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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   1680 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 28, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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What's cookin' this weekend, The Motte?

Ever since I restarted intermittent fasting, my passion for creating and eating exotic foods has increased quite dramatically, since I'm thinking about food nearly constantly in the latter half of the workday. It is probably for the same reason that I am torn about what I should be doing: creating new exotic foods with ingredients from the Asian grocery store? Eating old food that I don't even know exists yet? Or maybe I should be going cheap and cooking up old beans in the cabinet or roasting/boiling some chicken leg quarters?

Yesterday I went with a compromise option, maki sushi with slightly old frozen fish that had been taking up space for a while, along with some taberu rayu (Japanese spicy chili oil) I had never been brave enough to actually use. It was great. Now there seem to be plans for going to a new wings place tomorrow, which really throws a wrench in the rest of the dinner plans, if you ask me, but I also have been craving wings recently, too, so not the worst thing in the world.

What is your approach with regards to preparing raw fish for sushi at home? I've been tempted recently and have done some research, but it seems very difficult to find any relevant safety statistics for different preparation methods. For example, I THINK at this point (at least for salmon) the consensus seems to be that you want farmed Atlantic salmon that has been previously flash frozen at lower temps than a consumer freezer to kill parasites. However, a) it's hard to find out whether a salmon filet has been previously frozen, especially since amateur fishmongers seem to think 'fresh never frozen' sounds better even if they don't know/it's not true, b) I can't find any raw numbers about parasite infection risk from eating salmon this way at home, c) I can't find data about the risk from food poisoning eating this way, and to what extent curing for a short time might help with this. Also whether buying frozen or freezing at home has any significant effect or if it's just totally useless of it's not at low enough temp.

I'm probably going to just rip it with what knowledge I have and see what happens, but if you have any ideas they would be appreciated.

You'll be disappointed by my answer. I just cook the fish. I never really cared that much about the taste of raw fish. The texture is interesting, but I never could taste any subtleties. The thing I like most about sushi at home is the hot vinegared rice; salted cooked salmon or trout is good in it, and so is cooked chicken, and so are the other crap I like to add. Spicy mayo can taste good on the top or inside, unagi sauce can taste good on the top or inside, but usually I just dip each piece in some tamari soy sauce and have at it.

As for fish, yes, I have a sushi book that says flash frozen is best. I think freezing at all will kill parasites, so if you're paranoid, you can just freeze it yourself. Or just cook it.

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