bonito

Noun

bonito (plural bonito or bonitos or bonitoes)

1. Any of various marine fish of the genus Sarda that are related to and resemble the tuna, but smaller.
   • Mr Scott, the chief mate, being a capital fisherman, the table was almost daily furnished with an albacore, bonito, or dolphin, and not unfrequently with all three, which he struck with a gig.1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 165
2. A large tropical fish of species Katsuwonus pelamis (skipjack tuna), allied to the tunny.
   • Making dashi is simple once you have katsuobushi (shaved, dried bonito flakes) and kombu (sea kelp), which have become increasingly easy to find across the United States. (You can also order them online.)2022 October 19, J. Kenji López-Alt, “What Kenji López-Alt Makes His Family for Dinner”, in The New York Times
3. The medregal (Seriola fasciata), an edible fish of the southern United States and the West Indies.
4. The cobia or crab eater (Rachycentron canadum), an edible fish of warm waters globally.