Kue is “epinephelus bruneus” or “longtooth grouper.” It can reach 2 meters long and 150 kilograms heavy. Sashimi, or Japanese-style sliced raw fish dish is, especially delicious. The larger one tends to be tastier. The origin is such Japanese Prefectures as Nagasaki, Mie and Wakayama. Even in those Prefectures, natural and fresh Kue is rarely available.

Japanese skilled fisherman fishes and handles Kue with great care. When he finds the kue is on his hook, he slows the reeling speed so as for kue to avoid a sudden change of water pressure. Without this slow movement, Kue’s eyes go out and it dies soon. He is not able to keep it alive. That is called No-jime.

The opposite of No-jime is Ike-jime. Kue in Ike-jime means that fisherman firstly handles Kue with great care and keeps it away from the sudden change of water pressure. Secondly, he stings its air bladder with a needle and keeps it alive in a water tank of a larger boat. Then, he finally stings its fatal point without causing damage just before shipment. Especially, as for large Kue, it requires long-time experience to stings its fatal point at once. One example is doing shinkei-jime, or paralyzing kue to avoid postmortem rigidity. Ike-jime’s selling point is this kind of skillful technique.

Generally speaking, in Ike-jime, the longtooth grouper is kept alive until it is killed just before shipment. Meanwhile, in No-jime, the longtooth grouper naturally dies soon, dies before shipment or dies very early before the shipment. Ike-jime can keep the longtooth grouper fresher than No-jime. It implies Ike-jime is high-quality, therefore, is a little more expensive.

This offer is subject to prior sales. All the product information, including prices and minimum order quantity, is subject to change without prior notice. Regarding import restriction, food safety measures, quarantine terms and conditions in your country, please contact your government office and check by yourself on what procedures and what documents are needed in order to import the products to your country