Info request - Live tuna to Sashimi

[Nuvole]

I've done it myself many times and have been trying to get my skill right.

Have seen several utube, and even gone into the extend of purchasing a Japanese book from ebay and till now have not much clue to do it "right". I've a Deba, Yanagiba & a deboning long nose plier. Looking forward to some step by step instruction from right after landing a tuna > bleeding > filleting & deboning > ... Sashimi. An extra instruction of how to sharpen the Yanagiba will be nice nice.

Ms.Tani, if you happen to be reading this I bet you have something to share 

[Bryan Young]

By far, bleeding and icing is a very probably the most important step.  We immediately cut and pull the gills and toss the fish in a icy saltwater bath.  Essentially filling a cooler with ice and pumping salt water into a cooler or fish bag so the fish is covered with the icy saltwater bath.

[Nuvole]

By far, bleeding and icing is a very probably the most important step.  We immediately cut and pull the gills and toss the fish in a icy saltwater bath.  Essentially filling a cooler with ice and pumping salt water into a cooler or fish bag so the fish is covered with the icy saltwater bath.

Thanks mate,

Now I know I've done more or less step one right. I'm normally on a ship with hungry crew crew for fresh fish, so icying is out of the question. Nothing will even get into the cooler before eaten.... its like 1. Strike a fish > 10 or more crew watching > fish landed > I do the cutting while someone else will be taking my rod looking forward to the next strike.

[Bryan Young]

In that case, a sharp knife and good sharpening stones.  When I was working at a sushi restaurant, we used to sharpen knives at an angle about 15 degrees.  Took forever, but the edge lasted a whole lot longer between sharpenings.  I think US knives are sharpened between 45 and 30 degrees.

[Mandelstam]

I think that many knives is ground with a first and secondary edge, the first is like you say Bryan around 30-45 degrees and the secondary 15-17 degrees. But it depends on the blade thickness and the purpose of the knife. A longer thinner edge is more fragile so for multi purpose knives you usually try to keep that 15 degree edge as small as possible.

I use mainly a ceramic sharpener with two weels that gives you a persistent angle when sharpening. Works great. I know many people (chefs for instance) don't like those sharpeners but I guess I just don't have the skill to sharpen knives free hand.

[Bryan Young]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I'm talking about Japanese Fish and sashimi knives that have a similar process as a samurai sword. Each knife runs about 30,000¥ and more.

[day0ne]

First step (important):

http://www.spc.int/DigitalLibrary/Doc/FAME/Manuals/Blanc_05_Sashimi.pdf

Next, loin the tuna. There are hundreds of videos online for this. No bones should be involved. Don't forget the belly meat.

[Nuvole]

First step (important):

http://www.spc.int/DigitalLibrary/Doc/FAME/Manuals/Blanc_05_Sashimi.pdf

Next, loin the tuna. There are hundreds of videos online for this. No bones should be involved. Don't forget the belly meat.

Thanks mate. This is very informative.

[Keta]

The high end sushi knives I've seen had only one side of the blade sharpened too. (not double edged, they didn't flip the knife over when sharpening.

Bleed immediately, I make a shallow cut behind the pictorial fin on both sides and another on the tail, then stick the fish head down in a bleed bucket with a block of ice and saltwater for a few minutes.  Then I make a 2" cut forward from the anus, use my finger to brake their waste tube, cut around the gills, grab the gills and give them a twist and pull to remove the guts.  Remove the kidney around the collar and wash the fish both inside and out.  Then fill the body cavity with ice, put the fish on ice and surround it with more ice.  I sometimes put them in heavily iced saltwater to chill faster if the fish are large.

[Nuvole]

While I do have a yanagiba around 30,000¥ at home, I find them unsuitable for offshore purpose as they do rust rather easily.
I'm using a two s/s g-sakai for offshore. One smaller knife for gutting and a yanagiba for sashimi. The yanagiba is one side sharpen. Should I give the flat side a few brush when sharpening?

Keta,
As you mention "shallow cut" how shallow are we talking about? And what's the harm if I cut too deep?

I'm slowly getting the picture of preparing the fish for sashimi, anyone with step by step pictorial instruction for the next stage from deboning to serving sashimi please ;-)

[Keta]

For our 8-18 kg albacore 6-7mm hits the vein, when you hit it it's obvious.  Deeper exposes meat to bacteria but it's the red meat there.

I'd just brush the back side of the knife with a steel to remove the burr.  Nice knives are a joy, high quality sushi knives are a treasure.

When I make sashimi on the boat I just hack it off the fish with a clean and sharp ait knife, dip it in the ocean and enjoy it.

[Dominick]

By far, bleeding and icing is a very probably the most important step.  We immediately cut and pull the gills and toss the fish in a icy saltwater bath.  Essentially filling a cooler with ice and pumping salt water into a cooler or fish bag so the fish is covered with the icy saltwater bath.

I could not open the PDF file in the posts so I do not know if this is covered.  Tuna have the ability to shiver.  If allowed to shiver after they are placed in the ice bath the shivering will produce heat even in an ice slurry.  A wire or heavy piece of mono is inserted in a hole inside of the brain cavity and run down the spine to destroy the nerve.  This action destroys the fish's ability to produce heat by shivering.  I did it once and though I could not taste the difference, Japanese connoisseurs of sashimi can taste the difference.  Also I did not do a side by side comparison.  Dominick

[Mandelstam]

When I make sashimi on the boat I just hack it off the fish with a clean and sharp ait knife, dip it in the ocean and enjoy it.

You sure know how to make a man drool all over himself Lee...


/Karl

[Ron Jones]

My solution is easy, a hot grill and internal meat temp of 180 or so!

Raw fish= bait.

Ron

[Keta]

Raw fish= bait.

I eat a lot of "bait", including herring that was right out of my bait net and still twitching.  The last time I was in Eugene my friend that owns a small sushi restaurant made me try a special mackerel that was quite tasty, and they got me to try uni again after 45 years.