difference between salmon in sushi sashimi and salmon that you bake?

Answer 1

When it comes to top tier tuna (the steak kind you pay big bucks for vs. the stuff in a can), there are 3 species you are most likely to see in fish markets and restaurants:

Yellowfin
Big-eye (also known as Ahi)
Bluefin
Yellowfin is fairly lean, least flavorful, and thus the cheapest, retailing for about $16/Lb.

Big-eye is much fattier and more flavorful than yellowfin. It retails for low $20s/Lb and at its prime can rival bluefin.

Bluefin is the Rolls-Royce of all tuna, prized for its bright red color, fattiness, and flavor. At its prime (the end of summer and early fall) when it swims north and fattens up, it can retail for close to $30/Lb. Not even the sushi restaurants can market this tuna effectively to the US consumers, and 99% of this lovely bluefin that we catch in the North Atlantic waters gets whisked off to Japan.

Of course, how good your tuna tastes depends not only on the species, but also on the season and even on each particular fish. That’s where the “grade” comes into the picture. When each tuna is caught, it gets pierced with a long probe and evaluated for color and fat content. The greasier the probe comes back, the higher the grade. Of course, it’s not a very scientific process, and what one distributor calls #1, the other might call 2+. The grades range from 1 (the best) to 3 (the worst). #1, 2+, and 2 all taste good enough to eat raw and can be sold for use in rare steaks, and sushi. This has nothing to do with the freshness of the fish, only with its taste. Since “#2+ Grade Tuna” sounds like they are serving you second grade fish, the restaurant menus will never use that terminology. They’ll either say “#1 Tuna”, or use the species name to describe it, like “Ahi Tuna.” Of course all these words don’t mean much, and you don’t really know how good that tuna is until you taste it. If this wasn’t complicated enough already, another variable in this tuna equation is the cut. The mid-section near the belly is the fattiest and most expensive, and the tail is the cheapest.

But what about the sushi grade? “Sushi grade” or “sushi quality” simply means the fish is fresh and has been properly kept on ice. A good fish market will take such care of all their fish and will be able to advice you on which fish are the freshest and good enough to eat raw. So “sushi grade” is more of a marketing term than a grade really. No authority gives this ephemeral “grade” out. Think about it this way. If you buy sushi carry out at a sushi restaurant, then take it home in a hot car on a summer day, and store it in your 42 degree fridge for a few hours, is that fish still “sushi grade”? So don’t worry about the grade. Worry about freshness. A really fresh tuna is easy to spot since it has no pearly rainbow discolorations, no smell, and no sleazy discharge. Buy it from a reputable fish market. Bring it home in a cooler with ice-packs, store it in the fridge (yes, still between ice-packs), and eat it that day. If you’d like a “sushi grade” certification, just give me a call. I’d be happy to issue one, after a thorough tasting of your tuna.

Keep in mind that the above advice only applies to salt water fish. Fresh water fish is prone to parasites and is not safe to eat raw. So if you go fishing in the river, don’t serve that fish for sushi no matter how fresh it is. The salt water fish can theoretically get parasites too, but the risk of that happening is extremely low, particularly for tuna. In other words, you are safer eating salt water raw fish than driving.

Answer 2

Sashimi salmon is a LOT fresher! If it gets too old, it has to be cooked to be safe! It also has to be sea salmon - not one of the land-locked varieties, including 'farmed' salmon.

Salmon for cooking could have been lying in a freezer for nearly a year before you buy it, and if you tried to eat it raw you'd probably become very ill.

The fish that you buy for sashimi - even in Japan - has been frozen on the trawler to keep it in tip-top condition. But it is NOT kept frozen, because it would lose it's freshness! You don't HAVE to freeze fish before using it for sashimi though - proof of that is the fact that fishermen of many different countries used to have to eat RAW fish while they were at sea! They had small wooden boats without space for a galley, so they couldn't light a fire to cook it!!

The main requirement for sashimi is salt-water - sea in other words. The salt in the sea keeps the bacteria down to a very low level. Then it has a very short shelf life, and if you want it to taste great you need to eat it within 48 hours of purchase! But that's just here in Japan, surrounded by sea .....! Wherever you are it's probably not truly 'fresh' when you buy it anyway, so eat it within 6 hours!!
; )

Answer 3

I think it's the filet they use in making it, where asl the salmon you bake may be the whole fish, the sushi is a specific cut and perhaps a different species of salmon.

Answer 4

I would like to know the answer to this also. I like sushi but buy frozen salmon and usually bake it.

Answer 5

The first post was quite informative.
I will, however, make a short note that there is a difference in sushi & sashimi.

Sushi contains sushi rice with the fish.
Sashimi is just raw fish to be eaten on its own ...with soya sauce, gari (ginger) and wasabi, of course. (likewise for sushi)

Answer 6

In sushi, it has to be stored at a specific freezing temperature for a certain amount of time to kill off bacteria. With sushi that you bake...you cook off the bacteria so you don't have to worry about it.

Answer 7

I don't think there is a difference....one is of course raw and the other is cooked. I'm not sure if it's a different cut of meat or anything but they are both quite tasty!!!

Answer 8

Sashemi is raw fish.