I currently work in a high end Omakase restaurant and we do this. But our fish is shipped and served fresh. Never frozen aside from some wild caught items that we have a -60°C freezer for.
Prior to the current place, most fish come either farmed or frozen and so parasites are less of an issue.
My understanding was that it had to be frozen. To kill the parasites. Like not by you. But by your vendor. They do a rapid extremely old freeze thaw it back out and then sell it to you. I’m also assuming you are in the US.
Yeah I thought I read that commercial sushi grade fish is always flash frozen very soon after catching in a super cold freezer to preserve freshness and to kill parasites
US law, primarily through FDA guidelines, mandates freezing fish for parasite destruction if served raw or undercook. I mean jail type stuff if you serve it.
You can apply for variances to do something a certain way but it's a rigorous process. You have document exactly how it's done, prove it works (companies have used lab testing and I have no idea how that works in this situation) and lots of documentation that this is followed exactly. You submit for your variance to get approved by your local health Dept. Then during inspections you have to demonstrate you know the process and show your documentation that you follow it exactly.
In my job I have to ensure my franchisee's know and understand the variance that we use and the proper documentation in the sushi industry. It's no where as complicated as this process for parasites though.
Also everyone about the freezing and parasites are correct, we have documentation just about parasite destruction from our vendors
For 90+% of places I'd agree. High end shops here and abroad though meticulously vet ( approved vendors, quality checks, UV lights etc.) our product so we can serve fresh seasonal ingredients.
Like 100s of people in NA get sick from oysters and I'd wager that people who develop parasites from sushi are well below 1% of that number.
To all the commentators, I'm not sure about US regulations, but here in Canada, our vendor ships direct from Japan overnight. Never frozen. Some of our stuff such as Kuruma ebi (Japanese tiger shrimps) even come in live, packed in sawdust.
Primarily farmed fish as Canada doesn't allow many wild fish imports.
And yes I'm sure. I've been in sushi making for over 20 years.
My title was poorly worded. In regards to food safety, I care about worms. I just didn't care to discuss them. I'm aware of their presence and how to navigate them. I was more interested in the water cleaning concept as this was the part that was new to me.
Are you US based? FDA Food Code (3-402.11-12) requires freezing at different temps (depending on length of time frozen) either by the supplier or the establishment to kill off parasites. There are exemptions for certain types of tuna and aquaculture fish raised under certain conditions (like salmon).
I'm assuming it's an American thing, in Canada it's only a recommendation, but not mandatory and our fresh fish are flown in overnight direct from Japan.
Don't know about the cleaning process, but you should absolutely care about the worms.
Fish used for sushi in the USA is normally frozen at a very low temperature in a commercial freezer (home fridges don't go low enough) to kill off parasites like worms.
The "fresh" sushi served in restaurants comes from the thawed frozen fish.
It's not uncommon for dedicated freezers you can buy as a regular consumer to be able to go to a low enough temperature (-20C and below), but for sure the small ones that are just part of a fridge usually won't go that low, plus they will have an auto deicing
I'll preface this by saying that I've worked in the seafood industry both in wholesale and in restaurants for 20+ years.
There is actually no regulatory body overseeing what is and isn't "sushi grade" fish in the United States. When people use the term it generally means the fish has been frozen at low enough temps to kill off parasites, and that is what the large majority of markets and restaurants will do, but there is no set standard practice or regulatory body policing this in the US.
Thank you, I wish more people knew this and understood the supply chain better. They can downvote my comments all day but the fact is there are not really rules. I also was in restaurants and am now in food distribution. The only rules we ever had to abide by were providing parasite destruction letters about what the salmon were fed so we could serve it “under cooked”.
Not all farmed fish in the US are given antibiotics or fed “antiparasitic food”. In open sea farming, we try to use natural remedies over antibiotics, like introducing cohabitating fish that eat parasites off the product fish. The risk of introducing antibiotics into a natural environment creates a massive regulatory hurdle and many permitting agencies won’t allow it. Only certain chemical treatments are allowed for these open systems, but the cost and time required to implement often makes it not worth it.
Nope. I got tuna from the coast that was a day out of water and salmon from Maine that was never frozen. We have parasite destruction letters for the salmon from our purveyors so that it doesn’t have to be frozen. Good tuna is never frozen.
If it’s legally sold in a restaurant, it’s been frozen in some fashion. Key word is legally.
I’ve also had experience in putting swordfish steaks on a light table and pulling worms manually. One reason why I always skip any rolls or crudo that advertise swordfish
Yeah, I'm just googling and sharing what I find so I actually have little knowledge about this other than what I've been told, but one place I looked actually said that most fish is flash frozen "except certain kinds of tuna"
Incorrect. They had an exemption for farmed Atlantic salmon that has been fed certified parasite free feed, but that exemption no longer exists. The FDA changed it.
So I guess what I'm saying is prove it. You should be able to find the exemption on the FDA's website.
They are ALWAYS frozen or flash frozen if they are intended to be eaten raw. Source: FDA and EU Hygiene Laws. Exceptions only for specific aquacultured fish if scientifically justified.
OP says he doesnt care about the worm part of the video and every comment is only about the worm part of the video...
Most sushi restaurants do not do the water cleaning thing, at least not the ones i've worked at. if you did this with whole fish wouldn't the pressurized water (and the blood) just mess up the meat?
If you’re interested, I’ve never used the water jet but used this method before. Normally it’s done starting with a live fish. You sever the spine in two spots with your knife: at the base of the head and the end of the tail. Right after these cuts are made, I use a metal wire-like instrument and shove it down the spinal column to remove the clump of nerves and blood in the spinal column (that’s what you see in the middle of the video). Doing this prevents rigor mortis from setting in and changing the texture of the fish. You then let the fish finish quickly bleeding out of the severed arteries which also improves the quality of the product before continuing processing
I would think you would still have to worry about the eggs, unless it's been frozen and they are just doing it to get rid of any dead ones. Still weird though.
Never seen that before in the US, might be some weird tiktok shit.
Regarding other comments talking about freezing, there are time/temp parameters for inactivating parasites/eggs for raw consumption. There are also exemptions from freezing (properly aquacultured fish, and some species are exempt from freezing and aquaculture parameters [9 species of tuna, as well as molluscan shellfish])
The OP probably means you have eaten dead ones. Most fish that is served raw was frozen to a very cold temperature to kill any parasites. After that, eating them will not harm you.
We saw pollock cleaned when we were fishing for salmon in Alaska, and those are the fish that are used to make surimi (krab), fish sticks, McDonald's Filet-o-fish, and many other common products. If you had any of these, I can assure you that you have eaten a LOT of worms without ever noticing them. I have heard that cod and swordfish are also particularly high in the worm department.
My title was poorly worded. In regards to food safety, I care about worms. I just didn't care to discuss them. I'm aware of their presence and how to navigate them. I was more interested in the water cleaning concept as this was the part that was new to me.
The water cleaning isn’t for parasites. They’re removing the blood and nerves from the spinal column. It’s also normally done literally right after you kill the fish, not when it’s already a filet.
Correct, I think this was done on the skeleton just so it could be observed for video.
I've always done it on whole fish after the tail and head have been removed for purposes of aging and longevity.
Ikejime is normally done right after killing the fish, before it’s processed and is used to prevent blood from tainting the fish while also preventing the fish from going through the process of rigor mortis, keeping the flesh more tender. It doesn’t have anything to do with parasites and I’ve never seen parasites being flushed out of the spinal column while doing this. What you see in the middle of the video are the nerves in the spinal column being flushed out, not parasites. The end of the video shows actual parasites.
I’ve also only ever used an old school metal wire for nerve removal; this water jet tech is new to me. Also, I personally don’t see a reason to do this when the fish is already broken down.
Every single fish has worms. That is why every single fish is first frozen before sold in a super market, at least in the USA. I've heard you don't actually have to use "sushi grade" fish to make sushi at home. But I'm not brave enough.
No. The rate of anisakis infections is higher in places that regularly consume raw fish. A lot of people value fresh, never frozen fish and so those people are more prone to infections.
There was an episode of Bourdain's Parts Unknown where a Michelin star sushi chef says that he likes the texture of rapidly frozen fish better, and that fresher doesn't mean better for sushi
You’re bringing a couple different aspects to what I was saying.
The biology of all fish eaten as sashimi are not the same. Especially between a hikarimono like Mackerel vs tuna. Saba and sanma when in season are definitely served not prefrozen here in Japan as are many other hikarimono. Also squid is a big carrier too. Maguro will have their own parasites but concerning anisakis, it rarely makes it into the muscle (I guess the high heat generated by tuna makes it generally difficult for them to survive). Also, even in Japan tuna are flash frozen. So while the number of anisakis incidences will definitely increase with more raw fish consumers, the risk per bite differs drastically too. I for one was taken to a sushi spot by a senpai ex colleague. A place he highly recommended it wasn’t ultra high end but he said they punched above their weight. And the fish was all good but as we were talking, an anisakis started worming out of cut of sardine. I was able to quickly cover it with a piece of ginger before he saw it and it happened to be the last piece in the set. Avoided some awkwardness there. Just saying that there are definitely some live ones here.
Which brings me to
Sure Anthony Bourdain got a couple michelin chefs but that does not reflect the preparation choices of all or probably not even close to the majority of sushi chefs in Japan who all have varying ways to prepare and age fish depending on multiple factors like their personal style, size of the specimen and season. I haven’t watched that Anthony Bourdain clip but it would also be important what fish they were talking about or were they specifically saying all fish.
The short of it: It's up to the fishmonger. It's not a regulated term. It generally means it's their highest quality fish and that it's suitable for eating raw.
If in the US, many fish served raw will be frozen according to FDA Food Code (3-402.11-12) in order to kill off parasites. There are exceptions for certain tuna, as well as aquaculture fish that meet the standards to be considered "parasite free".
Watch a few episodes of Monsters Inside Me will change your tune. Especially the one where a guy woke up in the middle of the and went to the bathroom, halfway there he felt something slapping his leg...it was a 10 foot tapeworm.
I currently work in a high end Omakase restaurant and we do this. But our fish is shipped and served fresh. Never frozen aside from some wild caught items that we have a -60°C freezer for.
Prior to the current place, most fish come either farmed or frozen and so parasites are less of an issue.
My understanding was that it had to be frozen. To kill the parasites. Like not by you. But by your vendor. They do a rapid extremely old freeze thaw it back out and then sell it to you. I’m also assuming you are in the US.
Yeah I thought I read that commercial sushi grade fish is always flash frozen very soon after catching in a super cold freezer to preserve freshness and to kill parasites
There are no hard rules, only recommendations.
Which is why there's usually a 'risks of raw food' warnings on the menu.
There are very very much hard rules
1030-1200_Retail_Sushi-as-a-Special-Process-in-the-Food-Code-Thomas-W.-Nerney.pdf https://share.google/pTvb41PlI8tKsP0yi
ServSafe Study Guide 1-30-2024.pdf https://share.google/X2iHPsY6t7wSEkPDs
There are absolutely hard rules to food safety and preparation in commercial settings. Like... legally.
US law, primarily through FDA guidelines, mandates freezing fish for parasite destruction if served raw or undercook. I mean jail type stuff if you serve it.
You can apply for variances to do something a certain way but it's a rigorous process. You have document exactly how it's done, prove it works (companies have used lab testing and I have no idea how that works in this situation) and lots of documentation that this is followed exactly. You submit for your variance to get approved by your local health Dept. Then during inspections you have to demonstrate you know the process and show your documentation that you follow it exactly.
In my job I have to ensure my franchisee's know and understand the variance that we use and the proper documentation in the sushi industry. It's no where as complicated as this process for parasites though.
Also everyone about the freezing and parasites are correct, we have documentation just about parasite destruction from our vendors
I'm based in Canada. Here it's considered a recommendation but not mandatory.
Canada actually, our fish come flown in overnight from Japan. Never frozen.
https://www.bccdc.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Educational Materials/EH/FPS/Fish/SushiSafety.pdf
wf-eh-guidelines-for-sushi-prep.pdf https://share.google/o8e8tULJDvgfuEotg
Aw man we got a link fight. You win though cause yours works
Lmao win by technicality 🤣
This is the usda rule.
Thankfully I'm not in the US.
I guess. It’s kind of a good rule.
For 90+% of places I'd agree. High end shops here and abroad though meticulously vet ( approved vendors, quality checks, UV lights etc.) our product so we can serve fresh seasonal ingredients. Like 100s of people in NA get sick from oysters and I'd wager that people who develop parasites from sushi are well below 1% of that number.
To all the commentators, I'm not sure about US regulations, but here in Canada, our vendor ships direct from Japan overnight. Never frozen. Some of our stuff such as Kuruma ebi (Japanese tiger shrimps) even come in live, packed in sawdust. Primarily farmed fish as Canada doesn't allow many wild fish imports.
And yes I'm sure. I've been in sushi making for over 20 years.
I figured you weren't American because you came off very well informed and that would not be legal in America.
Mhhm fresh kuruma ebi. Where is this magical place
My title was poorly worded. In regards to food safety, I care about worms. I just didn't care to discuss them. I'm aware of their presence and how to navigate them. I was more interested in the water cleaning concept as this was the part that was new to me.
Yes we do that to remove all the blood from inside the bones, keeps the fish fresher tasting longer and more suitable for aging techniques
Thanks! I appreciate the response.
I refuse to read your many responses which say you are in Canada and am about to tell you that the fish, by U.S. law, must be frozen.
Right??
Truly like why does anyone go on these threads if they aren’t planning to read.
Also you have to freeze them fyi by law in the US just so you know. /s
-60 C? That is like Midwest in January cold. Holy Cannoli.
Flash freezers are the best for the items we do have to freeze, almost no loss of quality upon defrosting.
Are you US based? FDA Food Code (3-402.11-12) requires freezing at different temps (depending on length of time frozen) either by the supplier or the establishment to kill off parasites. There are exemptions for certain types of tuna and aquaculture fish raised under certain conditions (like salmon).
Not US. I'm in Canada
Hmmm, you sure about that?
I'm assuming it's an American thing, in Canada it's only a recommendation, but not mandatory and our fresh fish are flown in overnight direct from Japan.
You're very patient to answer this question 10 times haha
Haha I just assume people don't read the thread and instantly react.
Um, don't they have to be flash frozen?
Maybe in the US, but not Canada, our stuff is flown direct from Japan overnight.
Sushi fish in Japan is frozen.
Some yes, but not all. mostly for Kaitenzushi restaurants.
Don't know about the cleaning process, but you should absolutely care about the worms.
Fish used for sushi in the USA is normally frozen at a very low temperature in a commercial freezer (home fridges don't go low enough) to kill off parasites like worms.
The "fresh" sushi served in restaurants comes from the thawed frozen fish.
If you eat raw fish that wasn't frozen (or wasn't frozen properly), you can get infected by worms like this guy: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/19/579130873/man-pulls-5-1-2-foot-long-tapeworm-out-of-his-body-blames-sushi-habit
It's not uncommon for dedicated freezers you can buy as a regular consumer to be able to go to a low enough temperature (-20C and below), but for sure the small ones that are just part of a fridge usually won't go that low, plus they will have an auto deicing
False. Not all fish is flash frozen. Wild fish generally is and farmed fish generally is not.
All sushi fish in the US is frozen, from my understanding. It's regulatory.
I'll preface this by saying that I've worked in the seafood industry both in wholesale and in restaurants for 20+ years.
There is actually no regulatory body overseeing what is and isn't "sushi grade" fish in the United States. When people use the term it generally means the fish has been frozen at low enough temps to kill off parasites, and that is what the large majority of markets and restaurants will do, but there is no set standard practice or regulatory body policing this in the US.
Thank you, I wish more people knew this and understood the supply chain better. They can downvote my comments all day but the fact is there are not really rules. I also was in restaurants and am now in food distribution. The only rules we ever had to abide by were providing parasite destruction letters about what the salmon were fed so we could serve it “under cooked”.
Interesting, thanks
Wild yes AFAIK. Farmed no, theyre fed anti parasitic food.
Not all farmed fish in the US are given antibiotics or fed “antiparasitic food”. In open sea farming, we try to use natural remedies over antibiotics, like introducing cohabitating fish that eat parasites off the product fish. The risk of introducing antibiotics into a natural environment creates a massive regulatory hurdle and many permitting agencies won’t allow it. Only certain chemical treatments are allowed for these open systems, but the cost and time required to implement often makes it not worth it.
Nope. I got tuna from the coast that was a day out of water and salmon from Maine that was never frozen. We have parasite destruction letters for the salmon from our purveyors so that it doesn’t have to be frozen. Good tuna is never frozen.
Good (commercially caught) tuna is almost always flash frozen on the ship.
You do not want tuna that has not been flash frozen.
If it’s legally sold in a restaurant, it’s been frozen in some fashion. Key word is legally.
I’ve also had experience in putting swordfish steaks on a light table and pulling worms manually. One reason why I always skip any rolls or crudo that advertise swordfish
Eating non-flash frozen salmon sounds like an absolute fuck no from me personally.
Yeah, I'm just googling and sharing what I find so I actually have little knowledge about this other than what I've been told, but one place I looked actually said that most fish is flash frozen "except certain kinds of tuna"
Like he said, farmed fish isn't always.
Incorrect. They had an exemption for farmed Atlantic salmon that has been fed certified parasite free feed, but that exemption no longer exists. The FDA changed it.
So I guess what I'm saying is prove it. You should be able to find the exemption on the FDA's website.
My limited understanding is that the fish is always frozen to kill the parasites and nasties
Update: To clarify, my limited understanding is also limited to the USA
Not always.
They are ALWAYS frozen or flash frozen if they are intended to be eaten raw. Source: FDA and EU Hygiene Laws. Exceptions only for specific aquacultured fish if scientifically justified.
Second “parasite” is a spinal cord.
OP says he doesnt care about the worm part of the video and every comment is only about the worm part of the video...
Most sushi restaurants do not do the water cleaning thing, at least not the ones i've worked at. if you did this with whole fish wouldn't the pressurized water (and the blood) just mess up the meat?
If you’re interested, I’ve never used the water jet but used this method before. Normally it’s done starting with a live fish. You sever the spine in two spots with your knife: at the base of the head and the end of the tail. Right after these cuts are made, I use a metal wire-like instrument and shove it down the spinal column to remove the clump of nerves and blood in the spinal column (that’s what you see in the middle of the video). Doing this prevents rigor mortis from setting in and changing the texture of the fish. You then let the fish finish quickly bleeding out of the severed arteries which also improves the quality of the product before continuing processing
I would think you would still have to worry about the eggs, unless it's been frozen and they are just doing it to get rid of any dead ones. Still weird though.
To be sashimi grade, the fist must have been frozen within the first 24 hours and frozen for a total of 48 hours to kill any parasites.
In! The United! States!
In! The majority! Of the! Western world! Even! In Japan! All but the most! Traditional restaurants! Will freeze there! Sashimi to kill! Parasites!
Ooo I liked that
Thanks it took me ages 🤣
Never seen that before in the US, might be some weird tiktok shit.
Regarding other comments talking about freezing, there are time/temp parameters for inactivating parasites/eggs for raw consumption. There are also exemptions from freezing (properly aquacultured fish, and some species are exempt from freezing and aquaculture parameters [9 species of tuna, as well as molluscan shellfish])
If you've had fish, you've had worms.
Would our stomachs digest them?
The OP probably means you have eaten dead ones. Most fish that is served raw was frozen to a very cold temperature to kill any parasites. After that, eating them will not harm you.
Dead, yes. They pose no health risk if dead. It's standard practice to deep-freeze wild-caught fish to kill parasites.
Just take mebendaze
We saw pollock cleaned when we were fishing for salmon in Alaska, and those are the fish that are used to make surimi (krab), fish sticks, McDonald's Filet-o-fish, and many other common products. If you had any of these, I can assure you that you have eaten a LOT of worms without ever noticing them. I have heard that cod and swordfish are also particularly high in the worm department.
My title was poorly worded. In regards to food safety, I care about worms. I just didn't care to discuss them. I'm aware of their presence and how to navigate them. I was more interested in the water cleaning concept as this was the part that was new to me.
The water cleaning isn’t for parasites. They’re removing the blood and nerves from the spinal column. It’s also normally done literally right after you kill the fish, not when it’s already a filet.
Correct, I think this was done on the skeleton just so it could be observed for video. I've always done it on whole fish after the tail and head have been removed for purposes of aging and longevity.
Ikejime is normally done right after killing the fish, before it’s processed and is used to prevent blood from tainting the fish while also preventing the fish from going through the process of rigor mortis, keeping the flesh more tender. It doesn’t have anything to do with parasites and I’ve never seen parasites being flushed out of the spinal column while doing this. What you see in the middle of the video are the nerves in the spinal column being flushed out, not parasites. The end of the video shows actual parasites.
I’ve also only ever used an old school metal wire for nerve removal; this water jet tech is new to me. Also, I personally don’t see a reason to do this when the fish is already broken down.
Every single fish has worms. That is why every single fish is first frozen before sold in a super market, at least in the USA. I've heard you don't actually have to use "sushi grade" fish to make sushi at home. But I'm not brave enough.
I've made sushi at home, anything you buy in stores is fine. I just wouldn't use fish I caught for obvious reasons.
>Every single fish has worms.
This is true for wild-caught fish, but not for farm-raised fish.
>I've heard you don't actually have to use "sushi grade" fish to make sushi at home. But I'm not brave enough.
"Sushi Grade" isn't really a controlled term... so yeah. If it's previously frozen and stored properly, then it's reasonably low-risk.
Never
Im tempted to start taking a UV light with me when I go out for sushi
I was considering sushi ….guessing it’s gonna be pizza later
Toss some chovies on that pie and call it a day
We call them John bon-chovies in my kitchen
They don’t flash freeze in Japan so this necessary especially for certain fish that are more prone to having anisakis.
No. The rate of anisakis infections is higher in places that regularly consume raw fish. A lot of people value fresh, never frozen fish and so those people are more prone to infections.
There was an episode of Bourdain's Parts Unknown where a Michelin star sushi chef says that he likes the texture of rapidly frozen fish better, and that fresher doesn't mean better for sushi
You’re bringing a couple different aspects to what I was saying.
Which brings me to
All sushi fish is flash frozen to like -15⁰ or something.
But ALL fish has worms.
Just looked it up... It's actually -70⁰!
You don’t care about worms until you find them in your food
I'm going to jump in with a question. What makes 'sushi grade' fish? If Ahi is frozen, *(after reading your comments) then it's safe to have raw?
Sushi grade fish means nothing. Its not a regulated term.
>What makes 'sushi grade' fish?
https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-prepare-raw-fish-at-home-sushi-sashimi-food-safety
The short of it: It's up to the fishmonger. It's not a regulated term. It generally means it's their highest quality fish and that it's suitable for eating raw.
If in the US, many fish served raw will be frozen according to FDA Food Code (3-402.11-12) in order to kill off parasites. There are exceptions for certain tuna, as well as aquaculture fish that meet the standards to be considered "parasite free".
when i was commercial fishing, some boats use this method before freezing, i think freezer trollers did this. its not uncommon
Watch a few episodes of Monsters Inside Me will change your tune. Especially the one where a guy woke up in the middle of the and went to the bathroom, halfway there he felt something slapping his leg...it was a 10 foot tapeworm.
“I don’t care about the worms” says man who’s clearly never had worms