Hotaruika — This Week from Toyama
This week's Hotaruika comes from Toyama Bay — the premium origin, and the one most people associate with the ingredient. Toyama squid are caught using fixed nets (定置網) as they approach shallow coastal water to spawn. The timing matters: the nets capture the squid at peak ripeness, their bodies full of naiko (内子, roe). That concentrated, creamy burst from the roe is what separates Toyama Hotaruika from any other origin.
Earlier in the season we received fish from Hyogo — bottom-trawled, mixed sex ratio, excellent value. The Toyama shipment is different in character: larger, heavier with roe, richer. The classic preparation is with vinegared miso (sumiso). If you want something more involved, a quick pass through a hot pan with butter and soy, finished with the roe still intact, is worth trying.
The season closes at the end of April. This is the final Hotaruika of 2026. Order Hotaruika · Learn more →
On food safety: Our Hotaruika is lightly boiled at source — the standard preparation in Toyama and the method that preserves texture while eliminating Anisakis risk. This is not a compromise; it is the preferred form.
May 16 & 17 — Wine & Fish Pairing, Not Just a Tasting
The framing for the May 16–17 event has sharpened since we first announced it. This is not primarily a wine tasting with fish on the side. It is a fish and wine pairing — a structured exploration of why specific cuts interact with specific wines the way they do, grounded in the actual chemistry.
The conventional rule — white wine with fish, red wine with meat — has a real scientific basis. Ferrous iron (Fe²⁺) in wine reacts with the unsaturated fatty acids in fish fat, generating aldehydes that produce the unpleasant fishy aftertaste most people have encountered at some point. High-tannin, heavily extracted reds carry more Fe²⁺ and cause this problem reliably. But the rule is about iron load and wine structure, not about color. Cool-climate, low-extraction wines — restrained Pinot Noir, high-acid whites from volcanic soils — carry less Fe²⁺ and pair cleanly with fish. Decanting any red for 20 minutes before serving accelerates the conversion of Fe²⁺ to its inert form and meaningfully reduces the risk.
The three winemakers joining us on May 16–17 make exactly this kind of wine. Akiko Shiba (Shiba Wichern Cellars, Oregon), Sonoe Hirabayashi (Six Cloves Wines, California), and Jenn Anderson (Novella Wines, Virginia) — all three of East Asian heritage, all three working in cool-climate or lower-iron styles that hold up against sashimi-grade fish. The event will work through the pairing logic cut by cut, with the wines in hand. Unlimited pours, bottles available with winemaker signatures, sashimi platter from us.
May 16 & 17 — AAPI Heritage Month Wine & Fish Pairing
Two venues, two days, three winemakers. Tickets and full schedule at sashimidc.com/events →
Negitoro Making Class — May 9 & 10
We have added two Negitoro making classes on May 9 and 10. $40 per person. The class is hands-on: you will make authentic Negitoro the traditional way, starting from Sujitoro — the cut of bluefin tuna that runs along the sinew and is too fibrous for sashimi on its own. Rather than discard this flavorful section, Japanese fishmongers have long scraped its rich meat into what became one of the most prized preparations in Japanese cuisine.
Most tuna tartar served at restaurants is not what it claims to be. It may not be bluefin — or even tuna at all. Filler fats, preservatives, and carbon monoxide treatment are common in the industry. The real thing is something else entirely, and the point of this class is to make that difference tangible.
You will learn how to identify and work with Sujitoro, the technique for efficiently scraping meat from sinew, and how to understand the depth of umami that only real bluefin tuna delivers. No prior experience needed. All ingredients provided. You will leave with the skill to prepare true Negitoro at home — and a clearer sense of what you are actually eating when you order it elsewhere.
Negitoro Making Class — May 9 & 10 · $40 · Tickets at sashimidc.com/events →
Cargo Fuel Surcharge — A Sharp Increase
One cost note worth flagging: the ANA Cargo fuel surcharge — which applies to every shipment of fish from Japan — tripled in April. It had been stable in the ¥71–85/kg range through most of 2025 and early 2026, then rose sharply from ¥78/kg on April 1 to ¥247/kg on April 16. It has since eased slightly to ¥226/kg from May 1, but remains at historically high levels.
On a typical 100–120 kg bluefin shipment, that increase adds roughly $110–135 in fuel cost per delivery compared to two weeks prior — on top of the 10% Section 122 import tariff and rising terminal fees at Dulles that have been running since 2024. We absorb what we can; some of it passes through to pricing. The supply chain page has the full numbers if you want to understand what is driving the cost environment.
Delivery Now Reaches Farther
We recently completed a full review of our delivery coverage — running test addresses across the DMV — and the picture is clearer than it has been. Since we started the business a couple of years ago, the reach has expanded steadily. What was once edge-case territory is now routine.
In Virginia, the inner ring now includes Arlington, Alexandria, McLean, Tysons, Fairfax, Vienna, Falls Church, Springfield, and Great Falls, among others. The outer ring — areas like Reston, Herndon, and Chantilly — has partial coverage along major roads. In Maryland, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, and Potomac are fully covered; the outer ring now reaches Gaithersburg, Bowie, Olney, and north Waldorf along major corridors.
If you are in the suburbs and have been unsure whether delivery reaches you, the best way to check is to enter your address at checkout — coverage is validated per address, not by city. The short version: we probably deliver to you.