Japanese foods--sushi/sashimi

[Hiroyuki]

I myself have never eaten sawagani raw, and every website on sawagani in Japanese warns against eating them raw because they are a secondary host to the parasitic lung fluke.

I cannot find a site on sawagani in English, but here is a related one:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/zoology/crab/

An excerpt from this site:

In the Orient, the mitten crab is considered a delicacy and is consumed uncooked. This could present a health hazard to the human population as the crab is a secondary intermediate host for the lung fluke, Paragonimus westermanii.

I suppose the sawaganai you ate were cultured ones, but I want you to be on the safe side...

[torakris]

I too have never seen them eaten alive, I have enjoyed them deep dried on occasion and like the crunch though I find they have little flavor. My favorite version was kimchi'd, it was raw but not alive and really, really good!

[tootallfortoques]

They are banned, along with fugu, from import into Canada (I worked on the regulations years ago).

[Hest88]

I love the little critters when they're deep fried. Better than potato chips. I just wish there were more restaurants around here that served them.

Homechef, aren't you in the Bay Area? May I ask what sushi restaurant this was?

Edited July 19, 2004 by Hest88 (log)

[Hiroyuki]

Unfortunately, I cannot find any source that clearly describes 'how risky' it is. My personal opinion is that we should refrain from eating them raw as long as there are certain risks involved in this.

The same goes for all other freshwater creatures.

About the lung fluke:

http://www.seerecht.org/wegelein/course/gr...phics/fluke.htm

http://www.ehendrick.org/healthy/000540.htm

A site in Japanese (just in case the restraurant owner and/or manager doesn't understand English):

http://www.mmjp.or.jp/wakeikai/kiseityuu.htm

Edited July 21, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Mulcahy]

When I dine out alone, which is not infrequently, I often bring something to read.

I have always been afraid of reading at a sushi bar, however, for fear that I am being rude. Am I crazy? Or is it considered tasteless to read at the bar?

Edited August 9, 2004 by Mulcahy (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

Some of the "authentic" sushi bars I have been in actually have a bookshelf of Japanese comic books which are all the rage and there for guests to read while dining.

I see no problem with it and do it often when dining alone.

Come to think of it, I did just last night!!!! A nice serving of Denshu sake, a selection of oysters, and a little tempura were perfect as I sat there reading a newly-acquired book!

So there.

[Mulcahy]

Ooh. Thanks Carolyn.

I feel much better. I was always afraid that I might be offending the sushi chef.

[Julia'sChild]

I was always afraid that I might be offending the sushi chef.

It might be "OK" but I think you do run the risk of offending the sushi chef if you are sitting at the bar. I have found you get the best fish and service if you engage the chef and try to establish a little rapport with them. I feel a little enthusiasm is always met with appreciation.

Edited August 9, 2004 by Julia'sChild (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

I was always afraid that I might be offending the sushi chef.

It might be "OK" but I think you do run the risk of offending the sushi chef if you are sitting at the bar. I have found you get the best fish and service if you engage the chef and try to establish a little repore with them. I feel a little enthusiasm is always met with appreciation.

Guess it depends on where and how often you dine. I had a place in LA where I dined no less than once a week -- I established a great relationship with the chef to the point where I did not need to engage him in conversation every time I came in. He knew I was a reader, knew how I liked my pieces prepared, and always got a good tip.

I don't think reading and having a discussion is mutually exclusive, either. You can go in, estabilsh an early rapport with the chef, and then move into your book with relative ease.

Where I dined last evening, it was a first-time visit for me and I had no difficulty getting great service, great food, and reading an entire first chapter...

[Schneier]

I see it all the time in Tokyo. People reading newspapers, comics, etc.

[torakris]

from today's daily nihongo:

活き造り　　活き作り　生き造り　　生き作り

ikizukuri

活け作り　活け造り　　生け作り　　生け造り

ikezukuri

活造り　　活作り　　生造り　　生作り

ikizukuri or ikezukuri or heck anything you feel like calling it! Do you really need this many ways to write one word!

ikizukuri/ikezukuri is one ofthe biggest fears of foreigners in Japan, "live" sashimi, this is the fish that just seconds before was swimming around in the tank and is now twitching on your dish.

I personally love this dish an order it whenever I see it on the menu.

and montrealfood.com (http://www.montrealfood.com/sushi4.html )

put it better than I could:

Ikezukuri or literally "live masterpiece" requires the highest skill in preparing raw fish. A live fish is selected from the restaurant's fish tank; in some restaurants, the diner himself makes the selection. The chef then prepares it by slicing the meat off one side of the backbone. The sashimi is then placed amongst a seaweed garnish and carefully arranged against the carcass, which still trembling, is set bowed as if it magically jumped out of the water and onto your plate. Ikezukuri is without a doubt the chef d'oeuvre of freshness.

Ever eaten it?

Want to try it?

No way in hell?

[Hiroyuki]

torakris,

Why not be the first eGulleter to try a Kaimin Katsugyo and report on it? Me? I’ll think about it, but the problem is that my wife and son don’t care much for raw fish.

For a discussion of Kaimin Katsugyo, go to:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry720646

Ikezukuri is scary? I personally don’t think so. Odorigui is scary. I can’t find it in my heart to eat it.

A site describing odorigui:

http://www.pref.yamaguchi.jp/gyosei/kokusa...y2004/other.htm

(Scroll down and read the Shirouo Dishes section.)

Note that Shirouo (素魚) and Shirauo (白魚) belong to different species, and both can be served as odorigui.

Maybe odorigui requires a new thread.

Edit to add:

Some sites like this one

http://www.paw.hi-ho.ne.jp/sushimaru/21no2hitorigoto.htm

(Japanese only) state that shirouo are served as odorigui but shirauo are not.

Edited September 26, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[torakris]

I actually don't understand the people being scared of ikizukuri, I never even gave it a thought the first time I ate it. I mean it IS dead.

Now odorigui is something I haven't had a chance to try and am not actively searching out places to try it......

That kaimin katsugyo idea is very interesting, however I don't think I have the skills to prepare the fish myself.

I wish my kids didn't like sashimi so much, it gets expensive!

Just tonight my oldest daughter (age 8) ate an entire block of maguro by herself!!

[helenjp]

I had the interesting experience of watching my husband turn green before my eyes when he put an ikizukuri ebi in his mouth, and it "jumped"...

[wattacetti]

torakris,

Ikezukuri is scary?  I personally don’t think so.  Odorigui is scary.  I can’t find it in my heart to eat it.

←

Now that I saw what odorigui is, I can say "seen it, done it". My aunt took me to a place in downtown Taipei and we had small whitebait-ish fish which didn't have a whole lot of flavor to them.

Ikezukuri I had with my cousin, who selected a very nice bigeye; filet 1 was sashimi, filet 2 was grilled, bones then made into soup. Really good overall and made up for the horrid spiny lobster his wife selected to start the meal (chilled lobster smothered in mayo but floating on canned fruit cocktail ).

Can't quite figure out Kaimin Katsugyo though. "Pat it on its head?"

[torakris]

In another thread Hiroyuki said:

By definition, agari is the cup of tea served at a sushi shop after you have finished eating sushi. The cup of tea served before the sushi is called debana (出花), but agari has come to mean any cup of tea served at a sushi shop. Also note that agari used to be a jargon term just like shari (vinegared rice), gari (vinegared ginger), murasaki (soy sauce), and so on. Personally, I don't want to use these terms at a sushi shop (that would sound like snobbery to me), but there are many others who like to use them (in an attempt to pretend to be a connoisseur (tuu 通 in Japanese).

I have to admit I never use these words when in a sushi shop and for the same reasons Hiroyuki mentioned.

Do you use them?

can you think of any others?

[helenjp]

No, I have the same feeling - I somehow feel those words are for the staff rather than the customers!

[Hiroyuki]

Then you two must be very fluent in Japanese. I suspect that those for whom Japanese is a foreign language may not discern the difference between regular, everyday words from those jargon terms (unless they are properly instructed).

[Hiroyuki]

Those of you who are not familiar with sushi jargon may find the following link useful:

http://homepage3.nifty.com/maryy/eng/eng.htm

If you just read the following article, you will know why I hate traditional sushi shops:

http://202.221.217.59/print/features/edu20...k20040624ks.htm

[Hiroyuki]

Another sushi shop-related topic.

Can you tolerate the jika (current price) system, which is still practiced by some traditional sushi shops?

Do you have this system in your native country?

I can never tolerate it, and this is one big reason why I avoid traditional sushi shops.

[melonpan]

Another sushi shop-related topic.

Can you tolerate the jika (current price) system, which is still practiced by some traditional sushi shops?

Do you have this system in your native country?

I can never tolerate it, and this is one big reason why I avoid traditional sushi shops.

in the united states a lot of restaurants that feature seafood do this, particularly with crab and other kinds of fish. i dont know too well about this because i never ordered anything other than the usual menu items.

also a lot of chinese restaurants do this too with the seafood dishes.

[smallworld]

Jika could be better translated as "market price". Yes, it's common in other countries too. It makes a lot of sense, and I don't mind it at all (not that I eat at that kind of place all the time though). After all, the price of wild food changes much more than farmed food.

Places with fixed prices don't neccessarily offer better value, they could be making a huge profit. They are also more likely to used farmed seafood.

[smallworld]

I can't stand traditional snobby sushi shops. My husband has been yelled at in one of these places, and the only time I've been to one the chef was extremely condescending to me. He seemed convinced that I'd be better off at McDonalds.

However, there are a lot of bad kaiten-zushi places too. Of the dozens I've been to, there are only about three I'd go back to. I prefer the middle ground- neighborhood sushi shops that serve good sushi, minus inflated prices, snobbery, and conveyor belts. I'm lucky to have a great place nearby (already introduced it in another thread), and I also like the shops around Tsukiji.

As for the lingo, I do avoid terms like "murasaki" and "gari", as they sound rather pretentious. But I see nothing wrong with "shari" and "neta". How can you avoid them, other than not talking (which is not an option at our local sushi shop, whose chef's only fault is his non-stop chatter)? Are there other Japanese words for "sushi rice" and "sushi topping"?

[Hiroyuki]

OK, thanks, everyone.

My point is that it's OK if they want to stick to jika for some reason or other, but if so, I want to know what each item costs before I order it. Whey can't they put up a board or something that clearly indicates the price of each item on that day?

The probable reason is that they are arrogant, looking down on customers, and they never ever try to understand what customer satisfaction is.