Sashimi Bonito Always A Risk!?

[Ledge 8]

Hi Raiders.

Great xmas present this year in the form of a sushi lesson from Japanese master.

Learnt heaps of great things but one thing left me very confused:

He said that he doesn’t sashimi bonito as it is from the ‘bluefish family’ and has too high a risk of being dangerous to eat, even 1 day after it has been caught.

Funny thing is he was happy to sashimi kingfish that was caught 5 days ago.

My preferred way to eat bonito is sashimi and have done it a few times now with no issues.

What are your thoughts? Do you eat sashimi bonito? Have you ever had issues? Do you take any particular precautions like freezing before you eat it?

Ledge

[rickmarlin62 1,586]

a bluefish is the name given by americans for our tailer  bonito aren't related to them...rick

[Smasher 17]

Also note that Australian Bonito are a totally different species to Bonito that they get in Japan - and turn into Bonito flakes.

Our bonnies are related to Tuna. 

[rozza_b 21]

I eat bonito sashimi whenever i can, love it and never had any issues ?never heard of them being dangerous to eat...

[browncrab 10]

I worked in seafood for 10 years and ate just about everything raw. I still continue to catch and eat loads of bonnies raw straight out of the water and im still ok... sort of. ?

[flatheadluke 361]

Very dangerous eating Bonito sashimi. On more than one occasion I’ve eaten too many delicious sliceswith soy, wasabi, ginger and beer.

[Volitan 160]

In Japan ‘bonito’ and ‘bonito flakes’ are from Katsuwonus pelamis, which we call striped tuna, and is skipjack in the US.

In NZ we called striped tuna ‘bonito’ too. 

i agree that the chef was probably confusing bonito with tailor due to the American tendency to call these ‘bluefish’. I can see that the tendency for tailor flesh to go soft and mushy would make it suspect sashimi after a few days.

Googling shows that bluefis (tailor) are also sometimes called ‘skipjack’ in the US. It’s no wonder the chef was confused.

[Scratchie 2,204]

Great bait alive or dead. There are plenty of better fish to eat Sashimi. Just my opinion! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[Ledge 8]

Thanks all, for your replies.

Don’t think chef was confusing bonito for tailor as I brought him my own bonito, kingfish and trevally from a recent session so he could show me how to prepare them.

But he may be confusing our bonito for a Japanese variant? Anyway, very encouraging to hear that you all eat bonito no problems! I will keep doing so!!

Personal preference Scratchy, but I prefer sashimi bonito to kingfish! And to just about anything else we can catch here from the rocks.

Can’t beat marinated, char-grilled kingfish though!

ps. Interesting to note that the chef was super excited about the silver trevally. Says it’s very prized as sashimi in Japan.

Thanks Raiders as always for the quality input.

Ledge

Edited January 5, 2018 by Ledge

[Ozzybass 10]

I like sashimi bonito more than tuna! 

[tyrone07 247]

It's all in the preparation but bonito sashimi or cervice is amazing if the fish is treated well, same as any seafood though

[Gabm 36]

Interesting thread!

Hey Ledge,

Were you also shown how to detect potential parasites? Or anyone else have experience with parasites?: signs, fish to avoid ect?

Thanks. Gab

[Ledge 8]

12 hours ago, Gabm said:

Interesting thread!

Hey Ledge,

Were you also shown how to detect potential parasites? Or anyone else have experience with parasites?: signs, fish to avoid ect?

Thanks. Gab

Wasn’t shown how to detect parasites unfortunately- that would have been a good question if I’d thought of it!

I have heard that if the flesh is milky then it’s no good.. I also saw yellow swiggly lines through a bonito that I caught a couple of months ago and didn’t eat it as I figured it was some sort of parasite.. so my uneducated opinion is that you can often tell if it has parasites just by the way it looks. I’m sure others can tell you more educated information though!

I was taught correct iki jime technique to humanely dispatch the fish and make sure the meat stays undamaged... something I’d tried before but never been able to do properly- turns out you need the right tool, a knife won’t do the job properly/consistently.

Edited January 7, 2018 by Ledge