There is nothing I hate more than being wrong. That's why I research things to death to make sure that I am not wrong too often. When it does happen though, it's a great learning experience, like the one I just got on freezing fin fish. has just posted on my How to store fish story has inspired me to finally get off my lazy butt and write up my frozen fish experiments. I used to be of the conviction that frozen fish was ALWAYS worse than fresh. I know, I know -- Whole Foods and many fish cookbooks like to tell you that previously frozen fish can be even fresher than previously frozen fish because it was frozen at the peak of freshness. Just so that I don't have to use the "not previously frozen" terminology (that just takes too long to type), I'll use the word "fresh" to refer to fish that did not undergo the freezing process. The question I'll try to answer is , not whether it's as safe to eat. Why would I care? I can get plenty of excellent fresh fish here in Boston. The problem is that when it comes to eating fish raw, freshness is not the only thing you have to worry about.

Depending on the fish, they might pose an extremely small risk (to read all about them, see my posts on parasites, parts 1 and part 2). But if you want to eliminate that risk completely by killing the parasites, the only way to do it is to freeze the fish for at least 7 days. where to buy sushi ingredients on long islandCooking kills them too, of course, but that doesn't help you much with sushi.healthiest things to order at sushi My attitude to raw fish is pretty laid back. food delivery ottawa downtownBut when I teach sushi classes, I want to give my students an extra precaution option. sushi online zaragoza

Some people don't want to take a risk of food-born illness, no matter how minuscule. When I am serving fin fish raw, I only use tuna, farm-raised salmon, farm-raised branzino, and farm-raised yellowtail. The only way to get yellowtail in Boston is flash frozen and shipped from Japan so parasites are not an issue for that one at all. japanese sushi rice mixing bowlThe other fish are fresh, but the odds of them having parasites are practically zero, so I just buy them from a reputable market (The New Deal in Cambridge) and eat them. how to order sushi grade fishIt doesn't kill bacteria, just temporarily stops it's growth, so freezing inferior fish does not make it "safe".sushi san francisco ferry building

I used to think that all fish would be damaged by freezing. Fish is mostly made of water, and water expands during freezing. This tears the flesh of the fish and makes it mushy. To prepare for my sushi class, I froze piece after piece of different fish, and here are my findings -- different fish react to freezing differently. Fatty fish freeze relatively well, and their texture is barely affected. Lean fish turn to mush in their defrosted raw state and rubber when cooked. In these pictures, farm-raised salmon (very fatty) and fluke (very lean) were frozen the same way for the same amount of time. After defrosting, the fluke was so soft, I could turn it into a puree with a chop stick. But, salmon stayed just as resilient as it was before freezing. Is it safe to consume raw fish purchased at the fish counter of a typical suburban grocery store? If not, do you have any tips for finding sushi grade fish. food-safety fish sushi salmon japanese-cuisine Not being aware of your location, some general tips:

1) Buy your fish from a fishmonger, and tell him/her what you are using it for. You want to do business with somebody who's business is selling fish and only selling fish. They are going to know what's been stored to eaten raw standards in a way that the just above minimum wage fish guy at your grocery store doesn't. 2) Don't buy it early. Buy it the day you mean to consume it or the day that you going to prep it. This question can help walk you through that 3) Take a cooler to get your fish. You have to maintain the freshness, that means not allowing it raise in temperature anymore than you have to. I wouldn't trust anything from a grocery-store fish counter to be fit for raw consumption.I've never bought anything from them, but it looks like they're probably a good source if you want to buy online. If you're in the SF Bay Area, there are a number of places to buy it. I usually go to Tokyo Fish Market on San Pablo in Berkeley. Living far away from the ocean for much of my life- fishmongers and freshly caught fish are hard to come by.

Luckily that doesn't matter that much. The freshest fish are the ones that are frozen on the boat they are caught on. Suburban grocery store fish counters can sell you frozen fish in small quantities. I buy tuna or salmon steaks in .5 pound portions. They make excellent and very fresh tasting sushi when thawed. It will keep indefinitely when solidly frozen but as soon as you thaw it the normal rules apply- use it that day or it won't be fresh anymore. So don't order the fresh or the fresher fish. At Finney's, if you're wise, you'll say, "Fetch me the finest, French-fried freshest fish that Finney fries!" (Sorry, I couldn't help it- I've been reading to the kids.) I have used smoked salmon to make sushi rolls with success, I would not try it with nigiri as the difference would be extremely noticable. Depends on how authentic you want to be. I worked at so many sushi restaurant( luxury and not luxury ) and they used all a regular freezer , nothing too fancy. Allmost all fishes are not fresh ..