My Shiro Maguro is not like Itamae-san!

[Freakwater]

I've got three batches of tuna loins from three separate trips this past summer. All handled with the greatest of care: bled, brain spiked, ice slurried, gutted, packed in ice, loined, vacuum packed and deep frozen(as deep as a home freezer can get), all as quickly and thouroughly as possible.

How come my albacore sushi doesn't taste like it does at the sushi bar? Seems like a small change in quality makes a big difference in taste. My best day in the kitchen doesn't taste as good as the worst day at the restuarant.
I don't get it. How better could tuna be handled?

Also, what is the best way to cut albacore for sushi? Man, your knife has to be crazy sharp! Is there an angle to the grain that is best? Last I cut perpendicular to the length of the loin and that worked ok. I wanna get that sexy Itamae-san cut!

Oh yeah.... and why is albacore always seared while all other tunas are not?

Freakwater (the question guy)
you (the answer guy)

[bait boy]

only thing I can say is to try cutting when its still partially frozen. Other than what I eat on the cutting table I dont usually eat my own fresh stuff as sushi.

[backlash442]

Who says you have to sear albacore? Eat it sushi and sashimi style all the time. Only sear it for the kids. When you freeze the fillets do you take out all the bloodline meat? Our fillets come out great as long as they aren't frozen for a long time. Smell is different. Wife will usually cut off the entire outside flesh. It's really best to be eaten within a few months imo and the less time the better. Make sure your knife is wet when cutting seared meat.

I've never eaten sushi/sashimi that was better than what I caught myself. For what it took (cost) to catch that tuna nothing will taste better imo.

[jigmaster]

1. Use a very sharp knife to slice the fish along the grain in a motion downward and toward you. Avoid sawing the fish. 2. Presentation and appearance are almost as important as freshness..Frozen will never taste or cut like fresh. If that fails, bread it and fry it like your Washington ancestors ....Good luck

[Pilar]

Freakwater ..

I have had poor luck at best with frozen TUNA! loins. They seem to do ok on the barbque but not so good as sashimi. We vacuum sealed and used only the firmest high grade top loins. There is a big variation in the quality of fish I have cut up at the carking station. The good stuff is obvious with hard translucent red filets. The soft stuff is for the canner or fresh use. But after less than 6 months in the freeze even the best loins are pretty soft and have a smell. Cutting it while partly frozen is a good idea. Searing it brings out the good TUNA! oil smells.

If you go to Sushi Land you can watch the technique for cutting TUNA! sashimi. There is one in Beaverton and one in Clackamas. A regular fish dissasembly line and sushi fast food place with the food on a room circling conveyor. If you sit there long enough you can see anything from Maguro (Red TUNA!) to Sake (Salmon) and even Hamachi (Yellowtail Jack) getting cut up. Most of the fish they deal with was caught far away, frozen whole or in loins and shipped here. They filet, remove the skin and process each fish differently with attention to appearance. They make the loin into loin long blocks of the dimensions of the finished chunks, about 1" x 3". All the other stuff from the loin is used for something else. Then they slice the blocks at about a 30 degree angle across the grain into 1/4" thick slices. Nothing is wasted. They scrape the backbone and use this for spicy TUNA! rolls.

Most sushi places have a bar where you can watch them make your sushi but you rarely see the whole fish being processed any where but at Sushi land.

You can always smoke it. Cut each loin into 3 planks, Rocksalt for 30 minutes and go.

Is it lunch yet?

[Arima Billy]

I owned a fish processing plant in Garibaldi and I also had an off shore tuna boat. I sold only fresh bled albacore thur my retail store and I sold my flash frozen at sea unbled albacore that came off of my own boat to the big canneries like Star Kist or Bunble Bee. Commerical freezer boats usually don't bleed there fish, they don't want to loose the weight. As for the quality of frozen tuna I always told my customers that fresh unfrozen tuna did not taste like fish infact you really didn't know what it was except wonderful, and then I added that frozen tuna tastes like fish. AB

[Jimmy Carl Black]

What temp do you keep your freezer at? I've never found the restaurant stuff to be as good as the self-caught. Despite stories to the contrary, I personally doubt that they take that good care of the stuff they catch commercially and can't find a reason why it would be better than my hand-picked pieces. You do however have to carve off the outer layers that have been exposed to the elements. Also carve out any blood-tinged or bruised sections prior to freezing.

Of course, as TUNABOY said, presentation is a huge part of your subjective enjoyment of any dish. Another big one is not being the one preparing it because as the chef, you have already 'tasted' the food by the time you go to eat it.

[Hooked on Fish]

It's a terrible shame that it doesn't meet your standards and I can only suggest that yo be very careful that this experience doesn't scar you or your family for life. Just to show you what a standup guy I am I'll be happy to take this inferior meat off your hands and dispose of it properly so you and your family can sleep better at night.

[Ducks4jimm]

Hooked, that is a really generous offer...
Isn't most of what is served at sushi bars yellowfin? As wonderful as our albies are canned(!) and barbequed, I don't think they hold up to yellowfin or bluefin when it comes to sashimi and sushi. Fresh albacore is awesome, but after a month or so, even vacuum packed in the freezer, it doesn't taste quite as special. Fresh is best!

[Freakwater]

Au contraire, Ducks4jimm. Albacore (Shiro Maguro) is readily available in town if not the west coast, I imagine and it is INCREDIBLE!

I thought that all restuarant sushi was frozen for a minimum of 30 days to kill any parasites. Hmmm.... not sure where I heard it, but that was my understanding. Is it safe to eat fresh raw tuna?

I do try to cut it while it is partially frozen and it does help a lot.

JCB, not sure what temperature my chest freezer is at, but it is much colder than what I have set in the house (fridge/freezer). I set it way cold after reading that elk/venison needed to be DEEP frozen for over 30 days if you wanted to make jerky out of it...... maybe that's where I got the 30 days for sashimi???

Of course, as TUNABOY said, presentation is a huge part of your subjective enjoyment of any dish. Another big one is not being the one preparing it because as the chef, you have already 'tasted' the food by the time you go to eat it.

Plus I think that paying $1.50 a bite might tend to make you believe that what you are eating is extra special. Wait.... I think the stuff in my freezer cost me about $5.00 a bite :grin:

Freakwater

[cruiseship]

Could be due to the freezing method. From what I understand flash freezing froms very small crystals while slow freezing in the typical home freezer creates much larger crystals. When thawed there is greater tissue damage from the larger ice crystals so the end product is musher in texture, could also impact the taste.

stevej