Japanese groceries, sushi-grade fish in PHX area?

Hi, I'm a Boston chowhound who grew up in the East Valley and am moving back next month. One of the things I'll miss about Boston is the Japanese market near my house. I was wondering if anybody could tell me if where I could find a good Japanese market in the Valley. Also, is there anywhere in Phoenix where I can buy sushi-grade fish? Thanks!!

Cindy

Thanks for the suggestions -- I'll check out those markets. It sounds like buying sushi-grade fish retail means you're going to buy frozen fish, which leads me to wonder -- are there any chowhounds out there in the wholesale world who know how the sushi restaurants in Phoenix get their fish? Is it delivered daily, weekdays, once a week, and is it usually frozen and then thawed out? Just wondering.

Thanks again for the info,
Cindy

[madrider22]

If you prefer to use non-frozen fish, you can always buy fish at your local supermarket (fresher is better) and cure it with a brine made from 4-6 cups of water and 1/4 cup salt for about 12-24 hours. The longer the fish sits in the brine, the saltier it will get, so 12 hours is usally good. If the fish comes out a bit salty, you can soak it in some purified water for an hour or so to dilute the salt. You can also add seasoning to your brine to give the flish a bit of a more robust flavor, such as adding fresh dill and minced garlic to the brine for salmon. If you into spicy tuna rolls, the spicy sauce is made with mayo, chili oil, and a dash of sesame oil (add salt or garlic to taste). Hope this info has been helpful

[janeh]

A very nice little market is the New Tokyo Food Market. They don't sell fresh fish but might be a good source for recommendations. Oops...I just read back and saw that someone else suggested this place, so I second it!

New Tokyo Food Market
3435 West Northern Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85051-6528
[phone]

[modthyrth]

My brother's friend is a local sushi chef, and I seem to remember him saying that all sushi fish in the USA is always frozen for (I'm trying to remember here) something like 2-4 days, in order to kill a very common parasite. If you don't want it ever to have been frozen, you're going to have to pull it from the water yourself and risk it.

There's also House of Rice in south Scottsdale around Hayden and Thomas. They also have weekly cooking classes and they sell Japanese housewares. They sell frozen hamachi, maguro, unagi, etc.

For all things Asian, you'll really like Lee Lee Market on the NE corner of Dobson and Warner in the East Valley. It's quite a gigantic market that specializes in Asian foodstuffs; however, they also have some aisles with Middle Eastern, Mexican, Dutch, etc. products as well.

For Japanese markets, try Fujiya Market at Priest and University in Tempe and New Tokyo Market at about 34th Avenue and W Northern in Phoenix. Both have a limited but reasonable range of Japanese foodstuffs. They may have some small selection of frozen sushi-grade fish, but the better general supermarkets (AJs, for example) or 99 Ranch Market on 44th St in Phoenix may be better bets for the fish. Good luck!