[Stan Wright]

Hawaii people must have their fresh sashimi for new years parties. Wanda Adams writing in the Honolulu Advertiser reports.....A sign that Island sashimi lovers may be becoming more knowledgeable and finicky is that a number of stores were using Japanese terms to describe types of sashimi-grade 'ahi.Abura, a term that means "fat," is used to indicate a cut that is particularly oily. It is not a section of the fish but a descriptive term, explained Takenaka. Toro, however, defines a section of the fish, the layer of fat that sits just inside the skin in the belly area. Chu toro is the place deeper within where the belly fat mingles with the red flesh; the character chu means "middle," said Tamashiro. However, he said that in Hawai'i, the terms chu toro and toro are often used interchangeably. Some toro is cut horizontally, so that the entire piece is belly fat. Some is cut in cross section, so that both the light-colored fat and the deeper-colored chu toro are included.At Marukai, the membership store where many Japanese nationals shop, chu toro was $22.99 a pound yesterday morning and chu toro block was a whopping $49.99 a pound. And if you wanted to grate your own fresh, imported wasabi to go with it, those little green knobs of delicious heat were selling for $69 a pound; a package of three short pieces — enough to accompany a platter of sashimi — weighed out at about $11.