Owner: Sushi Otaku URL:http://www.sushifaq.com/sushiotaku/ Join Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:39:04 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: The musings of a sushi freak with information, commentary, and observations about sushi, sashimi, and related Japanese cuisine. Site statistics:Click here
Sushi and pigeons and cats, oh my! 2007-05-28 11:52:18 Every once in a while I read something about the restaurant business that makes me so incredibly happy that I am a regular at a few sushi places and trust them implicitly. I walk in, they know I am a regular and I am treated as such. There is a reason that I am a regular too, I trust their practices and I love their food. And most especially, they are nothing like Sushi
World.
I don’t think it takes a brain surgeon to realize that making sushi in a place used for pigeons and cats is not a good idea. Especially when your customers are starting to suffer from food poisoning. I can only wonder why it took the Australian authorities so long to shut them down. Places like this are certainly not limited to Australia, and I have heard my share of horror stories about places in North America, but I’ve always associated Australia with fresh seafood (perhaps a stereotype, but at least a good one). I’ll have to get myself over there to test the waters, so to speak. And maintain
Is that fugu in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? 2007-05-27 09:17:35 And people ask if sushi is safe to eat… The FDA has issued a warning to consumers regarding monkfish, as, apparently the Hong Chang Corp. has imported potentially deadly puffer fish (fugu) into the US and labeled it ‘monkfish,’ While fugu is a well regarded (and potentially dangerous) sushi dish, if not prepared properly the tetrodotoxins it can contain may sicken or kill a person. Monkfish, of course, contains none of these toxins, so what a surprise this must be to anyone who eats the mislabeled fish. Especially since this ‘monkfish’ will be sold by your normal fishmonger, ready to be put in a pan and cooked up at home. Common food storage and preparation techniques do not destroy tetrodotoxins, so while cooking the fish may kill bacteria, if it is poisonous, you’re in for a n unexpected treat. Even touching contaminated fish can be enough to seriously injure or kill a person.
Fugu is a unique dish, prepared only by licensed chefs who are skilled in preparing the fish for
What is Sushi Grade seafood? 2007-04-30 13:55:39 I’ve continuously gotten questions about the requirements that make any fish ’sushi grade.’ I’ve also always tried to find a good answer. But as it turns out, there isn’t one. By that I mean, in the United States, there are no FDA rules for what makes seafood
’sushi grade.’ Basically, there is no such thing. The only thing that seems to matter is the basic procedures that will ensure the destruction of parasites. There is no mention whatsoever of any category of food that can be considered sushi grade. This basically leaves the decision up to the supplier as to which cuts they determine are sushi grade. So caveat emptor, and I suggest reading my ‘What is SushiGrade
Seafood‘ section of The Sushi FAQ for more information about this particular grade, if you will, of fish.
Is sushi finger food? 2007-03-11 19:04:17 How many times have you wondered whether it is acceptable to eat sushi with your finger
s? And how many times have you been told that it isn’t? As a matter of etiquette, many cultures eschew eating with one’s fingers, which seems to be ingrained particularly deeply in western behavior. But be at ease, sushi fans, because sushi has a long history of being finger food, at least some sushi that is.
Nigiri (finger) sushi was the first ‘fast food.’ Originally sold from carts in the street, it acquired its shape so as to be easy to eat on the go. It wasn’t until centuries after its introduction that the sushi restaurant came to be. And with the restaurant, came new ways of eating sushi. In bowls and boxes, platters and leaves, sushi in its myriad forms was served to a growing pool of restaurant goers. While still finger food, some styles were introduced that could not be easily eaten with the fingers (and shouldn’t be), such as sashimi. But while many choose to eat nigiri sushi wi
Troubles for Tuna - Could This Mean No More Toro Sushi? 2007-02-24 10:25:49 According to a recent World Wildlife Fund report, tuna stocks worldwide are at risk of depletion due to overfishing. Could this mean no more maguro and toro for sushi fans? Currently, tuna fleet capacity is far greater than required to catch a sustainable level of the fish. This, coupled with disputes over allocation of fishing quotas, and plain old illegal fishing have led to overfishing of one of our favorite sushi items. The Atlantic bluefin tuna is severely overfished and the spawning stock of the Southern bluefin is now down almost 90%.
In addition to poaching, there appears to be deliberate misreporting of catches and even ‘tuna laundering’ which is hiding the actual number of tuna caught. Some tuna catches are apparently being processed at sea before being transferred to larger ships headed for Japan, effectively shielding the poachers from law enforcement officials and flouting quota management.
While the best way to save the species from total collapse would be a grassroot Read more:Sushi
, Troubles
Is sushi safe for pregnant women? 2007-02-18 14:41:49 This is a question I get asked a lot. I have always been pretty conservative in answering for a variety of reasons, mostly because there *are* risks to eating raw foods for anyone, especially during pregnancy. That said, there are also reasons why pregnant
women might want to eat sushi.
Seafood is good for you. Seafood is great for developing babies. The fatty acids found in seafood (Omega-3 fatty acids) are pretty much a requirement for growing babies. And we generally don’t get enough of them in our diet. A new study in the British journal Lancet found, after analyzing data from approximately 9,000 British mothers and their children over an eight-year period, that pregnant women who ate less than 12 ounces of seafood a week did not protect their children from adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Limiting seafood during pregnancy can actually be a detriment to the developing baby. The study found that limiting seafood actually increased the child’s risk of poor verbal IQ devel
Tuna - Maguro, Akami & Toro 2007-01-27 10:34:13 I’ve recently added an item profile for Tuna, otherwise known as maguro or ahi. If you’ve ever wanted to know just what the heck toro is, or the difference between akami, chu-toro and o-toro, you might want to check out the profile page at: Sushi Items - Maguro (Tuna)
The Sushi Police Are Here to See you 2006-12-03 10:01:40 Apparently the sushi police are on their way. With the popularity of sushi spreading worldwide, it should be no surprise that everyone and their brother wants to jump on the bandwagon. The problem is that now, it is as easy to find horrible food that is supposed to pass for sushi, being served by people who barely know what sushi is. On top of that, we see combinations in rolls that would mystify the Japanese, but may not seem so unusual locally. After a number of supposedly high profile incidents round the world involving ranking Japanese politicians, Japan has recently decided to begin to develop a system whereby the Japanese government will issue ‘seals of approval’ to certify that the sushi and sake being served in a restaurant meets with the stringent requirements of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture.
This ‘authentication plan’ is not a new concept, France has for a long time protected the names of various wine appellations and designations to protect its industry, and Read more:Sushi
, Police
Yes, sushi *is* good for you 2006-10-22 09:01:14 There has been much back and forth over the years about the safety of seafood due to the potential of mercury contamination as this heavy metal moves up the food chain. While the health benefits of eating seafood (and that means sushi) are already widely known, the actual risk that consumers take upon themselves has been argued for some time now. Recently, a report from the Institute of Medicine has concluded that the benefits of eating seafood far outweigh the potential risks. To pull a few points from the report (the full text being available here):
Women who are or may become pregnant or who are breast-feeding may benefit from eating seafood, especially those kinds which have relatively higher concentrations of EPA and DHA. A reasonable amount would be two 3-ounce servings per week, but they can safely consume up to 12 ounces per week. They can consume up to 6 ounces of white tuna — that is, albacore — weekly, and should avoid eating
Omakase Sushi 2006-10-07 09:41:19 I’ve had a number of questions about ‘omakase’ meals in a sushi restaurant and thought to take this time to explain what true omakase is to those unfamiliar with the term, or who just want to know more. ‘Omakase’ literally means “entrust’ and basically means ’chef’s choice.” The Itamae (sushi chef) is given the opportunity to select what he will serve you for that meal, and since this commands a higher price usually than one would expect, the quality of the meal (food and presentation) and his attentiveness should make it worth your while. This is not your average meal, and it should leave you satisfied, still interested, and encouraged.
The first thing to realize is that there is omakase and there is “Omakase.” By that I mean in many areas, omakase has begun to become popular and the concept has become a diluted experience due to less experienced restaurants jumping on the bandwagon. True omakase should result in careful attention by the Itamae, a great select Read more:Sushi
The Sushi-Ya-Pedia Sushi Bar Finder 2007-06-19 21:52:22 I have recently set up a wiki that I have entitled the “Sushi
-ya-pedia” that I would like to turn into a community powered sushi bar finder and restaurant review resource. In my opinion, there is no better reviewer than diners ourselves, so I’m working hard to get every restaurant in the US (and eventually the world) into the database, but I encourage anyone who may be interested in participating to head on over and check it out. Feel free to create an account and make your voice heard. If you don’t know how to create a wiki page, you are always welcome to email me and I would be happy to update your favorite restaurant with your description and review. For starters, you please visit:
http://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/
http://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/index.php/Formatting
http://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/index.php/Help:Contents
Please join and help make the Sushi-Ya-Pedia the most useful place for sushi lovers on the ‘net to find their food!
M Read more:Finder
Bad seafood from China, a sushi nightmare? 2007-06-28 23:22:43 “The US Food and Drug Administration issued an import alert today to detain farm-raised catfish, basa, shrimp, dace (related to carp), and eel from China
until the shipments are proven to be free of residues from drugs that are not approved in the US for use in farm-raised aquatic animals. ” This was part of an email I received today from a member of a discussion group for seafood
professionals of which I am a member. I have commented before regarding some of the issues around importing food from china (e.g. the ‘Monkfish’ from China that was really potentially deadly pufferfish) and it appears that the saga continues. More and more food from China is being deemed unsafe for consumption, which is rather topical as the Unites States imports about 21% of our seafood from China, and of that about $1.9 billion worth is farm raised fish, the subject of the latest FDA action. Many US states have outright banned the imports until they are able to test safely. Current
Venison Sushi? Oh Deer… 2007-06-27 12:47:53 Japan is a fascinating country. Steeped in tradition, yet quick to adopt new technologies and trends, Japanese culture is an interesting melange of the old and the new. That said, while they took the transistor from its western inventors and changed the world, some things I’m hearing don’t sound like progress to me. If you read my previous entry about declining Bluefin tuna stocks threatening the future of sushi dining, you would know that the tuna situation is close to dire. Not willing to give up without a fight, inventive Japanese sushi chefs have come up with a new item&hellip
; get ready…Venison sushi. Yes, you heard right, Deer sushi. If you don’t believe me, check out this article in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).
I’m a foodie and always eager to try new things. I eat insects, jellyfish, and I happen to love venison (mmmmm… jerky). I love steak tartar. But I have to say that I have no interest in trying this. It&rsq Read more:Sushi
The Sushi FAQ is in Health Magazine! 2007-07-01 09:31:18 I can’t think of why I didn’t post this last month, although I actually thought I did, but I was contacted by an exceptionally nice food editor at HealthMagazine
to help her out with an article she was writing on sushi and calories. This was months ago, and the article was finally published. Check out page 101 of the June issue if you can (which is why I am kicking myself for not mentioning this when it originally came out) to see Shaun’s article on how to avoid killing your diet and still eat sushi. I and my website get a little attribution and hopefully some non-web readers got a little help with their meal planning.
Meshi agare!
Warren
The sushi guy. Read more:Sushi
Living Sushi 2007-07-14 13:10:09 Firstly a warning to my readers, the following entry contains graphic descriptions of what may be considered animal cruelty by some, and may be a bit extreme for some readers. If you do not want to hear stories of the preparation of living sea animals for food, please do not read this entry. Caveat lector.
Many of you may have heard stories of sushi so fresh that it was still alive when it was served. I’ve seen live octopus, lobster sashimi and fish still moving, filleted on the plate. While some of these stories are true, I’m here to clarify some of these tales, debunk some, and provide some insight into some of the more unusual items found around the world on the menu.
The Living
and the Dead
The first issue I’d like to address, and actually debunk, is the story of the living fish, served sashimi style or even partially cooked, yet still live, served for your pleasure (obviously not the fish’s). What brought this to mind is the following news story on the living Read more:Sushi
First Albacore Tuna Recipe Competition 2007-07-11 10:34:00 I received this email a few moments ago and wanted to pass the information along to readers of this blog. While this is a generic competition in the sense that it is not specific to sushi, I can think of a ton of ways to serve tuna in it’s raw form (and perhaps I’ll be submitting a few of these myself).
“I would like to bring to your attention our 1st Albacore Tuna Recipe Competition which will be launched to the public on September 1, 2007. This, worldwide, competition is designed to bring attention and profile to the Albacore Tuna Fishery- especially the BC-Canadian Albacore Tuna Fishery which takes place off our Pacific Coast.
The Competition includes a number of categories including: Best Appetizer, Entree, International Recipe, Sandwich, and a special category for school children (Best Sandwich). In addition we have a category for Chef’s in training which carries a $1,000 scholarship prize. One other special category is a HEALTH CHECK Recipe- BC Albacore Read more:First
Oyster Warning (kaki) 2007-08-30 11:11:21 I just wanted to pass along a little information I received recently. Apparently six people became ill with Vibrio parahaemolytics from raw oyster consumption in the source state, Washington. The raw oysters were distributed to 11 other states and five countries (Canada, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand). No other illnesses have been reported. Guidance for safe consumer consumption of fully cooked oysters is included.
FDA Expands Warning on Eating Raw Oysters
Media Inquiries: Michael Herndon, 301-827-6242
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
Additional Growing Area Linked to Illness Outbreaks
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw oysters harvested from an additional part (growing area 5) of the southern tip of Hood Canal in Washington state due to a foodborne illness outbreak caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria. This follows an earlier outbreak and August 10 warning about oysters harvested from growing area 6 of Hood Canal.
Sym
Troubles for Tuna 2- A Reprieve? 2007-09-19 12:33:44 Declining bluefin tuna stocks have been in the news with growing frequency, and have also been the subject of a number of my blog entries over the past year (see Troubles
for Tuna). When any species faces potential extinction it becomes a grave issue, but the popularity of this fish makes any news pertinent to sushi lovers around the world.
Today there is an update on the situation. The news is good and bad. The European Union today banned bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic ocean for the remainder of the year. EU fisherman have already caught the 2007 quota (16,779 tonnes) and the world will now have to rely on the remaining stock of frozen and stored bluefin tuna to satisfy our sushi and sashimi requirements. “Clearly there are problems both of overfishing a stock already threatened with collapse and of equity between the member states concerned,” EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg was quoted as saying.
While this is not gong to be the magic bul
Sushichefsecrets Is Stealing My Content 2007-10-21 19:36:12 It has come to my attention that sushichefsecrets dot com is illegally republishing my content, verbatim, as well as that of sushiordeath.com, and sushiday.com. It is sad that in this day and age, when it is insanely easy to find this stuff out, that sleazy individuals resort to the theft of other’s hard work, [...] Read more:Stealing
, Content
Troubles for Tuna III - Toro Tomorrow? 2007-11-17 15:00:11 One of the most popular sushi items, bluefin tuna, from which we get maguro, and toro, is almost gone. I have made a few posts about declining tuna stocks in Troubles
for Tuna and Troubles for Tuna II, and am quite happy to be able to write that there may be some good news for [...]
Troubles for Tuna IV - An End to Toro 2007-11-20 10:17:33 (N.B. This is a follow on article from Troubles
for Tuna III)
At the ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) meeting last week, a critical decision was to be made regarding the 2008 bluefin tuna quotas, a decision that could be one of the most important in saving the species. While the head [...]
Wasabi - Our sushi chat forum is live again 2008-02-23 12:43:34 While I prefer to post fascinating tidbits of piscatory goings-on, I wanted to mention to everyone that Wasabi, the SushiFAQ forum, is back in action. After an onslaught of spam (Close Encounters of the Nasty Kind) the cleanup effort caused a minor (OK, major) explosion in the database and all posts have been lost due [...]
Has Sushi Jumped The Shark? 2008-02-18 20:36:20 Sushi has been a popular item in the west for a few decades now and as with anything that makes its way across cultures, it has readily changed to better match western palates. But unlike noodles and soybeans, sushi has not merely changed to fit our preferences; it has begun to shape how we view [...] Read more:Sushi
, Shark
Where to buy sushi grade fish 2008-01-31 14:50:20 Making sushi at home is fun, easy, and actually less expensive than going out to a restaurant. Aside from the intimidation factor, the big issue that many people seem to have, and ask me all the time, is where do you get sushi grade fish to make sushi at home… While I have a few [...]
Restaurant Certification 1, Sushi Police 0 2008-01-29 13:12:06 In what is good news for California Roll eaters, today Japan has formally announced a campaign for certifying Japanese food overseas without Big Brother inspecting the sushi. Initially covered back in December of 2006 in my piece “The sushi police are here to see you,” the Japanese ministry of Agriculture, along with a “non-governmental group [...] Read more:Sushi
, Certification
, Police
A Tuna Tempest 2008-01-26 10:29:19 The fish hit the fan the other day with the publication the New York Times article regarding the risk of mercury in tuna, which I covered in my entry Some More Mercury With Your Tuna? But was it junk science? Or was it something that needed to be said? Rebuttals came swiftly, and among them, [...] Read more:Tempest
Some more mercury with your tuna? 2008-01-23 19:43:53 You are what you eat. While I always questioned this in a literal sense as a child, it is pretty much the case. But I don’t want to be made of heavy metals, and my body agrees. It is no news to anyone that we are poisoning our oceans, and unfortunately that means our food [...]
When sushi is more than sushi 2008-04-05 17:01:16 At times, the most minor difference can make a tremendous impact; something that may not seem obvious but leaves a tip of the tongue realization. A new restaurant has opened near me and has grown on me quite a bit, but it is easy to know why. It is a seemingly small difference, however it [...]
Fugu - The Russian Roulette of Sushi? 2008-05-28 09:59:52 I recently added a writeup about Fugu (Puffer Fish) to the FAQ which hopefully provides some insight into why people eat such a potentially deadly dish. I’ve also included some interesting tid-bits about how the poison can be used in other ways, and how a person can actually eat fugu with no fear of being [...] Read more:Russian
, Sushi
Of Fish and Men – Sustainable Fishing, Sustainable Sushi? 2008-06-13 09:49:32 I had dinner with Mark Kurlansky last night, author of such amazing books as Cod, Salt, and The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell. Well, actually, that’s kind of a lie; I snacked while he spoke of his latest work, The Last Fish Tale. He came to the local Community Association in a small [...] Read more:Sustainable
, Fishing
, Sushi
Recommend Site To A Friend
