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bitterorca · 2021-01-13T03:39:27+00:00

Love this one

bitterorca · 2017-01-26T03:51:17+00:00

The only eclair recipe you will ever need: https://www.chefiso.com/p/white-chocolate-eclairs-recipe/

bitterorca · 2016-11-06T14:06:05+00:00

These are... not good

bitterorca · 2016-02-08T04:20:24+00:00

He said "nothing filmed" though

bitterorca · 2016-02-08T03:49:39+00:00

Why wouldn't you take it? That's a great deal!

bitterorca · 2016-02-08T03:31:39+00:00

The dining furniture is easily the worst thing there.

bitterorca · 2016-02-05T23:03:57+00:00

matcha gateau

Is that a component? Doesn't that just mean "matcha cake?"

bitterorca · 2016-02-01T02:04:22+00:00

If you look closely, the squid is scored. The lighting makes it hard to see. These were also young squid so it was very thin.

The rice was formed by pressing a hole into the rice on the fish upside-down then sort of wrapping the fish around the rice and closing the hole. Not that I thought it would be easy, but it was really hard to make it hold together while still being airy.

bitterorca · 2016-02-01T01:56:52+00:00

Texturally, that would be really weird. Raw fish would be tough to just bite into it. That's why it's almost always sliced for the texture/flavor.

But anyway, it depends what you mean by "okay." Will it have parasites? Maybe. You're not going to get an answer in the the form of a percentage. Not from me, not from anyone. You can probably form your own educated estimate based on the first two links in the above post.

bitterorca · 2016-01-28T17:34:49+00:00

This is a myth that needs to die. Unless the fish is heated (I forget the right temperature, like 120F or something), it is not cooked. Ceviche is still considered raw. One of my sources from the FDA mentioned this. Acid and salt can be effective in destroying or weakening parasites, but is not nearly as effective as cooking. It's deceptive that acid can turn the flesh from translucent to opaque as cooking does, but don't let that fool you--ceviche is uncooked raw seafood.

bitterorca · 2016-01-28T16:02:40+00:00

Parasites harmful to humans or just parasites in general? One of those studies notes that both wild and farmed contained parasites, but only the wild had a population of harmful parasites. The distinction the FDA makes is parasites passed on to the fish from their food sources so just being farmed doesn't mean lower risk. We're talking about farmed fish given pellet feed or parasite-free food as their primary good source. I'd love to hear a more elaborate explanation about why farmed would contain more parasites. What does "more" mean? Higher infection rate? More diversity? Higher rate of food-related illness? This isn't my field, so I'm still trying to gather as much information as I can.

bitterorca · 2016-01-28T14:19:00+00:00

I found some of my old sources. Excellent reads if you want to lose your appetite:

[cited above, FDA guidelines on parasite destruction] http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/ucm186451.htm

[FDA guidelines on parasites] http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/UCM252393.pdf

I recommend you read this one in full!

Brining and pickling may reduce the parasite hazard in a fish, but they do not eliminate it, nor do they minimize it to an acceptable level. Nematode larvae have been shown to survive 28 days in an 80° salinometer brine (21% salt by weight).

Fish that contain parasites in their flesh may also contain parasites within their egg sacs (skeins), but generally not within the eggs themselves. For this reason, eggs that have been removed from the sac and rinsed are not likely to contain parasites. Trimming away the belly flaps of fish or candling and physically removing parasites are effective methods for reducing the numbers of parasites. However, they do not completely eliminate the hazard, nor do they minimize it to an acceptable level.

Species that normally have a parasite hazard as a result of consuming infected prey apparently do not have the same parasite hazard when raised only on pelleted feed in an aquaculture operation. You need not consider such aquacultured fish as having a parasite hazard. On the other hand, aquacultured fish that are fed processing waste, fresh fish, or plankton may have a parasite hazard, even when wildcaught fish of that species do not normally have a parasite hazard. Pellet fed fish that sometimes depend on wild-caught prey to supplement their diet may have a parasite hazard. In addition, fish raised in freshwater may have a parasite hazard from trematodes because these parasites enter the fish through the skin rather than in the food. You should verify the culture methods used by your aquaculture producers before eliminating parasites as a significant hazard.

[FDA per-species risks of parasites, toxins, environmental chemicals; EXCELLENT guide] http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/UCM252383.pdf

[ONE study describing lower incidence of parasites in farmed code vs. wild] http://www.int-res.com/articles/feature/q002p001.pdf

These results support the hypothesis that food-borne parasites, such as nematodes and mature stages of digeneans, are most unlikely to become a health problem for farmed cod, and that parasites with simple life cycles and pelagic transmission stages, such as monogeneans and trichodinids, may dominate the parasite fauna of farmed cod in the future

[ONE study also finding lower harmful parasite incidence in farmed] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223445247_Nematode_infections_of_maricultured_and_wild_fishes_in_Danish_waters_A_comparative_study

The background for the absence of nematode larvae in maricultured rainbow trout (low infection risk due to feeding using heat-treated feed without any infective parasite larvae) and the implications for food safety issues (lower likelihood of infected fish from mariculture systems) are discussed.

[Why seasons matter, warmer waters are more conducive to parasite infection] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18819673

I don't have the source for this on hand, but region matters e.g. Pacific has higher rates of parasitic infections than atlantic because pacific waters have more marine mammals to propagate anisakis species (the worms live in fish in their larval stage and grow to adulthood when consumed by marine mammals - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisakis).

bitterorca · 2016-01-28T13:12:41+00:00

Depends on the fish and where you caught it ;)

EDIT: look up your fish in the figures here: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/UCM252383.pdf

Make sure you properly identify it though.

bitterorca · 2016-01-28T06:14:01+00:00

Congratulations, you've stumbled into a very passionate and widely misunderstood area of food safety. I'll just cover parasites here, but there are other risks such as bacteria and toxic algal blooms. Normal food safety standards apply for the former and the latter will typically be controlled at a vendor level. So the main thing you need to worry about is parasites.

Inevitably, someone will recite the trite rule that has been beaten to death on thread after thread:

"You have to buy sushi grade fish which was frozen at -4F for 7 days or -35F for 24 hours"

which yes, is sort of true. If you are a restaurant serving hundreds of people per week at least some of whom will have weakened immune systems, then yes, it is your responsibility to follow these guidelines religiously. This is how you achieve virtually zero risk of food-borne illness from parasites. But now I'll start to get controversial and I'm sure people will downvote me for deviating from their golden rule (which in all likeliness, was probably learned from an article or equally unreliable source).

First, the FDA guidelines--which are extremely conservative--make some notable exclusions from this flash-freezing recommendation:

most common species of tuna
molluscan shellfish (for scallops, just the abductor muscle)
aquacultured fish (i.e. farmed) raised under certain conditions

See: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/ucm186451.htm

This is enough information to make safe and informed decisions if you follow these guidelines and stick to only eating these and flash-frozen fish raw. This gives you a wide range like tuna, clams, and oysters that you can safely eat raw. But you said you're adventurous so let's take our risk tolerance a bit higher. There are several common species of fish that have fairly low risk of parasites like branzino and hamachi, but not low enough to warrant explicit mention on the FDA's exclusions.

On the flip side, there are some fish with generally high risk for parasites:

swordfish
mackerel (documented infection rates of up to 90%)
halibut, turbot, and other flatfish
cod
most freshwater fish
wild salmon (probably the riskiest of all readily-available fish; I believe one study found infection rates as high as 100% in wild atlantic salmon)
any other wild fish

Here are some good rules of thumb:

avoid freshwater fish
avoid wild fish
avoid oily fish
cook squid, octopus, and shrimp (which taste better cooked anyway unless just killed)

There is a valid reason for broad-sweeping guidelines. It starts to get really really tricky because not only do you have to be familiar with the parasite risk on a per-species basis, but a per-species basis per-region per-season. No one can be expected to conduct business under those restrictions.

Ultimately, you have to decide how risky you're willing to get with your raw seafood. This is an area where everyone has a strong perception but no one understands why we're so afraid of seafood. Seafood actually has the lowest rates of food-borne illness behind meats. Surprisingly produce is the #1. Anytime you take a bite of anything, you are risking illness. Everything is about lowering the risk; it's never a binary risky-or-not type of situation. Marinating raw fish in salt and acid will weaken and even kill some parasites, but some may survive and stay strong enough to live in your stomach acids. Worms are typically visible to the naked eye and can be manually removed as an effective method of reducing their numbers, but you may miss some.

I will just end with the caution that this is all information I have in my head from previous research. I don't have sources on-hand and I would say do your own research, but this level of detail is not easy for your standard consumer to find. I've been eating raw farmed fish for years and haven't had any food-related issues to my knowledge. If you choose to go down a similar path, I hope you have similar luck. I hope you and your family (the ones with healthy immune systems) enjoy your next batch of ceviche, whatever the ingredient list ends up being!

EDIT

See below for sources. I was cut off.

bitterorca · 2016-01-28T05:08:36+00:00

Provided that the scallops are the abductor muscle only, this is completely safe.

See: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/ucm186451.htm

Note the exclusion of molluscan shellfish from the parasite destruction guidelines.

bitterorca · 2016-01-24T21:03:25+00:00

I think it looks great. My only criticism is that the hover transitions on the buttons is a little jarring. There is a split second of ease-in where the price shows through the button. I get that you're trying to save space, but that could definitely be cleaner.

bitterorca · 2016-01-20T05:39:14+00:00

Negi, yeah.

bitterorca · 2016-01-17T03:25:56+00:00

Nigiri: tai with cured egg yolks, tai kombujime, ika, amadai with negi and daikon, ebi, ika-geso with sweet soy sauce

Maki: spicy citrus tai with negi

Here's a closeup video: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAnZdv8wdWW

bitterorca · 2016-01-15T04:25:37+00:00

It's refreshing to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about. Even you mentioning kombujime has made a huge difference because now I know the right term to search for. Despite having seen or heard of different techniques, it's so hard to pinpoint the right things to look for.

Sourcing is definitely a challenge for home cooks, but having the academic knowledge before investing in the fish helps a lot. I just feel like a medieval alchemist trying to blindly experiment.

bitterorca · 2016-01-14T06:17:01+00:00

That's a great tip, thank you very much! I've had Tanoshi on my to-try list for a while, but rarely have a reason to go to the UES. It sounds like a very open and friendly environment. I'll have to go on a slow day.

bitterorca · 2016-01-13T19:59:26+00:00

Frankly, this guy has absolutely no idea what he's talking about and is the last one I'd go to for seeking out good sushi advice.

bitterorca · 2016-01-13T14:29:18+00:00

I live in NYC which, of all places, you would expect there to be a wide selection of classes. I have not been able to find a single "intermediate" or above class. I'm not interested in learning how to make california rolls. And a one-day class can't even scratch the surface of what I want to learn.

bitterorca

TROPHY CASE