All About Sashimi - Choosing the Right Fish & Tips For Preparation

What is sashimi?

At its most fundamental level, sashimi is any meat that is served raw. It can be any type of meat – be it beef, scallops or even chicken, but the most popular type of sashimi would be Fruit de mer.

Sashimi is a famous Japanese dish of bite-sized pieces of raw fish served with wasabi. Le wasabi not only serves to add flavour to the sashimi, but to also kill any bacteria as it served raw.

Sashimi is commonly thought to originate from Japan, but according to records sashimi was found in Japan after the Imjin War between Korean and Japan in 1592. A lot of cultures were traded between the two countries during this period, and one of them was the import of sashimi, or Korea hoe, au Japon.

Fait amusant: the name ‘sashimi’ was derived from the words ‘sashi’ which means to poke through, and ‘mi’ as in meat.

Which fish is best for sashimi?

Almost any fish is a suitable candidate when it comes to sashimi. In Australia, the most common varieties you will see being used in Japanese restaurants for sashimi are Saumon, Thon et kingfish. However, the best seafood varieties for sashimi in this country also include scallop, bream, whiting, flounder, snapper, squid, snapper as well as leatherjacket.

Having access to the freshest fish is not the only determining factor to good sashimi. Over time, the saveur et texture de poisson changes over time, and similarly to beef, the taste of some fish improves with a bit of time to age.

Comme un rule of thumb, it is best to eat smaller fish and seafood like prawns and squid as soon as possible for the best flavour. By allowing the muscles of larger fish like flounder and snapper to relax by letting them rest on ice overnight improves the taste.

Un mot d'avertissement – ageing seafood is best left to the experts, and when choosing fish for sashimi it is best to follow the advice of a good fishmonger.

How to prepare the fish

Once you have chosen your fish, if it has any bones make sure to filet et la peau le poisson.

Lorsque choosing the right sashimi knife, la Shun Classic flexible filleting knife gives you just the right amount of flex in your blade steel making filleting fish easier. The knife conforms to the ribs of the fish, removing meat from bones quickly and easily. Removing skin from meat is easier, too.

For a cheaper alternative, the Tojiro Traditional Sashimi Knife does a fantastic job too.

Once the bones and the skin has been removed, there isn’t much more to the preparation of sashimi besides cutting it up. Il y a countless different slicing techniques for sashimi, but you only need to know a few.

Picture from alleasyrecipes.com

1.Usu-zukuri (thin slice)

Perfect for firm, white fish with thin fillets like flounder, whiting and bream, begin by trimming the fillet into a rectangular loaf shape. And then the fillet can be sliced at an angle into paper-thin slices.

2.Hira-zukuri (rectangular slice)

This is the most common type of slice suitable for any fish fillet, in which you cut straight down into slices of ¼ inch thick. This cut is commonly used for salmon, tuna and kingfish.

3.Kaku-giri (cubic cut)

A style of cutting used almost exclusively for tuna because of its firmness. First cut straight down into ½ inch thick slices.

4.Kaku-zukuri (square slice)

Slice into small cubes. Thick, soft fish such as tuna are perfect for this.

Dressings and garnishes

Sashimi is not complete without three edible garnishes on the plate to complement - ken, tsuma and karami - a base, a highlight and a spicy condiment.

Kenest la base ou l'arrière-plan et se trouve à l'arrière du plat. Un monticule de Daikon déchiqueté et bouclé est un "Ken" populaire, ou Wakame algue est souvent utilisé. La majeure partie du Ken maintient les tranches de poisson debout et la rend plus agréable esthétique, mais elle peut également être mangée en tant que nettoyant à palais lorsque vous passez d'une variété de poissons à l'autre.

Tsumasignifie littéralement «femme» en japonais, mais dans le contexte de Sashimi, il fait référence à un point culminant pour ajouter plus de dynamisme et de couleur au plat. Les tsuma sont des piles plus petites, souvent colorées de minuscules herbes, des cresses ou des fleurs. Les tsuma sont placés sous le poisson au premier plan et peuvent également être utilisés pour aromatiser le poisson.

Karamiest une sorte d'épice piquante qui accompagne le sashimi. De loin, le plus populaire et le plus connu est Wasabi, un raifort vert intense.