Yellowtail cheek

The cheek is the small, round muscle set into each side of a yellowtail's head — hoho-niku ("cheek meat") in Japanese — that works the jaw. Two come from each fish. Firm and dense with a springy, scallop-like bite, it is buttery-clean and mildly sweet, richer than a lean white fish yet milder than the darker bloodline meat: one of the choice morsels dug from the winter head when a whole buri is broken down.