Hot under the (tuna) collar

There are some foods I've never had that I know I'll love.

Oh, I plan to eat them someday, but either they are too expensive (caviar), too hard to find in my area (glass eels, sea beans), or I only recently learned they existed (black garlic).

Today, I crossed one off my list: Tuna collar.

It all started a few months ago, when The Mister and I discovered a great place for hot-smoked fish. They smoke their fish whole, so one of the items they sell--for cheap--is smoked heads and collars. Like, a pound of fish is usually $10-20, and the collars are a buck a piece.

There's not a ton of eat on them but there''s this insanely tasty layer of fat between the skin and the bone. They were so unctuous and delicious, I called them fish ribs.

And, three weeks later, when I saw them grilling tuna collar on Iron Chef, it clicked. Tuna Collar is just big fish ribs.

Today, at lunch, I had my first real tuna collar, deep fried, with a nice honey soy glaze. Just like the fish ribs, but bigger, no smoke, and a super crispy skin. Biss.