Two years ago I was in Honolulu for a dance competition and took advantage of my brief time there to check out a small sample of the local restaurant scene (Fine Food in Honolulu). I love the simplicity and freshness of raw fish in its myriad forms whether called sashimi, crudo or carpaccio, marinated as in ceviche, or dressed with other ingredients as in poke, so my eyes inevitably sought out the sashimi options on the menus. At home one of my favorite sashimi choices has always been hamachi, usually called yellowtail here.

While dining out in Honolulu (Fine Food in Honolulu : a Sampler) I found myself confused on menu items such as hamachi, kampachi, and kanpachi which all seemed to be terms for yellowtail. Always wanting to improve my vocabulary I turned to the web to clarify these terms. I found the clearest explanation in a blog post Yellowtales in The Edible Ocean blog written by  fishmonger, MJ Gimbar.