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Comment by NikolaeVarius | Hacker News Reader

I always found the cognitive dissonance interesting when people claim the best sushi is never frozen, while simultaneously ignoring the fact that even at places like Tsukiji Fish market, all the fish that is being offloaded from the boats is all obviously frozen.

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In many places the 'best sushi' is not even legal. For example, EU regulations state that fish to be consumed raw must have been deep frozen (-20 C or lower) for at least 24 hours prior to consumption, to kill any potential parasites.

This also means you can never eat 'fresh sushi'.

After reading this story, I would never want any raw sushi:

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/alberta-man-gets-...

Or any of these: 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8_sF7kAnqY costco 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM4RNIAnv5s costco (in store) 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL9CVDEkDt0 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yfJ88R2lI4 Flash-freezing is utterly essential, especially with present sea conditions; however, I don't eat any fish raw anymore, frozen nor fresh.

  > Raw farm-fed salmon and saltwater fish such as tuna are
  > generally safe to eat,

I'm surprised by this. The amount of chemicals used to keep farmed fish free of parasites must be insane. I've never made sushi myself, but if I did I'd only use wild tuna as, AFAIU, it has the lowest parasite load.

At what point does fish cooling on ice become frozen?

I went to the tuna auction at Tsukiji a while back.. massive frozen tuna https://paulstamatiou.com/photos/japan/japan-day-5/

OT, but I had no idea tuna were that big.

Even more OT, but if you like sushi, the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi lightly touches on the entire process of making sushi in a Tokyo restaurant along with the story of a family restaurant. Then if you liked that, there is a touching and gentle mockumentary about it called Juan Likes Rice and Chicken.

I've known for a couple of years now that tuna are big but I grew up thinking tuna was a small sardine sized fish. It probably was due to the fact I never see whole tuna at fish markets (probably too big to sell the entire fish) and it comes canned.

This is the current average size of tuna now, from what I gather. The average size 50 years back was much bigger. In 1979 a guy caught a bluefin of around 1,500 lbs. Tuna are big fish.

Yep. And expensive. The value of the inventory in that room is probably on par with the average luxury car dealer.

LOL Some tuna are huge. My biggest was a little over 600 pounds. I didn't keep it. The captain, crew, and I sold it down in Portland, ME. We then partied with the money.

A very, very common misconception.

They're also incredibly fast (45mph), agile, and one of the apex predators of the ocean. They are also warm-blooded.

OT, as well, but this is a fantastic resource you've compiled, well done! My wife and I are finalizing our trip to Japan for 3 weeks this December and I am taking some notes based on your posts here for places that went past our radar!

There are plenty of fish in the market that aren't frozen. It seems you're only thinking of the tuna.

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