Tuna Head cooking (at home)

There is a danger of bringing down the Google blog servers when posting something this popular, but we'll take the chance anyway.

Tuna head in the display rack at AVE grocery store

Yes, you too can cook your own giant tuna fish head at home. There are some constraints of course, some of them in fact showstoppers, but those will be explained along the way.  If you'd like to read about other people cooking and eating a giant tuna head, read my other blog entry on it. There are not that many places in Japan where you can get this delicacy, so doing it in your own home is a real treat and adventure.

To cook a tuna head at home you need a tuna head first, an oven large enough to cook it, and a recipe or directions.

Step 1 is where to buy one? This is the "showstopper" part for some of you.  If you Google "where to buy tuna head Yokosuka" you will in fact find something on the subject. But some of the results you now see are from this blog which did not exist back when I was trying to cook my own tuna head. And the other results that popped really didn't help.  But the problem is solved now thanks to Google and my disclosure of where to buy a tuna head. 

Now, if you live in Des Moines, Iowa or anywhere else besides Yokosuka, Japan - I suppose this post is not helping you find a tuna head.  Yokosuka  just so happens to be near Misaki, which is where Andrew Zimmern ate tuna head at Kurobatei. Misaki is a famous tuna port in Japan. For most people I'm not sure what comes first - having a tuna head and then the subsequent desire to cook one, or having a desire to cook one and then the subsequent need to find a tuna head.  Whatever the case - the odd popularity of this post (this is consistently one of the top 3 posts) proves there are a lot of people out there with tuna heads to cook!  Who would have known! My opening line on this post was just sarcasm! What on earth is everyone out there doing, or searching, with respect to tuna heads??

If for some reason you're able to order from Amazon - Japan, you can get a frozen head delivered to your home. Unfortunately, when I checked they were temporarily out of stock. 

I found a fish head for sale (in Yokosuka) really by chance.  One day we discovered the AVE grocery store and went shopping there. The selection of fresh vegetables and seafood is great and the prices are right. In the fish section there it was, sitting on a pedestal - a giant tuna head. I thought it was a prop though as it looked like maybe it was made of plastic.  So I took note of it and thought that maybe they have real ones available in the back that are frozen and you just have to ask.

With lead in hand I headed back home and the oven was measured (Step 2) with all the racks removed from just above the bottom burner to the top broiler and got the other dimensions as well. Somewhere around 15 inches I think was the maximum that would fit in the oven, and the limiting dimension.

 Next day it was back to AVE with tape measure in pocket. Trying to be inconspicuous, I quickly measured the head on display at just under 15 inches from neck to mouth, and the other dimensions were good. Great, at least the display head is the right size! Hard to be inconspicuous at AVE grocery store though. Traffic flows counterclockwise around the fish section and people and carts flow like a river with no end. They just keep coming! Going against the flow is real fun. You've not seen a busy grocery store until you've seen AVE in Yokosuka.

Getting the attention of a staffer I asked through my phone and a combination of broken Japanese and broken English how much was the head? His reply was 500 Yen. At first I thought I misheard or misunderstood him, so I said 500 Yen? Holding up five fingers. Yes. Still not believing (this was at least a 15lb tuna head after all) I typed it out on my phone - 500. Again yes. So I said sure, I'll take one - holding up one finger, and he headed off into the back to presumably get my tuna head.

But instead he came out with a container and proceeded to put the head in there. So now I'm thinking no wonder it was so cheap, I just agreed to buy their tuna head prop for 500 Yen! After showing hesitation on my part, and after more broken Japanese, English, phone translation, and closer inspection of the head, all parties were assured that this was in fact a real tuna head. If felt as if I scored a major bargain and I did.  The fact that most Japanese people don't have an oven, and even if they do, an oven that would fall well short of the required size, may explain why they have just one head on display at AVE for any given day. At Kurobatei you'll pay over $200 for one of these that's not much bigger.

The tuna was placed in the box, its head sticking up at least 5 inches, and a clear plastic bag wrapped around the whole thing. It was then placed in the cart to start its journey home. On the way to the register and out the store I caught many admiring looks and smiles from the almost all Japanese customers at the bounty in my cart.

Almost as difficult as searching for where to buy a fish head was searching for a fish head recipe (step 3). But luckily that problem was solved too by this very good post here. You can't go wrong with a link to the "best bluefin tuna recipe ever" now can you? And it was for a head too!

Simmering the sauce to blend the flavors

The recipe for the sauce worked quite well for me. Not surprising because the source of the recipe was a Japanese man.

From the link "the best bluefin tuna recipe ever" you make the sauce by mixing:
6 cups soy sauce
3 cups water
2 cups mirin (available at the commissary or most any Asian aisle in the grocery)
2 cups brown sugar
4 minced garlic cloves
In a large saucepan, Simmer until reduced by 1/3. You'll end up saving some of this for later after the fish is finished cooking, for sauce.

It fits!

Luckily the tuna head just fit into this large pot we had.

Before proceeding, please read the bold update below on some additional preparatory steps!! Then come back to this point.

Follow the instructions from the link above and steam it on top of the stove for 30 minutes, covering it with some foil. The smell wafted throughout the house.

Important Note: If you are actually going to try this at home, you should open up the doors and windows and ventilate well. Your other half will be glad, and will not have to wash any clothes or sheets or anything like that to get rid of "that tuna smell."

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any discontent that may arise from not following these instructions. On the good side, you will enjoy the wonderful smell while it is cooking and while you're eating, and nothing will seem unusual until the following day/s.  It's normal to smell it while it's cooking and while eating it, but not after the leftovers have been wrapped up and deposited in the fridge.

****Important new information!!!  Nearly six months after my original post, I have uncovered important information regarding how one might better control the smells when cooking a tuna head. It seems the Japanese have recognized this was an issue and have a solution. Or should I say have offered a solution. I'll be posting the "solution" shortly but I have to gather some additional info first. ******

Update start*** OK, for those of you patiently waiting for the instructions here they are. Hope too many marriages did not get troubled in the meantime. 
Step 1: Boil water
Step 2: Once boiled, pour it over the tuna head to remove the fish smell, slime, blood or any impurities.  This will prevent the fish from releasing a strong fish scent when cooking.  (although not specified, I think you should do this both inside and outside the head, as the smells are certainly not just confined to the outside)

** NOTE:  If the tuna head is not fresh, prior to pouring boiling hot water, sprinkle salt over the fish and let is sit on a plate.  The fish fluid will be released after a few minutes.  Then, quickly rinse with water, followed

by the pouring of the hot water.  This process not only keeps the fish from smelling too much like fish, but it keeps the meat together so it doesn't fall apart while cooking. Sounds a bit fishy to me but it might work.

** NOTE 2:  You can either pour hot water over the fish or place it quickly in boiling water and take it right out.  Must not leave it in long at all...only till the surface turns slightly white, so it's very quick.

Step 3: Once the fish is "blessed" with hot water, place in COLD WATER to tighten the meat.  Rub the surface gently to remove any excess impurities.

The above purification instructions were originally meant for smaller heads but they should work just fine if you have one that is as big as the photo below - except you may not be able to do the dipping technique.
****End Update****

Steaming

The head was transferred to a deep aluminum baking dish before putting it into the oven. When transferring the head to the dish be careful since the head is now a lot weaker than when it was fresh and it could fall apart if you're not careful, with the fish ending up on the floor.

After the oven. Note the eyeball. Will he eat it?

Other details for cooking can be found in the best tuna recipe website linked above.

There is a lot of meat in these, much more than one would think. And the meat from different parts of the head all taste a bit different.  It was a good experience that I'd like to try again someday, when the time is right.  About that eye. No. Things like that have their time and place. I'm not there yet.
If you live in Yokosuka and you're wondering where AVE is you can find it on the blog map.

To skip the cooking at home all together, you can find tuna heads in certain food/grocery stores. The ones below were spotted in a Tokyo train station market.

As far as I can tell there are two places near Yokosuka where you can order a tuna head at a restaurant:
- The closest one is Gyoran-tei which is about a 100ft from the Hotel New Yokosuka
- The other one is at Kurobatei down in Misaki.

Boiled Tuna Head

 鮪　- Meguro - Tuna
かぶと　- helmet (head)
煮　- boiled

Baked Tuna Head

The last Kanji here is Yaki for baked or cooked (instead of boiled).