Sushi (Japanese Cuisine) FAQ #1: What do you mean it's not cooked?

From: kcochran@nyx10.cs.du.edu (Keith "Justified And Ancient" Cochran)
Newsgroups: alt.food.sushi,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: Sushi (Japanese Cuisine) FAQ #1: What do you mean it's not cooked?
Date: 2 Nov 1994 00:50:22 -0700
Summary: Everthing you never wanted to know about Sushi/Sashimi.

Archive-name: food/sushi/general
Posting-frequency: monthly

[Note for the moderators of news.*:  Per Aliza, I've removed rec.answers
from the newsgroups line.  In addition, I'm sending in FAQ #2 along
seperatly, so the archive-name line should be acceptable.  As I mentioned
when I submitted the first comp.databases.xbase.fox FAQ, yes, I want to
be on the mailing lists.]

[This is FAQ version 1.0.0.0, last updated on 09/18/94.  New or altered
text is marked with ">" in the left hand column.  Please send all corrections,
updates, new entries, and whatnot to kcochran@nyx.cs.du.edu.]

Before we begin, I'd like to thank the following people for their
invaluable assistance in gathering the information for this FAQ:
   beakman@netcom.com (Beakman)
   brianb@netcom.com (Brian Bloom)
   colin@ucs.ubc.ca (Colin Joe)
   DennisDR@aol.com (Dennis Monbarren)
   dlr1002@cus.cam.ac.uk (Dan Ruderman)
   dsa@netcom.com (David S.A. Stine)
   colin@ucs.ubc.ca (Colin Joe)
   irv@netcom.com (With a Song in my Heart)
   jmaloney@eden.rutgers.edu (J. M. Maloney)
   messina@mcs.com (David Messina)
   mgolden@eecs.umich.edu (Michael Golden)
   mreynold@netcom.com (Marc B. Reynolds)
   reese@watson.ibm.com (Diane Reese)
   reingold@research.att.com
   rlewis@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca (Robert M. Lewis)

And, since I like Michael's disclaimer, I'll include it here as well:
Disclaimer:  I don't know what the Hell I am talking about.

Now, as for the FAQ, I've followed the following practice:  When
people send me text for inclusion in the FAQ's I try to do as little
manipulation as necessary to get it to fit in.  Rephrasing the awkward
sentence and reformatting it to fit properly is about all I'll do.
However, since I may have to add it into the middle of a series of
paragraphs from other people, you may notice a sudden context change.
I will occasionally also splice together two submissions into a hybrid,
unless otherwise noted, don't assume that any one person wrote any entry
in the FAQ.

Where possible (for example, recipes), I've been sure to include references
to the original authors.

That said, let's grab some sake, and dig in!

OTHER FAQ's:
#1 - What do you mean it's not cooked?
   (Under request for archiving at rtfm.edu as food/sushi/general).
   Various general information about sushi/sashimi.

#2 - No, It's Not Minute Rice.
   (Currently under preperation. :])
   Recipies and tips on preparing the sushi rice.

#3 - Where Do You Want To Eat Tonight?
   (Currently under preperation.)
   Various sushi places around the country submitted by the readers.

#4 - Roll out the barrel...
   (Currently under preperation.)
   Maki recipes, tips, and other information

#5 - What rhymes with Nigri?
   (Currently under preperation.)
   Sushi recipes, fish preperation, and other fun stuff.

Before we start, let's look at a very informative post:

WHAT ARE YOU GETTING INTO?
From: dsa@netcom.com (David S.A. Stine)
Subject: Re: The Dangers of Eating RAW Fish
Message-ID: 
Date: Fri, 8 Jul 1994 03:55:47 GMT
Lines: 131

In article <2uutf6$pab@usenet.rpi.edu>,
Bowden Wise  wrote:
>Everyone has heard the reports 60-minutes, Dateline, and others tell us
>just how harmful raw fish is and that we should avoid it.  I love sushi,
>and would eat it weekly (or more!) if I had the chance.  But every time I
>mention the word sushi, my wife just cringes and remembers the horror
>stories from these news reports. 

Tell your wife to not believe any more than 10% of what she sees in the mass
media. They thrive on creating panic. Unfortunately for the press/media,
people are getting to the point where they are tired of the press crying
"wolf."  These reports on sushi are just the latest fad.

>So, in this thread, let's explore the danger of sushi eating:
>
>Let's get the facts down, sushi eating (with raw fish) is probably never
>100% safe.

Nothing is ever 100% safe. If you want to be 100% assured of safety, you
should probably not be born. It is only in this way that you can avoid all
danger in life. If you're never born, you never die and therefore you never
have to worry about _how_ you die. 

>But everyone has a different level of tolerance for these
>bacteria and such that pervade us when we eat anything raw.  I have never
>had a bad experience.  Has anyone else had a bad experience that they
>attribute to raw fish?

No.

>Just how accurate are these reports?

Typically what the press has done is take one or two cases, blow it out of
proportion as though these one or two incidents were a national (or
international) trend and then find some "expert" (usually dug up from some
Ivy-league school) to attest to just how potentially harmful these things
can be. The reporter asks the "expert" for some insightful analysis on the
topic and after the expert has given his/her spiel, they edit him/her down
to the sound bite they want and then they fill in the time with ignorant
pontification from the smarmy reporter(ette) doing the big "investigative"
piece. Reporters are scum and a hazard to your enjoyment of life.

Ignore them. You'll sleep more soundly at night and you will be able to
save your time to dig into real sources of information as well as actually
have fun before you are laid to rest on the underside of the sod.

>Has anyone seen any published
>reports on the subject of raw fish?  Where would I look for such findings?

Yes, there was some paper awhile back in JAMA on the parasites which are
sometimes found in fish. These are rather rare and can be avoided simply by
frequenting a reputable sushi bar.

>Can we ever be sure that we are getting high quality fish at a restaurant
>or seafood market? Sure, its grade A, but is that any guarantee?

Go to a reputable sushi bar at an off time. Chat up the chef. Ask him where
he gets his fish, how often he gets it, does he go to the fish market or
does he take it on delivery?

The best bars have a chef who goes to the fish market and chooses his fish
or his cuts of fish at the point of sale. There are many bars who don't do
this -- instead, they simply call up the fish market or supply house and
say "I need x kilo's of tuna, etc, etc" and then they have to take what the
fishmonger brings to them. Ask your chef how often they get their fish.
Many bars will get an order on Friday afternoon (stocking up for the
weekend) and re-order again on Tuesday morning. Many bars will be closed on
Monday. (It might be a CA thing, but it is pretty much the rule here --
most sushi bars and Japanese restaurants are closed on Monday).

Raw fish will last up to about 3 days after having been caught, depending
on the type of fish and how cold the fish is kept. Visit your sushi bar at
the end of the day; go about 45 minutes before they close for the night;
sit at the bar and notice how they pack up and store the unused fish. Check
to see that there is a thermometer on the fridge; it should be about 34 to
39 degrees F. If you're really obsessive, go to the bar on the days when
you know he has just gotten new fish in.

Also look for the little things: for instance, the ginger that you get with
your wasabi? There are about _80_ different brands of ginger a chef can
order. Most of them are artifically colored pink. There are about 8 really
high-quality brands of ginger and all of these have no die -- they are a
slightly off-white to slightly brown color. You can taste the quality if
you have them side-by-side. Examine the rice; it should be firm, not mushy,
but it should stick together and not fall apart when you lift nigri sushi.
There are about 20 different brands of seaweed; the best costs up to 5
times what the cheap stuff costs. Ask about these things. If the chef
really cares about these things, he will be proud to tell you that they are
using top-drawer stuff.

>From
>what I remember from those reports, USDA food inspection is very very lax
>at fisheries and fish processing centers. 

Don't bother with the USDA. Are you going to trust what they say? Certainly
not if you see how they do inspections on poultry and meat. Having seen how
infrequent and random their inspections are in poultry centers, I don't
place any real trust in USDA inspections. There currently isn't any real
requirement for USDA inspection of fish going to sushi bars that I know of.

Another way to help find the best sushi in town: look for the places where
you are one of the few non-Japanese people in the place. Westerners
generally don't know much about the tradition of sushi, but you can bet the
Japanese do, especially the places where business is transacted in the
evenings after work. In such places, sub-standard fish will result in the
chef being yelled at by the customers and the owner of the restaurant will
do some profuse apologising if something is amiss.  This might be easier to
do on the west coast than on the east coast, but I have been in many
obscure restaurants where I have been the only person who didn't speak
Japanese fluently. Yes, this is a hassle at times. If you really want the
best sushi on the left coast, you learn Japanese.

In the high-quality places I've been, the quality and presentaition of the
fish is a matter of strong pride, even to the point where some chefs will
chastise you for not eating the sushi correctly. It is in such places where
I have learned the most about sushi on slow nights; just as with any man
who is proud of his profession, the chef will explain to you (sometimes at
_great_ length) the tradition and nuances of sushi. This is a great way to
make friends with the chef and get specials and other stuff that other
customers will never get.

Summary: 

	sit at the bar; asks lots of questions. Pay attention to the answers. 
---END OF ARTICLE---

THE TERMINOLOGY:
Aburage - Fried tofu pouches prepared by cooking in sweet cooking sake,
   shoyu, and water.

Aji -  Japanese mackerel.  Purportedly this is not actually a mackerel, but
   some other kind of fish.  It is small - about 6" in length - and
   they fillet it and serve marinated in vinegar.  Very tasty.

Akagai - pepitona clam, red in colour, not always available.

Ama Ebi - Sweet Shrimp.  Sometimes served with the deep-fried shells of the
   shrimp.  Eat the shells as you would crayfish.

Anago - Salt water eel, pre-cooked (boiled) and then grilled before
   serving, less rich than unagi (fresh water eel).

Aoyagi - Red clam.

Awabi - abalone.

Bonito - Also known as skipjack tuna.  See Katsuo.

Buri - Yellowtail.  I think Hamachi is only young yellowtails and Buri
   are the older ones.

Chirashi-zushi - translates as "scattered sushi", a bowl or box of sushi 
   rice topped with a variety (usually nine, nine is the japanese luchky
   number) of sashimi.

Daikon - giant white radish, usually served grated as garnish for
   sashimi.

Ebi - Shrimp.  Not the same as Sweet Shrimp, as Ebi is cooked, while Ami
   Ebi is prepared by "curing" in a mixture of juices.

Fugu - Blow-fish, or Puffer fish.  This can be prepared only by licensed
   chefs in Japan who have studied under a master for a long apprentenceship.
   The various organs of the fish contain a highly toxis neurotoxin; ingestion
   of even a few milligrams of any of the fish's organs or fluid which was
   contained in the organs will result in paralysis and death in 15 minutes.
   Fugu is _quite_ expensive in Japan, I'm told.  We're talking over $100
   per serving.

Futo-Maki - Big, oversized rolls

Gari - Pickled ginger (the pink stuff) that comes along with Sushi.

Hamachi - Young Yellowtail tuna, or amberjack, worth asking for if not
   on menu.

Hirame - Halibut.  

Hotate-Gai - Scallops.  In cheaper bars, the scallops are not real scallops;
   they can be cookie-cutter shark flesh.

Ika - Squid.  Boiled and then sliced thinly.  It has a transluscent white
   appearance.  Usually served with a strong dose of wasabi between the
   fish and the rice.

Itamae - A Sushi chef.

Kaibashira - large scallops, actually giant clam adducter muscle, though
   often scallops are served, much like cooked scallops but more tender and
   sweeter.  Kobashiri are small scallops and like kaibashira may or may
   not come from scallops or other bivalves.

Kaki - Oysters.

Kampyo - Dried gourd.  Unprepared is a light tanish color.  Prepared its a
   translucent brown.  It comes in long strips, shaped like fettuccine.

Kamaboko - Imitation crab meat.  Generally used in california rolls and
   other maki, it's not the same thing as "soft shell crab".

Kani - Crab meat.  The real stuff.  Always served cooked, much better
   if cooked fresh but usually cooked and then frozen.

Kanikama - Imitation crabsticks.  Many Japanese restaurants will not
   hesitate to just call these Kani.  Kamaboko and Kanikama are generally
   made with pollack or halibut, not "real crab meat".

Katsuo - Bonito, also known as skipjack tuna.  It is usually found in
   sushi bars on the west coast because it lives in the Pacific Ocean,
   and doesn't freeze well.  

Kohada - Japanese shad (or young punctatus, it's latin species name).

Maguro - Tuna.  Not Toro.  Toro is the tuna belly (i.e. the fatty part)
   and maguro is the leaner flesh from the "sides" of the fish.

Mirugai - geoduck or horseneck clam, slightly crunchy and sweet.

Maki-zushi - The rice and seaweed rolls with fish and/or vegetables.
   Most maki places the nori on the outside, but some, like the california
   and rainbow rolls, place the rice on the outside.

Natto - Fermented soy beans. (Not just for breakfast anymore) Very strong
   smell and taste, also slimely.  Most people don't like it.  Order it once,
   if for no other reason that to see the confused look of the chef.  >;)

Nigiri-zushi - The little fingers of rice topped with wasabi and a filet
   of raw or cooked fish or shellfish.  Generally the most common form
   of sushi you will see.

Roe - Fish eggs.  Generally, flying fish, smelt, and salmon roe are
   available in all sushi restaurants.  "Roe" is a generic name.

   The roes are:

   Ikura - salmon roe.  Large, orange roe, very salty in taste.

   Kazunoko - herring roe, usually served marinated in sake, broth, and
   soy sauce, sometimes served raw, kazunoko konbu.

   Tobiko - flying-fish roe, red and crunchy, often served as part of
   maki-zushi but also as nigiri-zushi, commonly with quail egg yolk (uzura
   no tamago) on top (uncooked).

   Masago - capelin roe, very similar to tobiko but slightly oranger in
   colour, not as common as tobiko in North America (though often caught
   here).  Capelin, shishamo, is also served grilled (after being lightly
   salted) whole with the roe in it as an appetizer.

   Uni - sea urchin (see below)

Saba - mackerel, almost always served after being lightly salted and
   marinated for a few days, so really cooked.  Raw mackerel is sometimes
   served but it must be extremely fresh as it goes off quickly.

Sake - Rice wine.  Served both hot and cold.  Some people love it, some
   people hate it.

Sake - Salmon.  Prounounced differently.

Sashimi - Raw fish fillets sans the sushi rice.

Sawara - Spanish mackerel.  Very different from aji, which is Japanese
   Mackerel.

Shiro maguro - Albacore tuna, white tuna, doesn't handle as well and can
   change colour (though doesn't change taste or quality) so not as common
   as other tunas.  It will probably not be on the menu, ask for.

Spam - yes SPAM, a sushi you can get in Hawaii (maybe Japan too), an
   acquired taste, perhaps.

Sushi - The sweetened, pickled rice.  The fish is sashimi.  Wrap the
   two together in portions and sell it as sushi, and the name still
   refers to the rice, not the fice.

   Sushi is indeed the term for the special rice but it is modified,
   in Japanese, to zushi when coupled with modified that describe the
   different styles of this most popular dish.

Suzuki - sea bass (of one species or another, often quite different).

Tai - porgy or red snapper (substitutes, though good), real, Japanese,
   tai is also sometimes available.

Tako - Octopus, cooked.

Tamago - egg omelet, sweet and, hopefully light, a good test of a new
   sushi restaurant, if its overcooked and chewy, go somewhere else.
   In Japan it is the trademark of each chef.  Often potential customers
   in Japan will ask for a taste of the Tamago in order to judge the
   chef's proficiency.

TDU - The Dreaded Uni[tm].  Uni (Sea Urchin) is a remarkable dish,
   one that must be tried before a decision can be made about it.

Temaki-zushi - Hand rolled cones of sushi rice, fish and vegetables
   wrapped in seaweed.  Very similar to maki.

Torigai - Japanese cockle, black and white shell fish, better fresh but
   usually frozen (and chewier as a result).

Toro - Fatty Tuna.  There are several different types of tuna you can
   order in a sushi restaurant.

Ume - Fermented plum paste.  Usually served with sliced cucumber in maki,
   very sweet with a tart aftertaste.  Very good for dessert and to clean
   the palate.

Unagi - Eel (Freshwater) - grilled, and brushed with a teriyaki-like
   sauce, richer than salt water eel.

Uni - Sea Urchin.  If you are lucky you won't like it, if not you have
   just developed an expensive habit.  The sexual organs (gonads) of the sea
   urchin.  Sea urchins are hermaphrodictic (bi-sexual, AC-DC), so you are
   getting both roe and milt (the other stuff).  The most expensive (start
   saving now) is red in colour, the least is yellow, luckily they taste
   the same.  Lobsters eat sea urchin as a mainstay of their diet.

Wasabi - Japanese Horseradish.  This is the small lump of green stuff
   that looks sort of like clay.  Best done in extremly small doses.
   Not related to American Horseradish except by name.

SERVING SUSHI:
Serve with tea, sake, or beer.
 
Shredded daikon and gari are meant to refresh the palate between sushi
courses.
 
Wasabi is mixed with soy sauce for sashimi.

The trick for good mixing, mix a little soy sauce with your wasabi until
you have a smooth thick liquid, then add the rest of your soy sauce.
Eating large dabs of wasabi with one's sushi seems to be a macho game at
some sushi bars, all you end up doing is paying lots for nothing more
than an overpowering taste of wasabi.  If your hooked on wasabi order a
bowl of rice and pour wasabi/soy suase mix on it, give Tarzan yell and
beat chest, order another sake, give me your sushi (and I'll tell how
good it is). 

Sushi is meant to be dipped in soy sauce only.  It's supposed to be dipped
with the fish side down, not the rice.  Place in mouth with the fish side
down.  Sushi is also "finger food".  The chopsticks are there for the rice,
gari, and wasabi, salad, and anything else you may need to eat.

BOOKS ON SUSHI:

Detrick, Mia (1992?).  Sushi.  San Francisco:  Chronicle Books.

Japanese Cooking: The Healthy and Natural Way, by Koji Nakano and Lesley
Howard Murdoch, 1991, Sally Milner Publishing Pty Ltd., Birchgrove, NSW,
Australia, offers a little bit of everything, from thumbnail discussions of
etiquette, aesthetics and presentation, to a variety of relatively easy to
prepare dishes, from traditional Japanese pickles (hakusai no tsukemono) and
dried white radish salad (kiriboshi daikon no aemono) to simple rolled sushi
(nori-maki) and egg sushi (fukusasushi).

Japanese Cooking: Pure and Simple, 1986, Exeter Books, New York, is a
flashier presentation, but some of the recipes are not at all simple (at
least not to my Western cooking sensibilities).  The pictures make up for any
shortcomings, however, presenting the food beautifully. Again, there are a
mixture of recipes from different Japanese cooking styles. The marinated
salmon (yok kai sake) and rice salad with mackeral (chirashi zushi) are
especially tasty.

Sushi Made Easy:  Tsuda, Nobuko (6th printing, 1993).  Weatherhill, Inc.
New York.  A cookbook on preparing many kinds of sushi.  Includes recipes
for wasabe and soups.  Extensive index of sources for Japanese foods.
-- 
=kcochran@nyx.cs.du.edu | B(0-4) c- d- e++ f- g++ k(+) m r(-) s++(+) t | TSAKC=
=My thoughts, my posts, my ideas, my responsibility, my beer, my pizza.  OK???=
=                          "Love can break your heart"                        =