Uni Grading System
Like any premium product, Uni pricing is based on its grading. This is especially true for Uni headed to the Uni Auction Market, where auctioneers trade hundreds of Uni every morning.
Uni auctioneers determine Uni grading by color and texture, and those closer to having a golden color or more discernible bumps on the surface merit more value.
"Jo" means "Superior Quality" that includes Gokujo, Tokujo and Jo. "Nami" means "Conforming to standards" and "Yasu" means "Average Quality".
"Gokujo" is what they call "the perfect quality" that matches the above criteria better than all other Uni in the market.
How to judge the quality of your Uni
Freshly caught Uni has a dense color and shape: Bafun has a bright yellow/orange with a firm texture and Murasaki has a pale-yellow color and creamy texture that melts in your mouth. The taste of Uni should never be too fishy, but instead leave traces of the ocean. The smell should be slightly salty and briny and not have a strong fishiness to it either. Each Uni gonad should also be dry, firm and plump, and they should not look overly melted or deflated.
Japanese Uni Auctioneers
What makes the Japanese Uni grading system so interesting is that the grading is highly subjective for Uni auctioneers. Only selected auctioneers are allowed to enter the Uni room and they must have at least 10 years of experience before they are considered proficient enough to be able to rate Japanese Uni. Such Uni auctioneers have years of experience in grading Uni and have evaluated many high-price Uni for decades. They will ensure that you receive the best quality of Uni available in the market on the auction date.
Grading Indicators
Like the 3C’s of diamonds, each Uni s graded based on about 3 major indicators:
- Initial Appearance
- Shape
- Color
The highest possible grade is a bright yellow/gold color with a sweet taste and firm texture. Hokkaido Uni brands often dominates higher grades in the auction. Thus, Hokkaido Uni is quite literally "off the charts" in comparison to other Uni brands.
We retains exclusive access to the finest Uni processors in Hokkaido and can order specific grades according to the customer's needs. As a result, your Uni is specially picked by the Uni processor before they are sent to the market and our prices/quality are more stable.
AAA (Gokujo) UNI 極上雲丹
Richness and vibrancy of color: ★★★★★
Plumpness and brightness of the veins: ★★★★★
Origin: Hokkaido
Size: 300g up
AA (Tokujo) UNI 特上雲丹
Richness and vibrancy of color: ★★★★★
Plumpness and brightness of the veins: ★★★★
Origin: Hokkaido
Size: 300g up
A+ (Jo) UNI 上雲丹
Richness and vibrancy of color: ★★★★
Plumpness and brightness of the veins: ★★★★
Origin: Hokkaido
Size: 250g up
A (Nami) UNI 並雲丹
Richness and vibrancy of color: ★★★
Plumpness and brightness of the veins: ★★★
Origin: Hokkaido
Size: 250g up
Regular (Yasu) UNI 安雲丹
Richness and vibrancy of color: ★★
Plumpness and brightness of the veins: ★★
Origin: Hokkaido
Size: 250g up
Special Uni
Besides the 5 Japanese Uni categories noted above, there is an exclusive Uni group in the market known as "Specials". Specials are usually graded with a numbering system.
The most important digit is "1", which represents the best Uni in the market on that morning. Other digits, from 2 to 10, are still considered to be Special Uni. These Specials are not sold in restaurants or grocery stores. Most often, Uni of this high quality is given as a gift or enjoyed on very special occasions.
We pride ourselves on being able to offer the best of all grade of Uni. This is what we ship to our Michelin-star restaurants, and what we send to you, our personal clients.
The reasons we can offer the best is because of our local access to Uni processor, which gives us a decided edge with fishermen, and the utmost care we take to insure careful processing from Hokkaido to your dinner table. Our competitors cannot match this.