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[ericd]

Starting a new thread on Salmon Sashimi, the one I was reading stated it was very old and I shouldn't bother replying to it: http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=18986.15

Just wanted to get some advice from those that DO eat salmon sashimi. What type of salmon do you eat? I know that sockeye is good. Read on the forum that coho is good too. However, I was at a Japanese restaurant the other day and we asked the chef and he told us that they don't use coho for sashimi, just grilling. Also, chum eggs are used in Ikura because they're the biggest. Haven't heard to much about white spring sashimi.

What do you eat?

Also, how long do you freeze for?

[bigblue]

Starting a new thread on Salmon Sashimi, the one I was reading stated it was very old and I shouldn't bother replying to it: http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=18986.15

Just wanted to get some advice from those that DO eat salmon sashimi. What type of salmon do you eat? I know that sockeye is good. Read on the forum that coho is good too. However, I was at a Japanese restaurant the other day and we asked the chef and he told us that they don't use coho for sashimi, just grilling. Also, chum eggs are used in Ikura because they're the biggest. Haven't heard to much about white spring sashimi.

What do you eat?

Also, how long do you freeze for?

My favourite salmon sashimi is sockeye by a wide margin.
Sockeye feeds primarily on plankton and krill near the Arctic Sea and as a result have more lean and tasty flavour suitable for sashimi.

Salinity of Straight of Georgia is lower than average sea water due to high level of glacial melt water running in from Cascade Mountains.
As a result, fish are more susceptable to parasitic infestation and it is better to freeze them for a week or so before eating raw.
I heard that fish caught in the Pacific are generally cleaner due to both higher salinity and less polution (like fish farms and pulp mills).

Any salmon caught in river, extra care must be taken before attempting to eat them raw, as salmon's immunity starts to drop once they enter freshwater.
I personally would not eat raw any salmon caught in a river as there are no guarantees that all parasites will be killed via residential freezer.
Personally, I try to be on the safe side.
  

[StillAqua]

Also, how long do you freeze for?

First, check the temperature on your freezer. It should be as close to -20C as possible. -10C isn't cold enough to kill the roundworm larvae that are in almost all salmon. I freeze for 5-7 days. You also want the fillets to freeze as fast as possible so that the ice crystals that form in the flesh are as small as possible. A slow freeze forms big ice crystals which breaks cells in the flesh and make it mushy. I put a heavy aluminum pan in the freezer to prechill and then lay 1/2" thick fillets, no bigger than 6"x6" directly on it. Once frozen I wrap tight in plastic wrap and eat it within a couple weeks. Yumm.....

[Dogbreath]

Spring Salmon tastes like Salmon flavoured butter!!!!

Can't say it's better than the more muscular Sockeye just different and my personal fave.

Also-I never worry about all the scary details like some of the Grandmas on this thread.

[StillAqua]

Also-I never worry about all the scary details like some of the Grandmas on this thread.

Granny says unlessen you want the worst tummy ache you ever had, mind yer elders and wisers:

Prevalence of larval Anisakis simplex in pen-reared and wild-caught salmon (Salmonidae) from Puget Sound, Washington. Deardorff TL, Kent ML. Journal Wildlife Disease. 1989; 25(3):416-9.
Abstract
The abundance of parasites of public health significance in pen-reared salmon and wild-caught salmon was compared. Two hundred eighty-seven salmon from Puget Sound, Washington, were examined for third-stage larvae of Anisakis simplex. Of these fish, 237 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) were reared in commercial salmon pens and 50 sockeye salmon (O. nerka) were caught during their spawning migration. All wild-caught salmon were found to be infected with larval A. simplex; conversely, all pen-reared fishes lacked such infections. Edible musculature of wild salmon were infected with 581 (87%) nematode larvae. Of other salmon parasites known to infect humans, one Diphyllobothrium sp. plerocercoid was collected from each of three of the 50 wild-caught salmon. The study showed that farmed salmon may increase the margin of safety for consumers of raw seafood.

[Dogbreath]

Granny says unlessen you want the worst tummy ache you ever had, mind yer elders and wisers:

Can't fool an old know-it-all like me who's been eating fresh Salmon raw for closer to 35 years than 30 and never had anything go wrong.

I refuse to be cowed, been problem free all these years and don't see that changing.

Oh Yeah I've also eaten hundreds of pounds of fresh Ikura too, Chum, Spring, Coho, Sockeye and Steelhead all delicious.

[grease line]

Red spring is my fave too. Don't like sockeye or coho that much.

Always keep chum roe if you get it! It is the best!

[silver ghost]

Sockeye is by far the best sashimi. Last year I ate a piece raw right put of the river to prove to a frien. It was safe to eat raw. I'm still alive today!

But I kept the scraps from a few fish in a container in the fridge for a few day to make salmon burgers with and when I went to make them I found tiny little translucent yellowy worms. I was a bit freaked out but read they were relatively harmless when ingested and if they aren't killed by cooking they would be by human stomach acid.

I always froze the sashimi grade stuff to-be for a week before eating It after that, I have no desire to try spring because it's mushier to me, but coho would probably be nice!

[CohoJake]

Some sushi chefs prefer white chinook to all other salmon.  I've not had the courage to try home caught sashimi just because I don't know if my freezer gets cold enough, but my wife insisted on eating some coho roe at the river where I caught it and she's just fine!

[StillAqua]

Some sushi chefs prefer white chinook to all other salmon.  I've not had the courage to try home caught sashimi just because I don't know if my freezer gets cold enough, but my wife insisted on eating some coho roe at the river where I caught it and she's just fine!

Roe is fine. Most salmon worms are harmless to you. The only critter you want to avoid is herring worm (Anisakis , we used to call them Anal Suckers) that wild salmon carry but the worms are mostly in the meat around the gut and belly flaps because it burrows out of the gut of the fish into the meat. Most won't survive your stomach but it's the odd one that survives into your gut that causes the trouble.  Getting it is quite common in Japan. Little kids and old people are most susceptible, or if you already have some intestinal medical problems. Even if your home freezer doesn't get really cold, it's probably cold enough to weaken them enough so they won't survive through your stomach.

[Rp3Flyfisher]

OK, I know I am going to get all kinds of responses to this but.......................

My Fav by a LONG shot is Atlantic!!!!! The Fat marbleing that goes thru the flesh is where ALL the flavor is, and that is why Atlantic is best. Now, that being said, I ONLY eat wild caught Atlantic Salmon, I will not eat the Farm Raised ones, they taste like crap!! Since you Flash Freeze ALL Salmon that is going to become Sashimi, getting wild caught Atlantic is no big deal.

If I had to pick any of our local Salmon for Sashimi, it would be Sockeye!

Rick

[staffy]

I still have one sockeye left in the freezer bought from Steveston last year, can I eat it raw like sashimi? Some ppl working at the Japanese restaurant tell me the salmon prepare for sashimi should keep in the freezer below a certain tempurture (below 40 degree), any idea?

[StillAqua]

I still have one sockeye left in the freezer bought from Steveston last year, can I eat it raw like sashimi? Some ppl working at the Japanese restaurant tell me the salmon prepare for sashimi should keep in the freezer below a certain tempurture (below 40 degree), any idea?

Sushi restaurants always get flash frozen fish. Quick frozen at -40C kills the critters in 24h so they can use the product right away. Fast freezing also keeps the ice crystals small so the flesh stays firm. What matters is the temperature you freeze and store it at and the length of time you store it (-40C for 1 day, -20 for 7 days, etc.).

[staffy]

Thanks for your information, I think I better cook my last sockeye................