I'm a sushi virgin. I used to work in a microbiology/virology/parasitology
lab many years ago, and certain samples turned me off raw fish, for life, I
thought. Then comes along my housemate who is a sushi diva. So I'm
thinking, maybe I should give it a shot, expand my horizons, stop living
with my (irrational?) fear. She recommends a sushi joint with which she's
been happy. Now here's the prob: I looked up it's inspection report which
indicates "major violations. 1) ws absence of thermometer in the sushi
display and in the reach-in refrigerator. There were also violations for
improper sanitizer concentration/method. =:-o Apparently these violations
have been fixed, and the restaurant has been given a green "pass" placard.

My question to you is, at what temp should raw fish be kept? If (this is a
rather big if!) I go to the restaurant, I want to see that thermometer with
mine own 2 peepers and I want its reading to be within the safety zone.

What say ye, sushi afficionados?

TammyM

TammyM wrote:
>
> I'm a sushi virgin. I used to work in a microbiology/virology/parasitology
> lab many years ago, and certain samples turned me off raw fish, for life, I
> thought. Then comes along my housemate who is a sushi diva. So I'm
> thinking, maybe I should give it a shot, expand my horizons, stop living
> with my (irrational?) fear. She recommends a sushi joint with which she's
> been happy. Now here's the prob: I looked up it's inspection report which
> indicates "major violations. 1) ws absence of thermometer in the sushi
> display and in the reach-in refrigerator. There were also violations for
> improper sanitizer concentration/method. =:-o Apparently these violations
> have been fixed, and the restaurant has been given a green "pass" placard.
>
> My question to you is, at what temp should raw fish be kept? If (this is a
> rather big if!) I go to the restaurant, I want to see that thermometer with
> mine own 2 peepers and I want its reading to be within the safety zone.
>
> What say ye, sushi afficionados?
>
> TammyM

Invest in a pocket IR thermometer. Even Radio Scrap has them these days
for <$50.

I'd expect the proper storage temp would be ~37 degrees, just like your
refrigerator, with the immediate prep area where the fish doesn't spend
much time just being "cold".

Honestly the whole sushi safety thing is mostly a bunch of bunk. Any
place that doesn't take reasonable care to maintain quality and safety
will be out of business in short order regardless of inspections.

Pete C.

TammyM > wrote:
>I'm a sushi virgin. I used to work in a microbiology/virology/parasitology
>lab many years ago, and certain samples turned me off raw fish, for life, I
>thought. Then comes along my housemate who is a sushi diva. So I'm
>thinking, maybe I should give it a shot, expand my horizons, stop living
>with my (irrational?) fear. She recommends a sushi joint with which she's
>been happy. Now here's the prob: I looked up it's inspection report which
>indicates "major violations. 1) ws absence of thermometer in the sushi
>display and in the reach-in refrigerator. There were also violations for
>improper sanitizer concentration/method. =:-o Apparently these violations
>have been fixed, and the restaurant has been given a green "pass" placard.

Pfft.

Those things happen everywhere.

If it's a real sushi bar, i.e., if the guy behind the
bar is an old Japanese immigrant, then you have little to
worry about.

But if it's a bunch of Korean kids and Mexicans, find
a good sushi bar.

>My question to you is, at what temp should raw fish be kept? If (this is a
>rather big if!) I go to the restaurant, I want to see that thermometer with
>mine own 2 peepers and I want its reading to be within the safety zone.
>
>What say ye, sushi afficionados?

There should be ice cubes under the trays in that case
and ice crystals forming on the refrigerator element in
the top of the window.

The door is opened and closed constantly, so you can't
really trust what the thermometer says. The fish will
be in a different spot with different airflow, but low,
so when the door closes, the cold air surrounds the fish
first and not the thermometer.

--Blair

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 13:17:08 -0800, "TammyM" >
wrote:

>My question to you is, at what temp should raw fish be kept? If (this is a
>rather big if!) I go to the restaurant, I want to see that thermometer with
>mine own 2 peepers and I want its reading to be within the safety zone.
>
>What say ye, sushi afficionados?


When I see unprepared sashimi (I only order sashimi tuna) it's always
on ice and most likely has some sort of refrigeration going under the
glass too. I've never asked about that, so I don't know.

--
See return address to reply by email

In article >,
says...
> I'm a sushi virgin. I used to work in a microbiology/virology/parasitology
> lab many years ago, and certain samples turned me off raw fish, for life, I
> thought. Then comes along my housemate who is a sushi diva. So I'm
> thinking, maybe I should give it a shot, expand my horizons, stop living
> with my (irrational?) fear. She recommends a sushi joint with which she's
> been happy. Now here's the prob: I looked up it's inspection report which
> indicates "major violations. 1) ws absence of thermometer in the sushi
> display and in the reach-in refrigerator. There were also violations for
> improper sanitizer concentration/method. =:-o Apparently these violations
> have been fixed, and the restaurant has been given a green "pass" placard.
>
> My question to you is, at what temp should raw fish be kept? If (this is a
> rather big if!) I go to the restaurant, I want to see that thermometer with
> mine own 2 peepers and I want its reading to be within the safety zone.
>
> What say ye, sushi afficionados?
>
> TammyM
>
>
>

Restaurants have to follow specific regulations, but at home there's
just one principle - keep it as cold as you can without freezing.

By the way, "sushi" does not mean raw fish, although some sushi includes
raw fish. Sushi is the vinegared rice. The term for raw fish served by
itself is sashimi.


--
Peter Aitken

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 07:46:06 -0500, Peter A >
wrote:
<snip my own stuff>
>> What say ye, sushi afficionados?
>>
>> TammyM
>>
>>
>>
>
>Restaurants have to follow specific regulations, but at home there's
>just one principle - keep it as cold as you can without freezing.
>
>By the way, "sushi" does not mean raw fish, although some sushi includes
>raw fish. Sushi is the vinegared rice. The term for raw fish served by
>itself is sashimi.

See, this is why you need you lot! I've made sushi rolls with nori,
but raw fish? Not yet. We'll see.

TammyM

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 04:32:49 GMT, Blair P. Houghton > wrote:


>Pfft.
>
>Those things happen everywhere.
>
>If it's a real sushi bar, i.e., if the guy behind the
>bar is an old Japanese immigrant, then you have little to
>worry about.

Well I don't know how old he is, but the restaurant is a Japanese
family-run place. Been here for yonks. Kind of a hole-in-the-wall in
that it's not easy to find, and NOT flashy. Apparently the sushi bar
guy is both talented and charming, especially to kids. The kid part
worries me, I prefer (oh I know this is going to get me in trouble!)
to have as few ankle-biters in my dining area as possible.

<snip>

>>What say ye, sushi afficionados?
>
>There should be ice cubes under the trays in that case
>and ice crystals forming on the refrigerator element in
>the top of the window.
>
>The door is opened and closed constantly, so you can't
>really trust what the thermometer says.

Well I hadn't thought of that, that makes sense. And as long as it's
on ice. And I noticed inconsistencies in the inspection, leading me
to believe that someone needs to inspect the inspectors. I'm leaning
more and more toward getting over myself and giving it a try. Thanks
for your opinions everyone.

TammyM

TammyM wrote:
>
> On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 04:32:49 GMT, Blair P. Houghton > wrote:
>
> >Pfft.
> >
> >Those things happen everywhere.
> >
> >If it's a real sushi bar, i.e., if the guy behind the
> >bar is an old Japanese immigrant, then you have little to
> >worry about.
>
> Well I don't know how old he is, but the restaurant is a Japanese
> family-run place. Been here for yonks. Kind of a hole-in-the-wall in
> that it's not easy to find, and NOT flashy. Apparently the sushi bar
> guy is both talented and charming, especially to kids. The kid part
> worries me, I prefer (oh I know this is going to get me in trouble!)
> to have as few ankle-biters in my dining area as possible.

While I often detest kids in nice restaurants, I'm generally thrilled to
see parents bringing kids for sushi. Far too many ignorant parents only
feed their kids processed crap and that's much of the cause behind the
obesity epidemic. I also note that the parents who are "refined" enough
to bring their kids out for sushi also seem to have well behaved kids.

>
> <snip>
>
> >>What say ye, sushi afficionados?
> >
> >There should be ice cubes under the trays in that case
> >and ice crystals forming on the refrigerator element in
> >the top of the window.
> >
> >The door is opened and closed constantly, so you can't
> >really trust what the thermometer says.
>
> Well I hadn't thought of that, that makes sense. And as long as it's
> on ice. And I noticed inconsistencies in the inspection, leading me
> to believe that someone needs to inspect the inspectors. I'm leaning
> more and more toward getting over myself and giving it a try. Thanks
> for your opinions everyone.

Yes, health department inspections are very variable and standards vary
from town to town to city to county, inspector to inspector, etc. I only
trust the reports for ones that get an "F", otherwise I expect it's
mostly irrelevant nitpicking.

Pete C.

"TammyM" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 07:46:06 -0500, Peter A >
> wrote:
> <snip my own stuff>
>>> What say ye, sushi afficionados?
>>>
>>> TammyM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Restaurants have to follow specific regulations, but at home there's
>>just one principle - keep it as cold as you can without freezing.
>>
>>By the way, "sushi" does not mean raw fish, although some sushi includes
>>raw fish. Sushi is the vinegared rice. The term for raw fish served by
>>itself is sashimi.
>
> See, this is why you need you lot! I've made sushi rolls with nori,
> but raw fish? Not yet. We'll see.

It would be good if I posted AFTER my first cup of coffee! What I meant to
say is "this is why **I** need you lot".

Oi.

TammyM

TammyM > wrote:
>Well I hadn't thought of that, that makes sense. And as long as it's
>on ice. And I noticed inconsistencies in the [health] inspection, leading me
>to believe that someone needs to inspect the inspectors.

They get training, but really, it's a shitty, low-paid
government job involving being a prude about the way
plastic wrap is used.

I find it impossible to believe, with the hundreds of codes
available, that even one restaurant that gets a 0-violation
report it actually deserves; from that it's easy to induct
that no nonzero score is accurate except by luck.

The state sends out the watchers, and the watched do somewhat
better than if they weren't being watched, and "if it saves
one life it's all worth it," etc., etc.

--Blair