 Sashimi
is an important element in Japanese cuisine,
where it is often served at the beginning of
a meal as a palate cleanser and appetizer.
It is often compared to sushi, another
popular Japanese dish, although the two are
actually different. Sashimi is raw fish
sliced very thin and served with a variety
of garnishes and sauces. Sushi is served
with rice, and often appears wrapped in
specially treated seaweed known as nori.
 Sashimi
is always made with saltwater fish, because
many freshwater fish species contain
parasites which could cause intestinal
distress if eaten. In addition, the fish
used for sashimi is fresh and of the highest
quality, to ensure optimum flavor and
healthiness. Many restaurants keep their
fish alive in saltwater tanks, ensuring that
the fish can be prepared to order. When
going out for sashimi, pick a reputable
restaurant with an obvious supply of fresh,
high quality fish. When preparing sashimi at
home, make sure that your fishmonger knows
that you intend to eat the fish raw, so that
he or she can recommend the most safe and
fresh specimens.
 Sashimi
is often prepared at a bar so that customers
can watch the chef. This tradition probably
stems from a desire to make sure that the
fish being used is fresh and of the highest
quality, but it is also very interesting to
watch sashimi being prepared. Chefs use a
very sharp knife to fillet the fish,
removing potentially dangerous bones along
with the skin. Then the fish is sliced very
fine and beautifully laid out on a platter
along with the garnishes and sauces of
choice.
Common garnishes for sashimi include pickled
vegetables such as ginger, shredded daikon
radish, and toasted nori. Sashimi is usually
also served with soy sauce and wasabi, and
some cooks add ground ginger root to the soy
sauce for an extra dimension of flavor. The
sashimi and condiments are arranged so that
consumers can easily pick up pieces of fish
and garnish with chopsticks before dunking
them in the sauce.
Seafood used for sashimi commonly includes
bluefin tuna, snapper, abalone, bass, fish
roe, prawns, mackerel, bonito, shad,
octopus, and squid. The fatty part of tuna,
known as toro, is particularly prized for
sashimi because it has a creamy, melt in
your mouth flavor which is simply exquisite.
Western consumers often enjoy sashimi made
with fish such as tuna and mackerel,
although they sometimes have difficulty with
the rubbery texture of raw squid and
octopus.
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