Packed with flavour and boasting a high fat content that lends itself perfectly to a range of cookery styles, yellowtail is one of Japan’s most prized types of seafood and can be found on menus up and down the country. Despite this incredible versatility, it’s a fish which is less widely used here in the UK, partly as a result of it not being native to British waters but also due to a lack of understanding around the species and its huge potential in the kitchen. This partly stems from the slightly confusing terminology and naming conventions around yellowtail, which it’s worth us clearing up immediately.

While the term yellowtail is often misunderstood as referring to a specific species of fish in Japan, it actually covers a whole family of similar Japanese white round fish, including hiramasa, kanpachi, buri and hamachi. Hiramasa, also known as yellowtail amberjack, is the least common of these species on menus and typically has firm, pinkish flesh and a clean flavour. Kanpachi (greater amberjack) meanwhile, has a similarly firm texture to hiramasa but is paler in colour and has an even crisper taste. The most commonly used of these fish however, and the focuses for the remainder of this article, are the wonderfully fatty and flavour-packed buri and hamachi.

Confusingly, buri and hamachi are actually exactly the same fish – the Japanese amberjack – but refer to it at different ages; think of this as similar to the distinction between veal and beef. Hamachi is young Japanese amberjack, typically one to two years old and around a foot in length, and is most commonly farmed to ensure that it’s harvested at the optimum moment. Whereas buri refers to the matured version of this species; they’re normally around four years old and are significantly larger than hamachi. Although most often still farmed like hamachi, buri is also increasingly caught wild, with non-farmed buri now accounting for over 40% of production in Japan. This wild buri is at its absolute prime during the winter months when it’s at its fattiest and most flavourful.

Natural Japanese amberjacks can be caught in most coastal areas across Japan apart from Okinawa, with some of the finest specimens found on the northern shores of Honshu. The focus in Japan however, still remains on buri and hamachi that's been farmed in a sustainable environment, as it allows for a consistently high yield of perfectly reared yellowtail. Japan’s artisanal fish farmers have spent the past ninety years figuring out the perfect environment for these yellowtails to grow in and have discovered that they thrive in strong currents and temperate waters, above eighteen degrees. As a result, there are now a vast number of cutting-edge, environmentally friendly yellowtail farms located in Japan, particularly in the inland seas.

At these farms, using state-of-the-art technology to monitor the conditions of the water and the health of the fish, the yellowtail fry (called mojako) are grown into buri using bespoke, sustainable feeds, before being meticulously processed to ensure maximum freshness. Much of the processing takes place on site as soon as the fish is landed, before being precisely prepared by experts and iced, to maintain its beautiful texture. The manner in which it's processed (and frozen if needs be) is what ensures that, even if shipped abroad, the hamachi and buri remain perfectly fresh.

Every step, from the monitoring of the growing process in yellowtail farms to the specialist techniques used during processing – yellowtails are commonly killed using the ike-jime method to ensure maximum freshness – is done with the final flavour and texture of the hamachi and buri in mind. As a result, top-quality yellowtail is bursting with rich umami flavour and has a firm, almost meat-like texture. In Japan, buri is still most commonly found as sashimi or even rolled into sushi, thanks to its strong flavour and firm texture. And a number of chefs here in the UK have also adopted this raw approach to yellowtail, with many now favouring it over native fish for the likes of ceviches and carpaccios.

What people outside of Japan may be less aware of, however, is the fact that yellowtail is equally well suited to being cooked, thanks to its high fat content. Whether fried, grilled or added into a hot pot (such as in buri shabu-shabu), as the fish is cooked the fat breaks down, bringing its savoury flavour to the forefront and ensuring a melt-in-the-mouth texture. A common cooked yellowtail dish in Japan is teriyaki yellowtail (check out Miho Sato’s recipe for hamachi teriyaki with maitake foam here) where the fish is grilled and coated in sticky teriyaki sauce. In contrast, the warming wintertime Japanese dish buri daikon makes use of yellowtail during its prime and sees the fish simmered with radish in a simple broth (not a dashi), with the rich flavour of the buri adding further depth to the stock.

It’s this immense versatility which makes Japanese yellowtail so coveted and ubiquitous across Japan. In fact, it’s regarded as somewhat of an auspicious and celebratory species, often eaten on special occasions particularly during send-offs. In parts of Japan, it’s even traditional after a wedding for the husband’s family to send yellowtail to the wife’s parents. While buri and hamachi don’t yet have the same associations outside of Japan, they are beginning to appear on menus across Europe and in the US. And as chefs become increasingly familiar with Japanese yellowtail’s unique properties, both when served raw and cooked, we’re sure we’ll only see more restaurants making use of this unique fish.