226524 Mon Sep 19 09:38:46 -0700 2005 20 18 Manhattan 0 1204352 I've been invited to a sushi-rolling party. I've offered to pick up something from Citarella or Zabar's on the UWS. I don't know what they have for sushi, but I've heard that there's "sashimi quality" fish out there, a higher retail grade than what's normally sold for cooking. Am I being too persnickety? If not, what should I be looking for? Always saltwater fish, not freshwater, right? Link: http://foody.org Mon Sep 19 09:38:46 -0700 2005 0 Josh Karpf 1 1204357 if you don't know what you're doing, you should probably have somebody who knows something about buying fish come with you. the fish department might not have the patience if you're not sure about bringing freshwater fish to a sushi rolling party. BUT ... "sashimi" or "sushi" grade fish labels were invented by the stores, and are not government or industry-type labels like "prime, or choice", etc. Mon Sep 19 10:00:17 -0700 2005 1204352 0 edc 1 1204368 To the extent this helps - I often buy tuna from Citarella to make tuna tartare (raw). I usually do this when the tuna looks particularly appealing to me - i.e., very dark red. Mon Sep 19 11:15:22 -0700 2005 1204352 0 MMRuth 2 1204372 This probably indicates that the tuna has been treated with carbon monoxide to preserve its red color and cover-up any imperfections. Although Citarella will deny that their $20/lb hunk of tuna has been "gassed", the majority of tuna you buy will have been treated as such by unscrupulous fishermen. Caveat emptor. Mon Sep 19 11:19:51 -0700 2005 1204368 0 Dave 3 1204375 "Lovely" - thanks for the heads up! M Mon Sep 19 11:27:22 -0700 2005 1204372 0 MMRuth 4 1204405 is there any way to test for gassed tuna?? If so, I'm thinking that would be a great follow up to Amanda Hesser's great A1 NY Time story about high end markets claiming to sell wild salmon in March, when it's acutally farmed. Mon Sep 19 13:25:18 -0700 2005 1204375 0 xavier 5 1204432 The Times did a piece on the gassed tuna in the past year I think - that's where I first read about it. phooey Mon Sep 19 14:39:40 -0700 2005 1204405 0 pitu 6 1204459 an education on gassed fish Link: http://www.gassedfish.com/ Mon Sep 19 15:56:50 -0700 2005 1204432 0 eaf 7 1204462 That is a hilariously bad web page. Mon Sep 19 16:04:45 -0700 2005 1204459 0 Dave 5 1204501 the best analogy i could think of is that gassed fish has that dayglo look Mon Sep 19 21:43:04 -0700 2005 1204405 0 byrd 3 1204446 I don't think this is true. I read the Times article, and came away with the impression that the gassed tuna is a lighter red than a fresh, non-gassed ruby-red piece. Mon Sep 19 15:39:46 -0700 2005 1204372 0 Michael 4 1204463 I'd say don't go on color at all if it is an uncertain indicator. Mon Sep 19 16:06:40 -0700 2005 1204446 0 Dave 5 1204511 In any case, dark red tuna doesn't usually taste very good to me - not enough fat! Mon Sep 19 22:47:45 -0700 2005 1204463 0 polimorfos 1 1204371 Although Citarella has the best quality fish out there, I would not make sushi or sashimi with it nor with any other fish purchased from a fish market in NYC. Simply put, the fish will not be fresh enough. Your best bet is to find someone who fishes or someone who knows a distributor who sells to sushi bars. Mon Sep 19 11:17:55 -0700 2005 1204352 0 Dave 1 1204381 My Japanese wife makes sushi and sashimi every Wednesday and Friday with fish bought from the Union Square fish mongers - tuna, fluke and flounder (avoid swordfish, salmon and cod, they are prone to parasites). In general, regardless of the source, use your nose to decide how fresh the fish is, if it's not perfectly smelling use it in cooked recipes. All imported tuna is flash frozen, that's true even in Japan where they pay incredible amounts for tuna caught in Sicily. You can also find good rice, Japanese eel, salmon roe, and unagi (sea urchin) and bamboo rolling mats, nori, etc. at Sunrise Market in St. Marks. Mon Sep 19 11:44:55 -0700 2005 1204352 0 jbeton 2 1204383 oops, uni - sea urchin/ unagi-eel Mon Sep 19 11:50:15 -0700 2005 1204381 0 jbeton 2 1204384 oops, uni - sea urchin/ unagi-eel Mon Sep 19 11:51:16 -0700 2005 1204381 0 jbeton 1 1204401 I don't trust raw fish from any store other than mitsuwa or daido Mon Sep 19 13:08:51 -0700 2005 1204352 0 Ricky 2 1204885 Where are mitsuwa and daido? Wed Sep 21 16:14:54 -0700 2005 1204401 0 JBS 1 1204413 I recommend Katagiri (http://www.katagiri.com/) -- prices are sky-high, but you can buy small portions of many different types of fish, and we've never gotten anything even remotely questionable there. All the packages are labeled with the date of packing and the "use by" date -- I always go for the stuff packed that day. Best, Heather Link: http://gonyc.about.com Mon Sep 19 13:53:28 -0700 2005 1204352 0 SparklieGirl 1 1205435 Just a quick thanks for all the advice. The friend's sushi-rolling party was great. Citarella's sashimi-grade saltwater fish did very well. I rejected some off-smelling shrimp that someone had bought in Manhattan's Chinatown. I'm going to try rolling my own homemade sushi soon, trying the suppliers mentioned in this thread. For a pan-Asian dessert touch, I brought several pastries from the Dragon Land bakery on Walker Street. It's moon-cake season again! Link: http://foody.org Sun Sep 25 10:17:25 -0700 2005 1204352 0 Josh Karpf