# Sushi chef style fish care



## Instigator (Jul 6, 2004)

As promised from the head/tail king thread here's the fish care/cleaning/storage thread. This will be lengthy so I'll break it into a couple or three posts. Probably the first things to consider are your personal tastes and styles. I think this diagnostic test will be a pretty reliable tool to help you decide whether to keep reading or move on to something else. If you go to the grocery cooler and look for the cheapest beer they have, then this will be a waste of time for you. On the other hand, if you're more likely to follow the Warsteiner slogan, "Life's too short to drink cheap beer," then all the Japanese style production will make a big difference to you. To be honest, the number of fish we have on the table goes a long way in determing whether I use traditional Texas slash and bag, do the full Japanese treatment or something in between. It just takes a lot longer Asian style. So you have some idea where all this blather is coming from, I acquired this information (it's wonderful party trivia!) from a combination of being an obsessive/compulsive fisherman like you guys for over 40 years, chasing advanced degrees in marine oriented science to a dissertation short of a Ph.D and about three years of informal apprenticeship under a master sushi chef. We traded, I taught him fishing and he tried to teach me the sushi biz.

For a sushi chef, thinking about dinner starts before the fish is hooked. Prepare your coffin with the smallest cubes available or even better, blown snow style ice. If you have larger cubes then it is best to make a saltwater slush by adding enough seawater (do this offshore, not in the harbor) so that it is easy to slide your fish in and submerge them as they are caught. I have read where some guys add rock salt to the mix to super cool it like we did on kegs in college, but when I tried that I ended up with frozen fish. The extra high salinity cools the water below the freezing point of the fish and that isn't what you want. The next consideration is using tackle that will bring the fish in as quickly as possible. Fish biochemistry differs from humans considerably, but they undergo anaerobic respiration in their muscles when in "fight or flight" mode just like we do. That means that the longer they are on the string, the more lactic acid buildup you get with a proportional loss in food quality. It's like the poorly shot deer that has strong tough venison, well similar anyway. OK, so we got the AJ at the boat. It's decision time. Do you really want to sink that gaff into the loin where it will hold, or into the belly where you won't lose loin but it might rip out? The sushi chef doesn't like either alternative. On an AJ (and most other fish) the loin above the backbone is the meat and potatoes part of the fish but the belly is like caviar and escargot all rolled into one, especially in tuna (you see it as toro at the sushi bar, the most expensive cut of tuna). So, you take your time and stick him under the throat latch (a bad idea on sharks, they tend to want to swim right up into the boat when you do that, jaws snapping). Open the coffin and swing the fish into the box in one motion. No posing for photos yet. The fish won't like the ice one bit as you know, but the slush will give and not provide him anything to bang against, which reduces bruising tremendously. It has the same benefit on the ride home if you're pounding into a chop. The slush also makes contact with the fish over 100% of its body and thus chills him a whole lot faster than cubes with air spaces between. As soon as you think the fish has chilled enough to be calm, but not dead, take him out and bleed him by cutting that throat latch right where it widens into the body. The fishes' heart lies right behind that cut and the biggest artery in the fish runs between the heart and gills so this will empty him fast if his heart is still beating. You'll conserve ice if you can bleed him out of the ice chest (I have a bait well by the box that drains out of the boat and it works great for this), but if you bleed him into the box it isn't critical. All fish benefit from this by the way, not just tuna, mackerel and sharks. It's more important on scombrids and sharks for various reasons. It's needed on tuna and billfish because they maintain their body temperature higher than their surroundings so bleeding removes heat fast, on mackerel because they are very bloody and will taste strong if you don't bleed them and on sharks because they carry urea in their blood to help balance that osmosis problem and it breaks down into really nasty ammonia-like compounds right after death. After you are satisfied that he is bled out gut him, but don't cut through the throat to the gills on bottom fish. That part is too valuable on snapper, grouper AJ's etc (more on that later). It's not such a big deal on pelagics. Once you have all this done slide the fish back into the slush so that the body is in a verticle swimming position with its head down like it is swimming for the bottom of the coffin. This allows any other loose body fluids to run out of the fish at your cuts instead of pooling in the meat and it helps to further reduce bruising on the way home. If you were really lucky and the fish was a beast that won't fit in the box, cut off the tail before the head. The tail meat is the least desireable on the fish. You'll notice that when you go on charters out of the country and ask for some fish to take to a restaurant or whatever, the mate will almost always give you the meat from behind the dorsal fin to the tail unless you specify otherwise. Those guys know what they're doing and they're gonna keep the best for themselves or to sell at a higher price. If you still have to remove the head (lucky you) then make double sure that you have either made a salt water slush or if you had crushed ice that the coffin is drain open for the rest of the trip. The meat above the backbone up by the head is the best block of meat on the fish (there are arguments on this between belly and loin men). It's not anatomically the same as the tenderloins on a deer but qualitatively they are analogous so you don't want it screwed up from freshwater ice melt. Freshwater contact can mess up your fish faster than anything else if you're not careful. Fish skin acts as a natural barrier to the evils of osmosis so as long as it is there you're OK. Expose the meat to that freshwater unprotected and within seconds freshwater runs into the cells and explodes them like overfilled water balloons. There goes your tasty fish, and how much did it cost per pound? OH MY! If you make a slush that has a similar salinity level to fish fluids, then the the power to the osmosis engine is cut off and your fish is safe. If a little melt dribbles over the fish on the way to the bottom and out the drain it's way better than having your fine cuisine soaking in it for hours. So that's what you would do with fish number one. Now repeat that process several more times until the box is full and head for the house. Next installment will be the saga of the cleaning table.


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## wishin4fishin (May 21, 2004)

Very interesting. would it be safe to assume that it's not a good idea to wash your fillets with tap water? (i.e. trout, redfish, flounder) If so, do you just wipe them clean with paper towels, etc.?

Scott


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## j.g. (Jun 3, 2004)

great info.... can't wait for the next post


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## Bret (May 21, 2004)

Thanks for the info.. keep it coming..


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## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

how bout breaking that into paragraphs to make it easier to read? 

Bayduck had an interesting post a long time ago on how to properly field dress a YFT for sushi grade meat. I'll try to find it.


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## CAPSIZED (Aug 10, 2004)

Excellent information Instigator, thank you. My fishing buddy was a commercial fisherman in Hawaii for years he said caring for the fish properly could mean a few dollars more per pound. Thats a lot when your talkin about a 100lb tuna. He believed getting the tuna in the boat fast was the most important part thats why he used a hand line. Thanks again for sharing that knowledge with us.


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## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

a hand line for tuna? I'd love to hear how to do that. I thought spearfishing them was brave.


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## CAPSIZED (Aug 10, 2004)

Yes a hand line a basket and a good pair of gloves. I didnt understand it until I saw him do it. He has also landed huge Marlin with hand line.


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## agulhas (Jul 27, 2004)

i have seen them handlined in south africa. the line is like 800lb and they are in the boat in no time.


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## Instigator (Jul 6, 2004)

*The Cleaning Table*

I'm glad you guys found the information interesting and I'll see if I can't make this one more reader friendly for speckle-catcher :biggrin:. Oh yeah, wishin4fishin, you're right. That's a bad idea and I'll cover it in the next installment.

It has been a long hot day of fishing and you're finally back at the dock with a box of fish. Now you can drain all the saltwater out of the box so you won't get a hernia lifting it out. We'll assume a perfect world here and you are able to get your fish to the table easily and there isn't anybody else anywhere around. As you approach the table a half dozen sleepy seagulls that have been roosting on the table take wing, each of them depositing a nice oyster sized glob of processed gull food right where you'll be cleaning you catch. _There are gulls even in a perfect world_. There are tap water hoses for you to rinse you catch and several lengths of 2X8 lumber to use as cutting boards.

Obviously, if you are thinking about eating your fish raw there are some things here that are unacceptable. The provided cutting boards have been in use for who knows how long and cleaned up with a minimum of care, if at all, for as long as they have been in use. The gulls have probably never left a deposit on them either, right? The point is, the cleaning table should only be used for the preliminary cleaning that you really don't want to do at home.

Step one is to decide how the fish will end up. Most of the time we don't even consider options other than fillets, but in the world of haute cuisine this is the least desireable form. Fish cleaned with skin and bone intact hold better, freeze better, give you more options later and if you cook them, they yield a much moister tastier product than boneless skinless fillets. Optimally all you do at the cleaning table is gut the fish if you didn't do it at sea, scale and rinse them. Even here you can make a difference though. Just take the fish out of the box and work on them one at a time and then put them back in the ice. You went to the trouble and expense of all that ice to keep your fish cold so don't waste it by piling the fish on the table to get hot while you work. You'll get some funny looks for scaling your fish, but it's a little like having numbers to a spot that nobody else has. Just smile and keep working. That's all you want to do here. Everything else occurs in a way more sanitary environment, like your kitchen.

The good news is that your fish are now in a kind of suspended animation in terms of quality and as long as you keep them vertically on drained ice, they will actually improve for three days. So, you can get all the rest of the chores done and rest up some before you become a bona fide fish butcher. I probably ought to explain that 'improve for three days' thing. The old saw, "Fish are best right out of the water", is a myth. Fish is protein just like lamb, beef, pork or venison and all those proteins benefit from aging as we all know. So why not fish? The molecular structure of fish protein is slightly different from mammals, but it still improves with proper handling. The fish need to be kept on ice, not in the refrigerator, and held in that same vertical position to allow draining. Tip the ice chest so that it drains most efficiently and add ice to keep the fish covered as necessary. Like this, fish improve to the end of the third day after capture and then hold there for 24 hours before beginning to decline in quality. If I haven't eaten the fish by the fifth day, they get frozen. This is an average for all fish. The process is slightly faster for dolphin and slower for snapper. Tuna are the benchmark for this system. Tuna sashimi right on the boat is good if you eat it still "dancing" with life, but if you wait until the fish is stiff before slicing, it will be the toughest sashimi you ever eat.

OK, that takes care of the cleaning table. Essentially, just use it for rough cleaning and then get out of Dodge. I'll tackle the kitchen angle next time.


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## outofcontrol (Aug 11, 2005)

The aging process of beef is bacteria actually breaking down the meat. The bacteria found on fish is totally different species, that fishy smell everyone thinks of when you smell rotting or dead fish is actually not the fish at all but the by-products (amines) of the bacteria's (for lack of a better term ) ingestion. So my question is how do you get good Fish aging with out the bad. Is it more a matter of letting the flesh rest? Thanks for info sounds like you have invested a lot of time to fiqure this out.


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## tropicalsun (May 21, 2004)

Good info. I was a charter captain in Hawaii for many years. I also spent many nights hand lining tuna...it's not as hard as you might think. The advice on 'brining" or "slushing" is the best advice you gave. We always used Hawaiian Sea Salt. 1/2 a cup or so in the fish box with ice. Keeps the fish real cold and gets them that way fast. I have never seen fish frozen from a brine and wonder how that is possible. Frankly, I was amazed at how poorly fish is treated here in Texas, and even worse in Venice. A little bit of preparation can go along ways towards fish quality. Personally, I never let fresh water touch my fish. My .02, and now I'm hungry!

Tight lines,
Tropicalsun

If anyone is interested in the handline set-up send me a pm and I will spell it out for you.


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## Snagged (May 21, 2004)

Thank you for the information.


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## Cat O' Lies (May 21, 2004)

One of the most important things to do to preserve tuna is to kill the nervous system. One way is to run mono down the spinal cord of the fish to destroy the nervous system instantly, otherwise the internal temp of the fish will rise and taint the meat. to access the spinal cord, a notch is cut out of the forehead at a 90 degree angle and the mono is inserted.


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## ReefDonkey (Jul 1, 2004)

Hey Instigator,


Why must the fish be kept on ice and not just in the fridge? What if you had the filets in baggies on ice? Thanks.


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

WOW, just cought this. I've been busy in the attic all weekend running AC to my garage.. 
Great info, Hope you don't mind if I cut/paste and print for later reference. Arlon.


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## drfishalot (Sep 9, 2004)

I am curious about the spinal cord thing also. read once that tuna in japan brings a higher price if the monofilament is sticking out of the "forehead" area where you cut the notch to insert it to "pith" the fish. 
this is interesting reading.
can you/do you scale tuna?


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## newman (May 21, 2004)

Why must the fish be kept on ice and not just in the fridge?

The average refrigerator is kept at 40-50 degrees. The maximum temperature for refrigeration is 39 degrees for all resturants and food suppliers (for poultry, beef, pork, lamb, fish, and shellfish) per the International Food Safety Council aka "Serve Safe". The max you can hold it is 7 days. If the temp is say 47 degrees you have cut the time to 2-3 days as you have increased your odds of getting food poisioning.

Keeping the fish on ice you have lowered the temp to about 33 degrees which is an ideal temp for aging meat.

What if you had the filets in baggies on ice? Thanks

Keep them submerged in ice.


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## ElJefe (Jun 1, 2004)

I'm Ready for the next segment.
jason


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## passed out (Oct 8, 2004)

*sushi quality*

i be in agreement with ELJefe--next chapter please. I guess this info rules out placing filets in ziploc and filling with tap water then freezing? Good stuff, thanks.


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## Bret (May 21, 2004)

Yeah, keep it coming.. I have a question about butchering tuna.. ie how to get the toro, which part is the best, which part gets chunked,etc..


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## Cat O' Lies (May 21, 2004)

http://www.spc.org.nc/coastfish/Sections/Development/FDSPublications/FDSManuals/HLL/HLL4s.pdf#search='bleeding%20tuna'


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## Argo (May 21, 2004)

When you add the salt to the ice it will actually get colder than standard H2O freezing point.


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## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

thanks CoL - that's the post I was thinking of earlier


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## Bret (May 21, 2004)

Cat, 
thanks for the link.. great info..


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## DavidG (Feb 28, 2005)

Thanks for that link. Lots of interesting info there.


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## Instigator (Jul 6, 2004)

*Chapter 3*

One the reasons I spend way more time on this board than I probably should is that I continually get to learn new stuff. There's a scientific theory (I forget the name) for coming up with new things after you have spent some time looking. You know how the learning curve is really steep whenever you first start something new like fishing offshore or learning a piece of software (I hate it when that happens) and then after a while more and more time passes between learning new things. That hasn't happened to me on this board. Everytime a thread opens up I'm learning something about rigging or outboards or oil rigs and this time I'm even learning things about something that I have researched enough to publish 3 magazine articles on. Thanks.

Regarding ice versus the refrigerator: Ice stays the same temperature, refrigerators do not. It might be a picky difference but remember that this is one of those Japanese precision things. Ice is just better. And then there's the plastic bags touching the fish thing. That is supposed to cause a problem due to lack of oxygen exchange, but I don't have any data to support it. Sushi chefs usually wrap their fish in paper and then plastic over that if necessary.

Regarding the bacteria breakdown aging thing: I wondered about that too but I never looked it up until now. The bacteria is only involved in creating the crust on the outside of dry aged meat. The tenderizing comes from enzymatic action on the actin/myosin complex muscle fibers (proteins breaking down other proteins). I couldn't find scientific studies on how this works with fish. Something for me to work on when I get the time. You guys will need to donate wahoo steaks (bone in of course) for my research to further the scientific benefit to mankind! Anyway I bet the same thing is going on there and it is enzymatic "relaxation" that makes tuna so buttery after 3 days on ice.

Regarding the toro vs the other parts: Technically it is otoro (an o in front of a word in Japanese indicates that it is the genuine, real deal), the loin is referred to as chutoro and the blood line is ami, which simply means red meat. Accessing the toro is relatively simple and I explain it below in the kitchen part of this post.

Regarding the pithing process: You guys totally got me on that one, I had never heard of it so I did a little snooping on a science/fishing board. I clipped the most revealing post and it follows in italics. I'm going to have to try it. To help with the science jargon for you guys who took biology too long ago, glycogen is the substance that is formed when an organism takes in more calories than it burns. It's like a fat precursor and its abundance elevates the quality of the meat. Interestingly, you'll notice that the majority of Mr. Howgate's references have Japanese authors.

Beginning of post........_In the discussion of this topic it is necessary to differentiate 'pithing'_
_and 'spiking'. Spiking, described in Ken's message, is the process of_
_destroying the brain by passing a spike through the skull into the brain._
_Pithing goes further than this and is the process of inserting a wire into_
_the spinal column of the fish to destroy the spinal cord either through the_

_skull after spiking or from a deep cut through the vertebral column behind_
_the head, described in the original message from Richard Lord. Spiking_
_renders the fish unconscious so that it does not struggle and a similar_
_effect is caused by giving the fish a hard blow to the head, a method of_
_stunning farmed salmon on harvesting. Though the fish is rendered_
_irreversibly unconscious by spiking of by stunning, all muscle activity_
_does_
_not cease. The muscle at least twitches, if not occasionally flaps. Pithing_

_stops all muscle activity. The various methods of killing fish, or letting_
_fish die, affects the time taken for the fish to enter rigor mortis, and to_

_some extent the time in rigor. I shall not try to summarise the_
_biochemistry_
_of the rigor process and the way the killing methods affects the_
_biochemistry, but pithing does maintain glycogen levels in the muscle as_
_Richard recalls. It should be noted that when different methods of_
_slaughtering fish are compared, all of the glycogen is ultimately converted_

_to lactic and the post rigor pHs of the flesh are the same; what is_
_different between the killing methods is the time course of the glycogen_
_depletion and lactic acid formation._

_Delaying the onset of rigor is important for some uses, for example, for_
_sushi products, and there is an advantage in pithing fish. For other_
_outlets, for example, production of fillets, there is no advantage, and_
_some_
_disadvantages, in delaying onset of rigor. Where the effects of killing_
_methods on subsequent spoilage have been studied, there has been no effect_
_of killing method on storage life._

_I had not come across the effect of spiking in reducing the time to cool_
_down described by Ken Hildebrand. I wonder if it the result of inhibiting_
_twitching of muscle and the consequent heat generation, or is there some_
_other effect on the biochemistry of the fish._

_I am intrigued by Peralta's message. How do you pith a cuttlefish, and what_

_aspect of quality is preserved?_

_Peter Howgate_

_Some references:_

_Amano, K., Bito, M. & Kawabata, T., 1953, Handling effects upon biochemical_

_change in the fish muscle immediately after catch I. Difference in_
_glycolysis in the frigate mackerel killed by various methods. Bulletin of_
_the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries, 19, 487-498._

_Ando, M., Banno, A., Haitani, M., Hirai, H., Nakagawa, T. & Makinodan, Y.,_
_1996, Influence on post-mortem rigor in fish body and muscular ATP_
_consumption by the destruction of spinal cord in several fishes. Fisheries_
_Science, 62, 796-799._

_Azam, K., Mackie, I.M. & Smith, J., 1989, The effect of slaughter method on_

_the quality of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) during storage in ice._
_International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 24, 69-79._

_Boyd, N.S., Wilson, N.D., Jerrett, A.R. & Hall, B.I , 1984, Effects of_
_brain_
_destruction on post harvest muscle metabolism in the fish kahawai (Arripis_
_trutta). Journal of Food Science, 49, 177-179._

_Iwamoto, M., Yamanaka, H., Abe, H., Ushio, H., Watabe, S. & Hashimoto, K.,_
_1988, ATP and creatine phosphate breakdown in spiked plaice muscle during_
_storage, and activities of some enzymes involved. Journal of Food Science,_
_53, 1662-1665_

_Jerrett, A.R. & Holland, A.J., 1998, Rigor tension development in excised_
_"rested", "partially exercised" and "exhausted" chinook salmon white_
_muscle._
_Journal of Food Science, 63, 48-52._

_Mochizuki, S. & Sato, A., 1996, Effects of various killing procedures on_
_post-mortem changes in the muscle of chub mackerel and round scad. Nippon_
_Suisan Gakkaishi, 62, 453-457._

_Nakayama, T., Matsuhisa, M., Yamaura, M., Sumiyoshiyama, T. & Ooi, A.,_
_1997,_
_Delayed example in rigor mortis of spinal cord destroyed plaice detected by_

_measurements of isotonic contraction and isometric tension. Fisheries_
_Science, 63, 830-834._

_Nakayama, T., Toyoda, T. & Ooi, A., 1996, Delay in rigor mortis of red_
_sea-bream by spinal cord destruction. Fisheries Science, 62, 478-479._

Enough old business, it's time we got to the kitchen.

The fish come out of the ice one at a time and get rinsed in tap water for the last time. Now they are thoroughly dried with paper towels. You'll be amazed at the difference in cutting up dry fish vs wet. Done right, you will not even feel the slightest urge to wash the meat. It will be cleaner than any you've done before. If you don't get the fish dry and you get a little goop on your fish, mix up some salt water (about a tablespoon per quart) with plain salt and bottled (not tap) water and you can wash them without the burst cells problem. Anyway, the first item is to remove the head, but sushi chefs take off a lot less than we normally do. The cut runs from the top of the head down in front of the rear gill collar down to the throat latch that you already cut when you bled the fish on the boat. Now is the time to remove those cheek scallops from the head that are so popular and then discard the rest of the head. Next it is time to remove the belly pieces and throat. After you have done this a few times this step is pretty simple with just a knife, but the first few times through you'll be happier if you have some heavy duty kitchen/game shears or tin snips for snapping the gill collar at the backbone. Start cutting the belly back by the vent and work forward along the bottom of the backbone, through the ribs until you run into the juncture of the backbone and gill collar. This is easy with a serrated knife. There really is a little seam there that allows you to complete the cut with your knife, but like I said it usually takes a few practice runs before you are comfortable with it. So, get out your shears and snap it off next to the backbone. Now repeat this on the opposite side. You'll end up with a giant butterfly looking piece of meat and just how giant the butterfly is determines your next move. Just keeper snapper, small grouper, redfish and the like can keep this whole. All you do is make a cut on the inside of the throat on the midline so that the butterfly wings lay flat. This meat will have bones, most of them large and easy to get around but you'll have to warn the family members used to fillets. The reward is outstanding fish and that is not overstating the claim. These areas of the fish do the least work but store the most fat. Just like a well marbled prime rib this is really good stuff grilled, fried or broiled (on bottomfish, mahi and wahoo. For most AJ's split the collar into 2 halves, they're too big to handle as one piece. This section is the Gulf equivalent to a Japanese classic done with their 8 to 12 pound yellowtail (same genus, different species from AJ's) called the hamachi kama. Hamachi is yellowtail and the kama is the collar section with a little of the front part of the belly attached. Just don't toss the kama word around too loosely without a fish name in front of it. By itself, kama is Japanese slang for gay, so in the wrong crowd you might make a sumo wrestler pretty unhappy with you! The rear part of the belly on yellowtail, or AJ's is reserved for high quality sashimi.

OK, now we've got the carcass trimmed down to the basics and the rest is pretty much what you have always done. The sushi chef has a ritual of slicing the length of the fish just under the skin along the dorsal fin on one side then along the anal fin and then along the anal fin on the other side and finally the opposite side of the dorsal. There's a name for that technique, but it has flown out of my brain for the moment. They then retrace their steps completing the cuts down to the backbone and finally removing the fillets where they attach to the backbone by pretty much just lifting them off. On small fish like flounder and just keeper trout the backbone is broken in half and then marinated in a combination of soy and sake and then deep fried for an appetizer. Sounds weird but I have had guests turn down entrees for more "fried bones!" Larger fish have the remaining flesh removed with a teaspoon and this is mixed with minced scallion and some nanami togarashi (Japanese 5 spice) or other ingredients and used as a filler for makizushi (rolled sushi). There's not much left for the garbage guys to haul off.

Tuna are more involved due to their roundness, but it's not that big of a deal. Make an additional cut the length of the fish down its lateral line so you end up with 4 loins instead of 2 fillets. Remove the blood line (your cat will love you) and you are good to go. If you plan to work on sushi and sashimi for several days on a large fish, only cut off the carcass what you need for that session. Cover your fish in parchment paper and then plastic wrap and return it to the ice and you're good to go the next day.

As for freezer storage, you can't beat vacuum sealers. I use a Foodsaver Pro that I've had for over 15 years and the darn thing is still going strong, hope I didn't just jinx it! I have grilled year old blackfin stored that way next to month old blackfin and been unable to tell the difference, they're that good.

I think I hit just about all the basics, but if you guys find any holes or have questions I'll see if I can't get to em in a few days. But I'm not going to be in a hurry with 42020 forcasting Instigator level seas for the weekend. See you guys out there.


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## Bret (May 21, 2004)

Awesome, Thats is some great info, once again.. Thanks for taking the time to research and answer our questions.. I have screwed up a few tuna filets by using the hose at the fish house... but never again...


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## ElJefe (Jun 1, 2004)

Good info thanks for taking the time
jason


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## Unbound (Jul 12, 2004)

My ancestors used to salt and dry cod, soak it in lye, and then boil the $#!+ out of it. I like your method better. Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll see you out there this weekend.


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## Kauffballs (Jun 2, 2004)

thanks for the info


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## lordbater (May 21, 2004)

Maybe Mont should permanently sticky this thread and move it to the recipe's section..

At least the important parts..


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## Snagged (May 21, 2004)

Thank you very much. I agree that this should, with your permission, becoma a sticky.


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## Early On (Jan 27, 2005)

Thanks for the time that you took to post this message. I've cleaned my share of fish in my life but you can always learned something.
Thanks again.
Mark


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Wow I never knew this much work went into sushi. Me personally I have never tried Sushi or Sashimi(sp). I always wanted to try Sashimi(sp) but never had the opportunity to. The extent of my offshore excursions had been on party boats, anyways this is not why I am posting this. I had originally planned to post this in this forum but decided that it would not be polite to hi-jack Instigators thread so here is a link to it http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=30599 
Billy


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## PiePuncher (Jul 14, 2005)

Great thread and thanks for the information. I actually learned something today!!!!!


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## Argo (May 21, 2004)

Have not seen instigator on here for a little while but was trying to find this post and thought some others might like to see it again. I thought it was going to get put in the recipe forum but it never made it there. Thanks agian instigator for all this writing.


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## spotsndots1 (Jan 4, 2005)

Thaqnks Argo, I missed this in August....great thread....thanks for bumping it up.


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## dr9shark (Aug 16, 2004)

*Recipe Forum*

Argo, can you get this in the recipe forum? I don't know how. This is cool. My son tried to explain it to me and I just got flabbergasted. He's an expert on Shishimi and Sushi. Drshark



Argo said:


> Have not seen instigator on here for a little while but was trying to find this post and thought some others might like to see it again. I thought it was going to get put in the recipe forum but it never made it there. Thanks agian instigator for all this writing.


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## starshine (Jan 31, 2005)

WOW, DR. SHARK --- I HAVE A HARD TIME BELIEVING ANYTHING COULD FLABBERGAST YOU.!!!!! You stood up to that king in Madagascar, and next time you start smokin' your Heifer Dust I'll relay your experiences w/ the Aboriginees (sp) in Austrailia.
I now realize that the only way to eat yft or for that matter bft is Shishimi or Sushi the minute you catch it on a party boat.
Just to let y'all know, I had never tried "RAW" fish prior to the 12-09-05 Big E trip.

I chopped up (minced) cilantro, onion, garlic and topped a 16 oz piece of bft (cut into 1" squares) in a glass bowl (not metal) and covered it w/Lime juice - let sit for 3 hours if you can. Then salt & pepper to taste & WOW, WOW - You may come to understand why Dr. Shark goes off when he runs out. Heifer Dust is good on beef, I have not tried it on fish -- and I have not tried to smoke it. Nuff, John


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## Argo (May 21, 2004)

here is the thread.


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## Brewgod (May 21, 2004)

bump, because the season is heating up...


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## wacker (Mar 22, 2006)

Great stuff!! as for the tuna, It is hard to care for in the traditional way on a small boat and when they are chewing the swim step off, I commercal albacore on the west coast and for us to get susi price the fish must be spiked in the brain and the gills pulled (we just rip them out by hand) and its off to the slush.


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## Snake (Aug 5, 2005)

Great Thread!!! I just got a really good idea for lunch!!


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## WAHOO-YAHOO (Apr 6, 2006)

I have a question for ya. I carry a sport bottle (squirt bottle) of cheap booze on the boat to render fish instantly paralized. Is it bad for the meat? After you gaff the fish you squirt the etoh (rum or bourbon) in their mouth over the gills and instantly, BAM, not a wiggle more. I do it to save the cleanup and prevent all of the dancing around on deck. After reading this post I wonder is it good for the meat, bad for the meat or inconsequential?
Any idea Great Sushi man?

BTW, I really like this post! My wife calls me an information junkie I suppose that's true.. Keep it up.

Erik


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## gostomskij (Jan 14, 2005)

WAHOO-YAHOO said:


> I have a question for ya. I carry a sport bottle (squirt bottle) of cheap booze on the boat to render fish instantly paralized. Is it bad for the meat? After you gaff the fish you squirt the etoh (rum or bourbon) in their mouth over the gills and instantly, BAM, not a wiggle more. I do it to save the cleanup and prevent all of the dancing around on deck.
> 
> Erik


I have never heard of this. For all the "Fishologist" out there, what is the reason? OR, are you just trying to see how many might try this?









Victor


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## WAHOO-YAHOO (Apr 6, 2006)

No, it works. Most people have some form of booze on the boat. Just try it. I don't know the biochemical or meatphysical reason for it, but that fish wont move again. 

Erik


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## Crazy fisher (Apr 13, 2006)

bump, it that time again


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## safisher (Dec 20, 2005)

I have my Sushi bar friend clean my fish(he volunteered). They never let fresh water touch the fish, always wrap the finished product with a layer of paper towel against the fish- to absorb any fluids that come out, then wrap in saran wrap. The paper towel can be changed if it gets soggy. This system keeps the meat fresh, dry and in excellent condition. They also want me to bleed the fish immediately on the boat, keep it cold and whole until they process it.


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## rynochop (Aug 28, 2006)

WAHOO-YAHOO said:


> No, it works. Most people have some form of booze on the boat. Just try it. I don't know the biochemical or meatphysical reason for it, but that fish wont move again.
> 
> Erik


What a waste of whiskey...i don't care if it's Old Crow or Crown Royal.


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## aabustamante (Nov 15, 2006)

Excellent Information. Thank you.

catch ya later
-aab


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## Rum Runner (Oct 27, 2005)

Put cheap vodka in that squit bottle - less flavor effect on the fish. And yes, it works - the blood is flowing incredibly fast from the gills into the brain at the point of landing, so imagine slamming a fifth through a beer-bong after running a couple miles.

Great culinary info in this thread! BRAVO! I would like a list of what fish are acceptable for sushi applications at home that are common catches. I know bottom dwellers are way more likely to carry parasites vs. pelagics (too bad - I bet grouper would be like butter).


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## fishedz (Sep 5, 2004)

Works better out of a spray bottle with cheap tequila.


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## SkipJack (May 24, 2004)

I worked at a sushi restaurant for about 2 months as a chef. Yokonyu sushi in San Antonio (Maybe you have heard of it).

Anyways, the methods described here are pretty much identical to the way we prepared fish. With the exception of one thing.

After the fish was cut into fillets we would cut them into thinner 2 inch by 3 inch rectangular strips.

Then, dry off each piece with lint-free paper towels and wrap them in plastic. My master chef did not use parchment paper. He claimed that vacuum sealed "frozen" fillets could be used as sashimi grade for up to a month and still taste just as good.

Nice info here.


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## Rode Warrior (Apr 25, 2006)

This is one of the best threads I've read in a long time. Thanks!

I know that we are not going to get this kind of treatment of our fish on a party boat, but what are the chances that a few of the more simple procedures could be used on the Big E? It seems like they have a decent level concern about fish care.


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