Species sheet · The Edible Ocean
Yellowfin tuna
Two yellow sickles, and everyone knows who it is.
- Seared thirty seconds a side, rare inside
- Raw, as a sesame tataki
- As a tartare with ginger and lime
- In French
- Thon albacore
- Scientific name
- Thunnus albacares
- In the water
- Tropical and subtropical open water in every ocean, from the surface to 250 metres.
- Season & buying
- Year-round. Favour pole-and-line over purse seine.
- Common length
- ~150 cm
- How to identify it
- Very long sickle-shaped second dorsal and anal fins
Bright yellow lateral band and finlets
Dark blue back, silver belly
On the plate
Pale pink flesh, leaner and milder than bluefin.
Avoid: Confusing it with bluefin at the counter. The yellow fins always give it away.
Those long sickle fins grow with age. A young yellowfin looks like any other tuna, an old one looks like nothing else.
In Umay recipes
2 Umay recipes call for it.
