The cut nobody orders first

If you ask a sushi chef which cut diners most underestimate, the answer is almost always scallop. The fish gets ordered, the toro gets ordered, the salmon gets ordered. The scallop sits, available, mostly chosen by the diners who already know.

This is a small piece about why scallop is worth ordering on your next visit — and what the Hokkaido-style preparation we use actually does.

What it is

Hotate is the Japanese name for scallop, specifically the adductor muscle — the round white cylinder of meat that holds the shell closed. In sashimi form it is sliced raw, often horizontally to expose the dense parallel fibers of the muscle.

Scallop sashimi at premium quality is among the sweetest, most delicate raw seafood available. The flavor is clean ocean with a faint nutty sweetness. The texture is firmer than salmon, softer than tuna, with a distinctive yielding bite.

Why Hokkaido specifically

Hokkaido's cold northern waters produce scallops with denser meat and higher natural sweetness than southern-water alternatives. The harvest seasons are well-defined and the supply chain to international restaurants is established. Most premium-grade scallop sashimi served at any serious Japanese restaurant in the world traces back to Hokkaido waters.

Hokkaido-style preparation involves cutting against the grain of the fibers — exposing the muscle texture visually and amplifying the soft-yielding mouthfeel. Some kitchens lightly score the surface in a crosshatch pattern. Some brush a thin layer of yuzu or a citrus salt before serving.

Why diners skip it

Visual unfamiliarity. Scallop sashimi looks plain compared to the orange-pink drama of salmon or the deep red of tuna. The visual restraint reads, to many diners, as boring before they have tasted it. Marketing photography rarely features scallop sashimi for this reason.

The second reason is concept friction. Many diners associate scallop with grilled or pan-seared preparations and have trouble imagining it raw. The leap is small once made; the leap itself stops many diners from trying.

How to order it

Ask for it. The chef will be quietly pleased. Order it early in the meal, before the richer cuts — the delicacy is washed out by anything stronger that came before. Eat it without soy sauce on the first piece; the sweetness reveals itself with no interference. On the second piece, add a small drop of soy if you want, but the cut works best almost unseasoned.

Pair with sake rather than green tea. The flavor of scallop and a light junmai daiginjo together is one of the small pleasures the sushi world quietly offers.

Related: Sashimi Platter · Hamachi vs Salmon · Sashimi Menu