Amberjack or Yellowtail?

 

While amberjack is the legitimate English name of this winter’s delicacy, most people online prefer to use yellowtail or kingfish for bangeo thus I use yellowtail referring to this fish here. Yellowtail is a migratory fish species that ranges from the East Sea, West Sea, South Sea, Jeju Island, Japan, and Taiwan to Hawaii.

The body is about 1-2 m long with a conical snout. The body colors of the adult fish and the fries are different, and the fries have yellow vertical stripes, but they disappear as they mature. The body color of the adult fish is blue with a metallic luster on the back and silver white on the belly. There is a pale-yellow vertical band between the tip of the snout and the tail. Like tuna, it is a pelagic fish that travels a long distance, and its flesh is red.

Unlike other blue-backed fish, which are unable to breathe if they do not swim continuously and die just by climbing out of the water due to their sensitivity to the environment, they swim slowly and are not sensitive to the environment, so they are raised for display in aquariums and other places.

The taste of this fish is very good in winter. It tastes better in winter because of increased fat and firm muscle tissue. This fish is good for sashimi or sushi and salt-grilled yellowtail is popular dish. This time we had yellowtail sashimi. In Korea, most of the yellowtails distributed in sashimi restaurants in the metropolitan area are farmed.

The biggest feature of yellowtail is its fatness. Similar to tuna, which has similar habits, this is a common feature of fish species that migrate to the ocean. Preferences vary when aged due to the distinctive flavor of red meat fish, but when aged, it tastes quite chewy and light, so even Koreans who don't eat raw fish may love yellowtail sashimi.

You can eat a variety of parts such as back, belly fat, neck, and tail. The back is light because it has a lot of muscles, the belly fat has a good umami taste, and the neck melts in the mouth because it has a lot of fat, and the tail is chewy.

The yellowtail commonly sold in fish markets is usually farm raised small fish. The bigger it grows, the more delicious it becomes. The aquaculture industry wants to grow bigger, but practically it is not profitable to do so and yellowtails are shipped when they reach a certain size.

The taste of yellowtail can change significantly depending on the state of storage or the level of stress that occurs during storage because it has a strong scent and a lot of fat. Even if the eyes and anus seem clean in appearance and maintain some elasticity, when cooked, you may not be able to eat this fish because of stink. Depending on situations, fresh sashimi made of living yellowtail in the tank can be annoying for who are sensitive and feel the smell and nausea. However, with good care and preventive measures, such unpleasant things are usually prevented, and I definitely recommend yellowtail during winter.