Beni Toro-Fatty Salmon, who has it and how much?

I had the fatty salmon nigiri at Ai last tuesday, (they have a killer tuesday 20 dollar 6 course meal for the first 5 people for dinner) and it was amazing! I never knew there was such a thing, and they sell them at Ai at 3.50 a pop, I doubt I will find it anywhere else for that price/quality. Does anyone know why it's called Beni toro in japanese? Anyhow for those of you who haven't tried the fatty salmon nigiri you must, it's amazing!


Ai Japanese Restaurant & Lounge
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River North
358 W Ontario St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 335-9888
http://www.aichicago.us

I believe Beni refers to a specific variety of salmon (sake)? - the toro is used to indicate it's from the belly (as with "real" toro from tuna).

Man, I wish my brother would finish reading Jeffrey Steingarten's It Must Have Been Something I Ate and return it to me, because I bet this is covered in the chapter entitled "Toro, Toro, Toro."

Katie wrote:Man, I wish my brother would finish reading Jeffrey Steingarten's It Must Have Been Something I Ate and return it to me, because I bet this is covered in the chapter entitled "Toro, Toro, Toro."

Thanks, Katie, for encouraging me to drag out my copy of It Must Have Been Something I Ate. Sorry to tell you, though, the Toro, Toro, Toro chapter is all about bluefin tuna - no mention of salmon.

After a bit of googling, I have found that beni-zake seems to refer to sockeye salmon specifically. Interesting, as sockeyes are not the fattiest variety.

I would put money on it that it's simply a belly cut from Norwegian farm-raised Atlantic salmon (hopefully you're getting Norwegian or Scottish vs Chilean). I doubt it's a wild Pacific salmon like sockeye. Sake is just salmon in Japanese. Beni-toro is likely a restaurant marketing term like kani-kama crab (although at least it's "real" salmon vs krab).