How to Determine if Sushi Fish Is Fresh

Go to restaurants with a reputation for serving fresh sushi. Your ability to distinguish fresh sushi will increase as you gain more experience.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Observe the restaurant for overall cleanliness and orderliness, and notice whether it has a pleasing aroma when you walk in.

2. Look at the fish displayed in the sushi bar before you order.

3. Observe the color of the fish. The fish should not have uneven coloring or many dark patches.

4. While eating the sushi, notice the texture. The fish should be soft and melt in your mouth. Exceptions are octopus and squid, which should be wonderfully chewy.

Tips & Warnings

• Yellowtail tuna (hamachi) should be creamy to light yellow in color with a buttery texture that melts in your mouth.
• Red tuna (maguro) should be light pink to red with little variation in coloring.
• Octopus (tako) should be white (except for the tentacles) and chewy, like rubber.
• Mackerel (saba) naturally has a very strong, fishy flavor that some may find unappealing.
• All fish, including seawater fish, may contain parasites. Although the risk is small, people at greater risk, including older people, small children and pregnant women, should be careful when eating raw fish. To kill the parasites, the fish needs to be frozen and then stored at -4 degrees F (-20 degrees C) for at least 24 hours. Your sushi fish should have been frozen this way, but if you are nervous, ask your sushi bar.
• Freshwater fish is riskier than saltwater fish, and salmon is thought to be particularly risky: It can be infected with tapeworms in addition to freshwater trematode parasites. Raw salmon is sometimes brined and vinegared when served raw, but this does not adequately kill any parasites.

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on 12/9/2005 Most restaurants will receive their fish shipments on Tuesday mornings. Try not to eat sushi or the "Fish Special" any later than Sunday, and definitely not Monday, unless you totally trust the restaurant. A lot of restaurants will have a wide selection of fish entrées on Monday nights, they are simply trying to get rid of it and not loose any money. Stick to this rule, it is sure to get you out of feeling sick.

on 12/9/2005 For some, eating sushi can be a new experience every time. Try different fish - not the same thing each time. Sometimes the result can be amazing. The salmon roe (salmon eggs) are great, for example. They are small bright orange eggs that burst a wonderful flavor in your mouth when you eat them. Sometimes sushi bars have something special behind the counter that isn't on the menu and only the regulars know about it. Uni (sea urchin), for example is delicious, and some say give a euphoric feeling - much like oysters. Finally, no matter what you order, for the best taste, clean your palette between each piece of new fish with a small to medium size piece of ginger.

on 11/22/2005 Fresh fish (as in edible fish) doesn't have a "fishy" odor. If you're still nervous but no one else in your sushi-dining party is, order sushi that doesn't have fish in it! "Sushi" is equivalent to our concept of "sandwich." Not all sushi has raw fish any more than all sandwiches are peanut butter and jelly. Enjoy!