Anyone Make their own Sushi

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
S

smAllGrain

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2014
Messages
310
Reaction score
36
Location
Cedar Rapids
If so, where do you get your fish? I live in the middle of Iowa so I am think I will prob need to order it offline? Prices I am finding seem steep but, what do I know?
 
I got mine at kroger. Ask them if they have "sushi grade" fish. If they dont know what that means, run away!

my store only had salmon and tuna that were sushi grade. There's some sort of standard for how cold they are kept and how fresh they need to be
 
m00ps said:
I got mine at kroger. Ask them if they have "sushi grade" fish. If they dont know what that means, run away!

my store only had salmon and tuna that were sushi grade. There's some sort of standard for how cold they are kept and how fresh they need to be
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response, over lunch I ran over to the Fresh Market (kind of like whole foods) and they only had tuna. I did see some smoked salmon in a package that is cut in thin strips. Anyone ever use that?
 
smAllGrain said:
Thanks for the response, over lunch I ran over to the Fresh Market (kind of like whole foods) and they only had tuna. I did see some smoked salmon in a package that is cut in thin strips. Anyone ever use that?
Click to expand...

Smoked salmon rolls are tasty, but fresh, raw, sushi-grade salmon is hard to beat. Tuna is good too.
 
It's difficult to find truly sushi grade fish here in MT, but there are 2 stores in town that claim to have sushi grade tuna, though I've passed on it a few times as it was obviously quite old. You have to get it the day they get it. I've never seen any other species sold as "sushi grade" here. I've used salmon & it was just fine, even the farm raised stuff. I've heard trout can be used in sushi & we have trout in abundance here.

I've only made fairly simple sushi at home, though I would like to learn more advanced sushi making; that takes a fair chunk of change just for the ingredients. There's a store here that does carry a pretty good variety of seafood, albeit frozen, I get prepared unagi from there frequently. They also carry 3 different types of tobiko, whole & cleaned squid (ika), octopus tentacles & softshell crab, all frozen of course.
Regards, GF.
 
Get to know the people who work the seafood counters at the nicest markets in town. They will be able to tell you when they get shipments of sushi grade fish - ideally you could buy and use it the same day it arrives. Smoked salmon is great on sushi and goes beautifully with cream cheese, I like to add green onions or sun-dried tomatoes as well. Also, don't shy away from non-traditional stuff - stuff like grilled teriyaki steak with lightly steamed asparagus or bacon and eggs make for fun and tasty rolls.

One option you probably haven't considered would be to catch a fresh trout and fillet it the same day as you're making your sushi. I had rainbow trout sashimi from a farm-raised fish here in China (which may have been loaded to the brim with mercury and all that other stuff, so do your research before trying this for yourself!), and it was absolutely delicious. The fact that it was on the table fifteen minutes after the fish gasped its last made for some ultra-fresh, delicious sashimi - better than any salmon sashimi I've had and second only to the very highest-quality Ahi I've eaten.
 
I used to do sushi on a somewhat regular basis with frozen tuna steaks from Publix. I've eaten it and served to guests with no ill effects. Usually marinaded in soy/srirracha and rolled with cucumber and carrot. Nice and basic.

I remember doing a bit of research on "sushi-grade" fish and from what I could tell, it's sort of a bogus term in the US, as there is no standard that makes a fish "sushi grade"

I'm not able to do much research this morning but did find this http://www.thekitchn.com/what-is-sushi-grade-fish-ingredient-intelligence-204696
 
I once asked my son where he got the fish for his homemade sushi. Walmart :eek:
I've only used imitation crab or smoked salmon because I don't have a trusted source for fish nearby.
 
Just one bit of advice. May seem stupid common sense but I did it. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you eat leftovers. Even kept in the freezer overnight. Only time I ever got food poisoning. Had one of those issues where I didn't know whether to sit or turn around on the toilet. Had it hAppen 7 times both ways
 
Fresh fish, like still quivering, is key to great sushi/sashimi. Tough to do in land locked areas unless you have it flown in (as better sushi bars do).

Luckily, we live in the tropics and spend part of the year sailing. Fresh fish, no problem. First thing we do when we catch a nice sushi fish is slice off some shashimi from the more choice parts. We keep wasabi and soy sauce handy just for that. Yum.

We have made sushi before, but usually dont bother. We usually cook the fish whole (if it will fit on the grill) and have nice fresh cooked fish meal the first night and then fish tacos after that. If it wont fit on the grill we fillet or steak it, depending in the fish, and chill it (ideally not freeze it) for later meals.

Used to cruise with 3 cats aboard, they all knew what fishing gear was, and got excited when it came out. They also knew what a drag sounded like and would bolt into the cockpit as soon as we got a strike...they knew the kitty sushi bar would be open soon as I cleaned the fish!

View attachment 1448143326310.jpg
 
I have been thinking that most commercial sushi places were using flash frozen fish. The Japanese factory ships catch, clean, and flash freeze fish. There's no way these local restaurants are getting the huge variety of fish they serve sushi grade fresh. May be wrong about that belief though.
 
Staestc said:
I have been thinking that most commercial sushi places were using flash frozen fish. The Japanese factory ships catch, clean, and flash freeze fish. There's no way these local restaurants are getting the huge variety of fish they serve sushi grade fresh. May be wrong about that belief though.
Click to expand...

I think that is correct, most commercial fish are flash frozen, which is easier on the meat.
 
Curtis2010 said:
Fresh fish, like still quivering, is key to great sushi/sashimi. Tough to do in land locked areas unless you have it flown in (as better sushi bars do).

Luckily, we live in the tropics and spend part of the year sailing. Fresh fish, no problem. First thing we do when we catch a nice sushi fish is slice off some shashimi from the more choice parts. We keep wasabi and soy sauce handy just for that. Yum.

We have made sushi before, but usually dont bother. We usually cook the fish whole (if it will fit on the grill) and have nice fresh cooked fish meal the first night and then fish tacos after that. If it wont fit on the grill we fillet or steak it, depending in the fish, and chill it (ideally not freeze it) for later meals.

Used to cruise with 3 cats aboard, they all knew what fishing gear was, and got excited when it came out. They also knew what a drag sounded like and would bolt into the cockpit as soon as we got a strike...they knew the kitty sushi bar would be open soon as I cleaned the fish!
Click to expand...

Is that a barracuda? Are they tasty?
 
applescrap said:
Is that a barracuda? Are they tasty?
Click to expand...

Thats a King Mackerel, somewhat similar body shape to a Cudda, and very tasty! Lotta meat for 2 people, we got a lot of meals from that big boy.

Cudda are tasty too (firm coarse grained white meat), but are one of the most common carriers of ciguatera toxin (a potentially fatal, and always unpleasant, nuerotoxin). So, you have to be very careful about eating Cudda. Some areas dont have ciguatera or at least only rare cases. Eating smaller individuals is theoretically less risky. For example, I eat Cudda in Belize, but would never eat Cudda in the Florida Keys. Meat is a too coarse for sushi, but they are mighty good grilled.

Speaking of sushi fish, Atlantic Spanish Mackerel (delicate, fine grained meat) are very good for sushi/sashimi, but the same from the Pacific has a powerfully oily taste/texture. Be aware of that when buying Mackerel.

We make sashimi every time we catch an Atlantic Mack, but can't stomach the Pacific Mack (living in Panama now, so can easily choose which ocean to fish).

Atlantic Spanish Mack:

View attachment 1448209319055.jpg
 
Cool! Im thoroughly jealous now. My grandma loved octopus sashimi. Since you know the fish i have always been curious about all the random tropical fish we see when scuba diving once I saw a guy spear fishing and he had all those tropical little guys and i was curious if they were any good. Mackeral sounds great main fish in tuna fish isn't it. In china town they have a ton if fish jerky never tried it
 
applescrap said:
Cool! Im thoroughly jealous now. My grandma loved octopus sashimi. Since you know the fish i have always been curious about all the random tropical fish we see when scuba diving once I saw a guy spear fishing and he had all those tropical little guys and i was curious if they were any good. Mackeral sounds great main fish in tuna fish isn't it. In china town they have a ton if fish jerky never tried it
Click to expand...

Octupus is popular, though crewy, but I feel bad about eating them because they are very intelligent, like problem solving smart. Squid, I feel better about. ; ).

Conch is a wonderful white meat which is sometimes used in sashimi/sushi. Most conch dishes hide the meat in batters etc, but I prefer just to eat it thinly sliced as sashimi or lightly steamed with a little cocktail sauce. A full sized conch steak done properly is delicious.

Most small tropical reef fish are not good game or sushi species. A, they are small. B, they look pretty on the reef. C, many of them feed on the algae that is the source of ciguatera. However, in many places the locals will eat whatever they can catch...hate to see them doing that.

There are however good game species on the reef too. Fish like Snapper (many varieties) and Grouper. Some snapper can make OK sushi/sashimi, but not nearly as good as more commonly used varieties. Perfect fish for pan frying (small ones) or fish tacos though (fine grained white flakey meat).

Dorado (Dolphin...the fish, not Flipper) have a firm fine grained meat that makes good sushi too. Open water game species, not on the reef.

A fish you see used for sushi/sashimi in Central America that you dont see in most other venues is Robalo (Snook). Excellent sport fish too, powerful strike and a hard fight. Snook are common in some areas of the USA too, but highly regulated in places like Florida, so not sure whether you can find them in retail markets in the USA.

Robalo on the grill:

View attachment 1448218591483.jpg
 
gratus fermentatio said:
It's difficult to find truly sushi grade fish here in MT, but there are 2 stores in town that claim to have sushi grade tuna, though I've passed on it a few times as it was obviously quite old. You have to get it the day they get it. I've never seen any other species sold as "sushi grade" here. I've used salmon & it was just fine, even the farm raised stuff. I've heard trout can be used in sushi & we have trout in abundance here.

I've only made fairly simple sushi at home, though I would like to learn more advanced sushi making; that takes a fair chunk of change just for the ingredients. There's a store here that does carry a pretty good variety of seafood, albeit frozen, I get prepared unagi from there frequently. They also carry 3 different types of tobiko, whole & cleaned squid (ika), octopus tentacles & softshell crab, all frozen of course.
Regards, GF.
Click to expand...

My favorite microbrewery, Neptunes in Livingston has a sushi bar, and the customers all rave about how good it is.......It looks wonderful, but I cannot bring myself to eat sushi.... and it's not from lack of trying. Livingston is not a major urban center, so obviously he has a good source, and knows what to buy and what not to buy. I suspect some business in Bozeangles is the source.

H.W.
 
hunter_la5 said:
Smoked salmon rolls are tasty, but fresh, raw, sushi-grade salmon is hard to beat. Tuna is good too.
Click to expand...

Smoked fish would be a good alternative for areas where its hard to get fresh. Salmon, Tuna, Robalo...are all good smoked.
 
Am i wrong? I love sushi if I stuck my nose up to a piece of fish and it didnt smell to bad I would think about sticking it in a roll. My mom and sister make sushi I don't know why we never have, my mom bought me a whole kit for Christmas once
 
If you go to the fish market....and you see this guy......Walk away....quickly.

Gollum Eating Fish.jpg
 
Curtis2010 said:
Fresh fish, like still quivering, is key to great sushi/sashimi. Tough to do in land locked areas unless you have it flown in (as better sushi bars do).

Luckily, we live in the tropics and spend part of the year sailing. Fresh fish, no problem. First thing we do when we catch a nice sushi fish is slice off some shashimi from the more choice parts. We keep wasabi and soy sauce handy just for that. Yum.

We have made sushi before, but usually dont bother. We usually cook the fish whole (if it will fit on the grill) and have nice fresh cooked fish meal the first night and then fish tacos after that. If it wont fit on the grill we fillet or steak it, depending in the fish, and chill it (ideally not freeze it) for later meals.

Used to cruise with 3 cats aboard, they all knew what fishing gear was, and got excited when it came out. They also knew what a drag sounded like and would bolt into the cockpit as soon as we got a strike...they knew the kitty sushi bar would be open soon as I cleaned the fish!
Click to expand...

Wild salmon needs to be flash frozen first cause of the parasites. Ive caught my own salmon in Alaska and froze it and took it home with me and did sushi. When i did river fishing there we would always cook the salmon before eating. halibut tho can be made into sashimi with out freezing first since they are fine.
 
Think sushi grade fish is usually frozen to very cold temperatures to kill parasites. Think eating actual fresh fish could result in a night on the toilet.
 
brewerJase said:
Think sushi grade fish is usually frozen to very cold temperatures to kill parasites. Think eating actual fresh fish could result in a night on the toilet.
Click to expand...

It could of course, but Ive eaten loads freshly sliced fish & conch over decades and never gotten sick and never gotten parasites (I live in Central America so I get tested once a year as part of normal annual check ups and always been negative).

I examine the meat we cut for sashimi pertty closely and if it looks suspect dont use it. Significantly diseased fish are usually pretty obvious and I toss them back.

And bushels of raw oysters straight off the back of the oystermen's boats.

Only place Ive ever gotten sick was at a fancy inland seafood resturant in the States! Oh man, bad sick too.
 
smAllGrain said:
Would canned tuna be blasphemous? Or even any good?
Click to expand...

Sure. Anything really we are talking about a piece of meat wrapped in rice and veg. Crab cooked is very good infact there is the substitute to fish. especially those who dont like sushi. Or that imitation crab you get on a decent chef salad. California rolls they're called. Wait are we talking about nigiri sushi or sushi rolls. Vegetables and fruits can be used as well in sushi. When I was vegetarian they would serve me avocado sushi rolls.
At the sushi restaurant here in Denver they all have fried sushi rolls that are battered and fried with crab in them
 
Curtis2010 said:
It could of course, but Ive eaten loads freshly sliced fish & conch over decades and never gotten sick and never gotten parasites (I live in Central America so I get tested once a year as part of normal annual check ups and always been negative).

....
Click to expand...

Though come to think of it, my GF did apparently get lung flukes a few years ago (hard to diagnose positively). You can get them from raw fish. She thinks it was from some questionable ceviche from a street vendor. We love street food, but she is not always as cautious as she should be.

Very unpleasant respiratory symptoms, the tropical heat & humidity didnt help with that. Meds cleared it right up though.

I've lived in the tropics for over a decade now and never gotten any tropical diseases, though I know many who have, think I'm just genetically well suited for it.
 
Speaking of sushi, we live in the highlands of Panama part-time...in the cool mountain climate, but still close to two oceans...great combination. We are lucky to have one of the best sushi chefs in Panama here. Cranks out some of the best sushi I've had anywhere (and man, I've eaten a LOT of sushi), with fresh fish brought up straight from the coast. We can order sushi the day before, and she will order the fish for it that day.

View attachment 1448238298440.jpg
 
Curtis2010 said:
Speaking of sushi, we live in the highlands of Panama part-time...in the cool mountain climate, but still close to two oceans...great combination. We are lucky to have one of the best sushi chefs in Panama here. Cranks out some of the best sushi I've had anywhere (and man, I've eaten a LOT of sushi), with fresh fish brought up straight from the coast. We can order sushi the day before, and she will order the fish for it that day.
Click to expand...

Soo... Where in Panama do you live (we can take this onto pm), and what is your feelings on Cordova? The first time I had it was in Panama, and it made darn good cerviche and Cordova creole. Yummy when combined with patacones.
 
banesong said:
Soo... Where in Panama do you live (we can take this onto pm), and what is your feelings on Cordova? The first time I had it was in Panama, and it made darn good cerviche and Cordova creole. Yummy when combined with patacones.
Click to expand...

In the Chiriqui Highlands, western Panama, not far from the Costa Rican border.

Do you mean "corvina"?

If so, then the name gets used for a very broad category of fish. The most generous interpretation is "sea bass" (when selling to gringos), but its really fish like drums, croakers, grunts...and sometimes just whatever random small fish is for sale. Not bad for ceviche or fish tacos. Blue Stripped Grunts are one of my favorite fish, not because they taste awesome (though they are good), but because back when I lived in Florida they were one of the very few mostly unregulated fish (lots of fishing regulations in FL) and you could catch all you wanted without worrying about a big fine, and they are plentiul on most any reef.

For sushi I would step up a notch to "pargo" (snapper).

A great combo are stuffed patacones. Basically a little cup made out of patacones (Panamanian style, fried plantains) filled with ceviche. Double yum.
 
Curtis2010 said:
In the Chiriqui Highlands, western Panama, not far from the Costa Rican border.

Do you mean "corvina"?

If so, then the name gets used for a very broad category of fish. The most generous interpretation is "sea bass" (when selling to gringos), but its really fish like drums, croakers, grunts...and sometimes just whatever random small fish is for sale. Not bad for ceviche or fish tacos. Blue Stripped Grunts are one of my favorite fish, not because they taste awesome (though they are good), but because back when I lived in Florida they were one of the very few mostly unregulated fish (lots of fishing regulations in FL) and you could catch all you wanted without worrying about a big fine, and they are plentiul on most any reef.

For sushi I would step up a notch to "pargo" (snapper).

A great combo are stuffed patacones. Basically a little cup made out of patacones (Panamanian style, fried plantains) filled with ceviche. Double yum.
Click to expand...

Yup, that was it. The Creole and cerviche made with it was awesome.

We plan to get back down there at some point and make it up to Chiriqui. More patacones are always appreciated.
 
We make sushi occasionally. Here in Eastern Iowa, tuna steaks are easy enough to find at HyVee. Other sushi grade fishes are hard to come by though. There is a small fish market in Davenport, Iowa(Great Midwest Seafood) that sells hard to find stuff like shark and conch...but not "sushi grade".
I have eaten non grade fish before...no problems, but I knew the risks.
 
gwapogorilla said:
We make sushi occasionally. Here in Eastern Iowa, tuna steaks are easy enough to find at HyVee. Other sushi grade fishes are hard to come by though. There is a small fish market in Davenport, Iowa(Great Midwest Seafood) that sells hard to find stuff like shark and conch...but not "sushi grade".
I have eaten non grade fish before...no problems, but I knew the risks.
Click to expand...

From HyVee eh? Do you ask them for a frozen steak & then thaw it yourself?
 

Similar threads

Frank van Summeren
Where to get a starter kit in EU
Replies
2
Views
601
Johnny2
J
O
Fruit prep for Sour beer
Replies
5
Views
404
superiorsat
S
MaxStout
Corned beef brisket: bulk equivalent to those seasoning packets for cooking?
Replies
1
Views
194
DBhomebrew
DBhomebrew
NorthTundran
Just Starting
Replies
3
Views
194
Zanatrik
Zanatrik
refect
Measuring Kettle PH
Replies
25
Views
1K
Indian_villager
I
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top