''Negitoro'' () is a

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and oth ...

of minced raw

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...

scrape, the fatty parts of the fish that cannot be made into other meals, commonly served together with

green onion Scallions (also known as spring onions or green onions) are vegetables derived from various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions and their close relatives include garlic, shallot, leek, ...

. In addition to being an ingredient to

sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...

of various types, they are also used as a

rice bowl The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia; and C ...

topping, forming ''

negitorodon is a Japanese "rice-bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice. ''Donburi'' meals are usually served in oversized rice bowls which are also called ''donburi''. If one needs to d ...

''.

Etymology

Multiple hypotheses exist.

Combination of green onion and toro part of tuna

One hypothesis is that ''negitoro'' is so named because it is a combination of green onion (), and (, fatty parts of tuna).Since the 1980s, with the appearance of new ''toro'' sushi combined with

pungent Pungency () refers to the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy () is sometimes applied to foods with a l ...

vegetables, the well-matched taste and combination of ''toro'', green onion and ''

nori Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, made from species of the red algae genus '' Pyropia'', including ''P. yezonesis'' and '' P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is often used to wrap rolls of sushi or ...

'' seaweed have become popular.

Toro referring to something other than part of tuna

One of the restaurants hypothesized as the origin of the dish claims the dish was so named based on , a dish that was popular around the place at the time.

Negi referring to something other than green onion

In the field of construction in Japan, digging soil from the ground to constructing building is termed ''negiru'' (), and it was hypothesized that the term adopted into ''negiru'' () or ''negitoru'' () to refer to meat being scraped. Tuna fishing groups support the hypothesis. However, dictionary editors question the hypothesis, claiming there is no verifiable usage of the verb form of the adopted word ''negitoru'' (), and thus the hypothesis cannot be sustained. It has been suggested the ''negitoru'' origin hypothesis emerged after the 2000s, and until the 1990s the mainstream hypothesis on the origin of the ''negitoro'' dish was that the term is a combination of green onion () and ().

Mass-market product

Negitoro sold to the

mass market The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds wi ...

and distributed into retail channels like supermarkets is

mass-produced Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...

in fish factories. They use

lean meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as ch ...

of various fishes, including, for example,

yellowfin tuna The yellowfin tuna (''Thunnus albacares'') is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian , a name also used there for the closely related bigeye ...

marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to deri ...

bigeye tuna The bigeye tuna (''Thunnus obesus'') is a species of true tuna of the genus '' Thunnus'', belonging to the wider mackerel family Scombridae. In Hawaiian, it is one of two species known as ahi, the other being the yellowfin tuna. Bigeye tuna are ...

, and

albacore The albacore (''Thunnus alalunga''), known also as the longfin tuna, is a species of tuna of the order Perciformes. It is found in temperate and tropical waters across the globe in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. There are six distinct s ...

, then adding additives like

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or f ...

shortening Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. Although butter is solid at room temperature and is frequently used in making pastry, the term ''shortening'' seldom refers to b ...

, lard, antioxidants, and

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...

s. Dedicated fat products for the purpose of ''negitoro'' manufacturing have also been produced. Japanese

consumer group Consumer organizations are advocacy groups that seek to protect people from corporate abuse like unsafe products, predatory lending, false advertising, astroturfing and pollution. Consumer Organizations may operate via protests, litigation, ...

s and magazines have raised concerns about such practices being possibly misleading and raising potential health concerns. However, there are also claims that unprocessed tuna scrape is not popular.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Cite book , last= 吉野曻雄 , title=世界大百科事典改訂版 , year=2005 , publisher=

Heibonsha Heibonsha (平凡社) is a Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, which publishes encyclopedias, dictionaries and books in the fields of science and philosophy. Since 1945 it has also published books on art and literature.Tuna dishes Japanese cuisine Sushi Raw foods