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. Cooking kills them too, of course, but that doesn't help you much with sushi. My attitude to raw fish is pretty laid back. But when I teach sushi classes, I want to give my students an extra precaution option. sushi rice paper buySome people don't want to take a risk of food-born illness, no matter how minuscule. food delivery london sushiWhen I am serving fin fish raw, I only use tuna, farm-raised salmon, farm-raised branzino, and farm-raised yellowtail. buy fish for sashimi

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. The 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. It doesn't kill bacteria, just temporarily stops it's growth, so freezing inferior fish does not make it "safe". I used to think that all fish would be damaged by freezing. food delivery london deliveranceFish is mostly made of water, and water expands during freezing. how to make vegetarian sushi riceThis tears the flesh of the fish and makes it mushy. sushi master online gameTo prepare for my sushi class, I froze piece after piece of different fish, and here are my findings -- different fish react to freezing differently. order sushi rice online

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. Throughout Japan, all of the blue fin tuna happen to be graded from the quality of the slices of oily meat which are extracted from them, especially the highly valued toro, typically the oily belly from the tuna. Tuna for the purpose of sushi happens to be meticulously taken care of, to make certain that the entire flesh will not be bruised or harmed. Once the raw tuna gets to the actual seafood marketplace, center examples of the tissue are generally obtained using a unique instrument in order for the pigment, consistency, and flavor from the meat to be evaluated prior to the tuna being valued.

Although sushi includes many various tuna types such as yellow tail as well as big eye, excellent quality otoro is simply obtained from only the blue fin tuna. Otoro is taken from the actual under-belly inside the tuna, and it is by itself separated into grades which happen to be recognized according to the marbling through out the steak, very similar to inside grading beef. By far the most precious o-toro or otoro, comes from the lower belly of the fish towards the head. Chutoro, a lower top quality, derives from the tuna belly at the center and rear through the tuna, which is not as much marbled when compared with otoro sushi. Often the unique and delicious taste of otoro charms the majority of people as soon as they sample it. The amazing sirloin feel of raw tuna fuses together with the fatty tissue from the belly to generate a rich and creamy experiencing inside the mouth, along with the flesh from the tuna evaporating while you indulge in it. Otoro is frequently included with sashimi and additionally nigiri sushi, mainly because the sophisticated essence, fantastic composition, and exquisite marbling are usually plainly recognized throughout these two pair of raw species of fish dishes.

Additionally it is generally used to produce seared hard to find tuna, that features a delectable pleasant prepared surface along with a rich and creamy amazing interior. An exceptional part of otoro is going to be soft pink together with vibrant white colored lines. Otoro comes with a lot of delicious oily lines, which typically give it that distinctive and magnificent tastiness. Chutoro is normally much less veined by means of fat, even though it remains a lot more oily compared with pieces from the higher area from the fish, including akami. Otoro is definitely most tasty throughout the winter months, once tuna acquire additional body fat, and might not be as incredibly tasty when out of season. It needs to always be consumed fresh, mainly because it doesn't last lengthy amounts of frozen periods. Amazingly, o-toro sushi is not commonly consumed outside of Japan, even though it is oftentimes accessible in specialized Japanese dining establishments along the shorelines of America as well as in certain parts associated with Countries in Europe.