Fishin' for some sushi fish
Ahhh, what a wonderful creature is the fish. I favor the most those that swim upstream . It must have something to do with all that effort of going the impossible way that makes them taste so delicate!
Although this page is dedicated to fish in sushi - I must say you don't always use fish in sushi. It's true. Sometimes it's shrimps, calamari, eel, and other sea monsters. And ofcourse you can always make a veggie sushi (check out our own Tropicana sushi recipie).
But we are talking about fish now. And if it's fish we are talking about, then this will be the best time to mention that sushi is commonly made with raw fish. yes. raw fish. For that reason, it is very important to verify the freshness of the fish. The first thing you should do before buying a fish is to ask the fishmonger not "is this fish fresh?" but rather "since when do you have it ?". The not-completely-honest-yet-most-common answer will be, of course, "I got it this morning!"..
That's why it's important to know how to tell the difference between a good sushi fish, a bad sushi fish, and an ugly sushi fish. All that and more as we continue!
Yo bro! I'm as fresh as a fish can get
So you have a few tools to examine the freshness of your fish. These tools are not fully proof, but they are better than plain luck, right? right.
Texture - The texture of a good Salmon fish should be "Zebra styled". As presented in the image below, a good piece of Salmon fish has a nice, strong and easy to notice zebra style pattern.
Feel - The piece should be soft and smooth. If the out of the piece had harden, that should light a warning light.
Smell - Well, trust your own instincts. If it doesn't smell fresh then something must be fishy..
Taste - Although you can only judge the taste after you already bought it, this last line of defense may save you and your guests many ours of "bad fish joy". My recommendation is to take a little taste of the fish you bought before using it in your sushi.
On the right -a good piece of fish, left - bad one (outside the frame, an ugly one)