where to buy fish for sashimi
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I know some of you are planning a homemade sushi dinner. Whether this is your first time or you’re a seasoned pro, making sushi at home can be simple, fun, and rewarding. I’ve written before on how to make sushi rolls and Adrianna recently did a post on temaki, but the question I get asked the most is some version of “how do I know if the fish at my store is safe to eat raw?”. The term “sushi-grade” is often tossed around to imply some level of freshness, but in the US, there’s no regulation around the use of the phrase, so it can be used to describe anything. That said, most stores aren’t in the business of getting their customers sick, so they usually reserve the label for their freshest fish. Unfortunately, just because it’s fresh doesn’t mean it’s safe to eat raw. Some fish, such as salmon, contain parasites that will make you sick unless they’ve been destroyed. Another potential problem is cross-contamination.
This happens when “sushi-grade” fish gets cut on the same cutting board or using the same knife or handled with the same gloves as non-sushi-grade fish. If your fishmonger is storing unwrapped sushi-grade fish in the same refrigerated case as non-sushi-grade fish, this should be a big red flag. For fish that contain parasites, the FDA provides guidance under their Parasite Destruction Guarantee. This states in part that fish intended to be consumed raw must be “frozen and stored at a temperature of -20°C (-4°F) or below for a minimum of 168 hours (7 days)”. Cross contamination is a bigger issue. Because most stores don’t sell a high enough volume of fish intended to be eaten raw, they don’t maintain a separate space for handling their “sushi-grade” fish. What’s worse, because tuna is such a large fish, most stores don’t deal with whole tuna, they buy them pre-filleted, which means you have to take into consideration not only the stores handling of the fish, but their supplier’s handling of the fish as well.
Ultimately, what it comes down to is how much you trust your fishmonger to understand the best practices for handling fish meant to be consumed raw, and how much they trust their suppliers to hold the same standards. Here are a few things to remember when buying fish to ensure you have a safe and delicious sushi-dinner: Observe and see for yourself whether they’re cutting their sushi-grade fish on the same cutting board as their other fish, without changing gloves or disinfecting their knife and board first. Ask whether they fillet the fish you’re looking to buy themselves, or if they’re getting them pre-filleted. If you are buying salmon, ask if they can produce logs that show the times and temperatures that the fish was frozen. If you can’t find a local place you can trust with raw fish, why not try filling your sushi with vegetables, cooked fish, or even meat. California Rolls and Caterpillar Rolls may not be traditional, but that doesn’t make them any less delicious!
Miso Fish (Steelhead Trout) 味噌漬け ニジマス (1.5 lbs) Sashimi Party Set12 items Super Frozen Tuna12 items
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THE abiding rule, when it comes to fish used raw for sushi and sashimi, is that it must be fresh. That means not only recently caught, within the last 24 hours if possible, but also maintained in good condition. Proper cleaning and careful refrigeration are as important as freshness. Fish that has been frozen is not suitable. Not every type of fish can be used for Japanese raw fish preparations. The list is limited to salt water fish and shellfish because fresh water fish or shellfish can harbor dangerous microorganisms that are destroyed only upon cooking. Salmon, an anadromous fish that is born in fresh water but spends most of its life in salt water, is one exception. But be sure to buy fresh Atlantic or Pacific salmon, not salmon trout. When the weather is warm, in late spring, summer and autumn, the sashimi lover will find the most abundant variety of fish in the market. Fish is also likely to be fresher at those times of year since more are caught in nearby waters. But the warmer temperatures also mean that greater care must be exercised in storing the fish.
Fish used raw for sushi and sashimi include tuna, bonito (a type of tuna), striped bass, fluke (summer flounder), sole, flounder, porgy, sea bass, bluefish, red snapper, tilefish, weakfish (sea trout), halibut and salmon. These fish can be found in markets all year but there are definite seasonal variations. Tuna, one of the most popular fish for sushi or sashimi, is generally available in the autumn. Bluefish and striped bass are abundant in summer and fall and fluke is usually a late spring and summer fish. Smaller fish, up to three pounds, should be purchased whole. It is easier to judge freshness in a whole fish. The eyes should be bright, clear and not sunken, the gills red, the skin springy to the touch and not slimy. Fish should never have a strong or fishy odor. At most, a clean, slightly briny fragrance is all you should detect. Whole fish should be gutted and cleaned, with all traces of blood removed as soon as possible. For sushi or sashimi, never buy pre-cut fillets of fish that fish markets usually have on hand.
However, you can buy sections of large fish such as tuna, halibut and salmon that are too large to purchase whole if you can judge the freshness of the fish. Do not buy tuna that looks very bloody. Mackerel is frequently used for sushi and sashimi but it must first be salted and allowed to marinate for at least three hours, then rinsed and soaked in a diluted vinegar solution overnight. It also has a transparent membrane over the skin that must be peeled off. Shrimp and octopus are cooked before using in sushi, but slices of clam may be eaten raw. Sea urchin eggs, cleaned squid, the tail meat from a live lobster and fresh salmon caviar are excellent raw. It is impossible to generalize on the proper cutting techniques since they vary depending on the nature of the grain of the fish. Some fish are skinned and others are sliced with the skin intact. That is where lessons become useful. Whether you have the fish filleted in a market or do it yourself, a pair of clean tweezers will come in handy to remove any bones that may have been overlooked.