating a huge demand for tunas. The market was alive today as compared to being there 2 days ago, without realising that they are closed on 2 Wednesdays a month.

busy like a bee

This is the first time I've seen Tunas this huge. No, National Geographic channel does not count.

Tunas

More Tunas

Zzzzzzz Snore Zzzzzzzz

Unloading of the fishes must have taken place much much earlier in the wee hours of the morning. What they do is to label the fishes.

Labels

Then it was open for checking by cooks, market operators etc to inspect the fishes for freshness. Once that is done, they bring this fella out. It's auctioning time, may the highest bidder win. And he's the man of the hour.



I tell you, he was damn good and funny at the same time. He wasn't the only auctioner around, but he was the most entertaining. I suspect it's due to the fact tourists like myself crowd around that tourist designated area and he must entertain. Anyway, once the buyers have paid up, the can haul their catches away. They even have a cutter on hand to cut them into size for you, upon additional payment of course.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Tokyo Chainsaw Massacre

half a tuna

The fishes were really frozen. I overheard a tour guide telling a tourist that upon catching, they are instantly frozen in an ice room on board the fish trawler. This is to retain the blood within the fish and doing so would improve the freshness and taste of the fish. Blood = Raw = Sushi ... bleh

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Consumer Market

Japanese were known for their Kamikazes and dying an honorable death by way of Harakiri or Seppuku but this is something they fear.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/24/business/tuna.php

1 comment:

Spellbound said...

But tuna extinction is something all sashimi lovers around the world fear too, including yours truly here.

The auctioneer is so full of energy! It’s worth waking up at 4am just to see him :)