Eating raw steelhead?

The wife and i have recently gotten really into sushi. We especially enjoy Nigiri style sushi. Basically it's a thinly sliced raw fillet layed on a small ball of rice with a bit of wasabi between the fish and the rice. I've been toying with the idea of trying this with summer runs because their meat is so nice. As long as I freeze the fish to kill some bacteria before consumption I'd imagine I'll be fine. I did some reading and found that most sushi restaurants freeze their salmon before thawing to serve to customers. What do you think? Abu-loomis...I've seen pics of your raw fish meals. Ever tried it with fresh river caught steelhead?

Thanks,

Drew

could make Lox as well...

I've never had lox but from the recipes I've seen just now it looks killer. Nigiri takes a lot less time though.

I'll probably freeze it. I really just want to use the belly meat for the Nigiri. I'll just slice that up and freeze it separate for a few days. I couldn't find any info on if there is any curing process sushi restaurants do when they process their salmon. We frequent "I love sushi" on lake union. I'll have to talk to the chef next time I'm in.

Ditto

Sushi and sashimi is strictly a saltwater affair in my book. No freshwater salmonids are consumed raw in my household. I might make an exception for a tidewater fish sportin' a snow belly, translucent fins, a pile of long-tailed sea lice and blinding chrome sides that's literally minutes or hours from the salt.

A river is a nasty place to pick up all kinds of harmful parasites in a hurry.

"I love Sushi" is top notch. They can definitely point you in the right direction.

Since you intend to consume this with out cooking, you will need to freeze it to kill the nematode parasites. Unless your freezer can get down to -20 below and stay that way for minimum of 24 hrs, it is not recommended.

Most commercial fish have been frozen at -35 below for minimum of 4 hrs and kept at -18 or below for a week.

The guidelines set by the FDA for fish intended for raw consumption.

'Freezing (-4°F (-20°C) or below (internal or external) for 7 days or -31°F(- 35°C) or below (internal) for 15 hours) of fish intended for raw consumption to kills parasites

Sounds to me like your asking for a case of the shits. Personally, I would listen to the advice given by Steelspanker.

ok so what if I have access to some king fillets that were caught in the salt and have been frozen? Would this be the safer alternative?

Definitely...

steeliedrew,

I don't have any experience with uncooked summers as they taste great cooked.

I will say that you are hard core though!

Best,

I thought the whole deal with salmon is they picked up the bad bugs before they hit the salt and they stayed with them.

+1

Anisakis is a nasty nematode that can occur in salmon/steelhead in the salt or freshwater. I used to eat a ton of raw salmon and gravlax and never had a problem, but after reading up on Anisakis I gave that up. Even if I did eat some myself, I wouldn't want to serve it to someone else and make them sick. Most home freezers don't get cold enough to kill the parasites in salmon, so be careful.

http://www.parasitesinhumans.org/anisakis.html

I've honestly eaten raw salmon and steelhead dozens of times, and never had any problem. No freezing before hand. Not suggesting that anyone else do it though...

Baarrrffffffffffffffffffffffffff.Good luck,
SZ

Have tin foil will travel..................and a flame.

Nobody ever has a problem with parasites.............until they do.

Then, they wish they hadn't eaten whatever they ate that never gave them a problem before.

There's plenty of sashimi-appropriate fish to eat. Any fish that's been in fresh water during their life cycle isn't sashimi-appropriate unless you can achieve a low enough freezer temp to kill the parasites. Most home freezers won't get cold enough.

Read "Parasite Rex" and you may never eat anything uncooked again.

Summer run and springer make awesome sashimi...and I try to be 100% on freezing it first, but I haven't been perfect about it...no problems here.

Fish on...

Todd

I leave the raw to the pros.
I like to spark and flame my own catch.

That last part is debatable.



I've eaten a fair amount of salt king that I've caught and frozen in a regular freezer. I've also eaten quite a bit of gravlax from salt kings. I wouldn't serve it to a kid but I've never had a problem.

These are the ones that steal your catalytic converter when you turn your back....

Good advice here. Just so you'll know, proper freezing can kill parasites but it won't kill most bacteria. Ya gotta cook it to do that.

The only I eat raw are fruits and veggies.

do it drew............. try it out with the one you got this afternoon haha.

Gravalox is different, since it is cured by salt eliminating the bacteria growth significantly and it kills the parasites.

If you are that desperate to try it, you can bring a piece of your frozen fish by my lab and I will give you the full micro; TPC, salmonella, Staph aureus, coliform and e.coli.

A

I've been eating left over BBQ steelhead with friend/steamed rice. If I need sushi I'll go to Central Market, Hakata, Origama, I Love Sushi. I tried a fresh oyster once from Willapa Bay that made me sick but it was an abnormally hot 90 degrees. Never have had problems eating raw oysters on the half shell at FX McRory's, Ivar's, Anthony's, Voodiez.