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Things to know

Sushi is Japanese food that uses rice flavored with vinegar, sugar and salt. Wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and soy sauce are used as seasoning. Not all sushi is rare fish. The word sushi actually means "seasoned rice " and there are numerous items that are smoked, cooked or broiled. There are even ones that are entirely vegetarian. Raw fish really refers to sashimi meaning "sliced raw fish".
The three main types of sushi are nigiri, maki and oshi.

Nigiri sushi is a ball of seasoned rice with a thin slice of fish on top. Nigiri sushi comes in pairs.

Maki is sushi rolls wrapped in sheet of seaweed. The three main components are the rice, seaweed and the ingredients inside.

Oshi is pressed sushi cut into small squares.
If you are a first-timer, maki sushi is probably the best way to go. Try to think of it as an Asain style burrito.

A common misconception is that eating sushi could be dangerous especially with all that rare fish. However, in all my years of working with sushi, I have never had anyone get sick because of the food. Yes, rare fish is a main component of sushi but we follow special precaution to ensure our product is fresh and safe. One of the precautions that we take is the washing of the hands before and after each task performed at the sushi bar. Washing our hands in between each task makes sure that no cross contamination occur between each serving.

Ultra low temperature system

The quality of most seafood remains in good condition when it is frozen and stored at a temperature of minus 18-20 degrees C (0 - minus 4 degrees F). However at these temperatures, tuna becomes discolored and unusable for raw consumption. This caused major problem especially as commercial fishing continued to grow and the demands would send fishermen around the world. So, in the 1960s, Japan developed a new technology to freeze and store tuna at ultra low temperature. Now, the technology has advanced to make the temperature as low as minus 70 degrees C (minus 94 degrees F). At these temperatures, the quality of tuna remains in good condition for as long as three years! Most Japanese and other Asian tuna boats are equipped with this ultra low temperature system of freezing and storing. This has allowed Asian fishermen to go out as far

Varieties of Tuna

(1) Bluefin
The bluefin is a very large fish and weighs usually in the range from 300 pounds to 500 pounds. The bluefin is the biggest just before spawning season where its fat content, toro, is the highest. The major fishing areas are along the coasts of the Japanese Islands, the coasts from Boston to eastern Canada, and the Mediterranean. However, bluefin can also be found along the coasts from southern California to Mexico.

(2) Bigeye
If you ever saw the bigeye, you would agree that the name is fitting. The bigeye is named for its enormous eyes. Because the bigeye lives in higher temperatures, it can be caught all over the globe in the warm water zones (i.e. The Gulf of Mexico). Even though the bigeye has huge eyes, its body size is still a little smaller than the bluefin.

(3) Yellowfin
Yellowfins are named for the yellow parts on both sides of their body and fins. These fish can also be found the warm water zones, such as coasts along California, the Gulf of Mexico, Japan and Southeastern Asia. The yellowfin is relatively much smaller than the bluefin and the bigeye, weighing mostly in the range from 8 to 20 pounds. The signature red color of its flesh is also lighter than that of bluefin and bigeye.

(4) Albacore
Not all tuna have red meat. Albacore, also called white tuna, is the fish that you would find in canned tuna. Albacore was not used for sashimi or sushi until about 15 years ago. But now, this growing popular type of tuna can also be found as "abako" at sushi bars everywhere.

(5) Ahi
You may have found "ahi tuna" on the menus at many restaurants other than Japanese. Ahi is not a variety of tuna, but is the Hawaiian word for tuna. Most ahi tuna refer to the yellowfin, but the bigeye has also been known as ahi. The general term ahi means that the tuna was caught near Hawaii. Tuna from Hawaiian waters tend to have a lighter flesh color than tuna caught in other areas.

(6) Skipjack
The skipjack, also called katsuo, is probably the most confusing type of tuna. In Japanese-English dictionaries, katsuo is translated as bonito, or frigate mackerel. Although katsuo is a type of tuna and not a mackerel, most restaurants in the US use the term bonito because of this translation. The skipjack is similar to yellowfin, as they can both be called "light meat tuna".

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