ahi tuna sashimi

A wedge of ahi tuna is sliced thinly. White rice is steamed with a little sake and sugar. A partial sheet of nori is cut into thin strips. A simple sauce is prepared comprised of the usual suspects.

The tuna that is used for sushi and for sashimi is almost always maguro. This is ahi.

Maguro is a bluefin tuna, ahi is yellowfin tuna. Maguro is generally less fatty than ahi, but not always. Bluefin is nearly threatened by being so heavily fished, and that's bad. 

Smile for the peeps !

One cup of short-grain white rice was measured out and rinsed briefly in a sieve. One + one half, or possibly one + three fourths a cup of water was added to the pot along with one tablespoon saki and three fourths tablespoon sugar. The rice was pressure-cooked for twenty minutes. The reason it was pressure-cooked is because the pot was still out from yesterday. It had been cleaned but not put away and I'm lazy that way. What the heck. 

My sauce-confidence borders on arrogance. Okay, FINE! I'm completely arrogant when it comes to dressings and sauces. I don't even bother to taste them anymore. I know they'll be great. See? That has been the downfall of many a great chef. I've seen them go down more than a few times for not having tasted their sauces before serving it. No real chef would ever do that, and yet here I am doing it. Which proves I am not a real chef. 

I did something different this time. I dumped about three tablespoons of sake into a pint mason jar. GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG. Then added mirin to sweeten it, a few drops of that obnoxious Three-Crab fish sauce for umami, about 1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame seed for I don't know what, and soy sauce for salt. But I wanted it a little bit thick so I added 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, closed the jar and shook it, then microwaved it for forty-five seconds. BANG! Dayitiz: thickened Asian sauce. 

This meal was wonderful. The rice was warm, the fish near frozen, the sauce hot. It must be eaten immediately because there is no messing around with these unpasteurized raw ingredients. Plus the rice is right at the danger temperature zone that encourages the growth of insalubrious nasties. I wouldn't think of serving this to anyone but myself. Why, I can just hear the wailing of objections and gnashing of teeth. 

The fish has the advantage of being flash frozen and vacuum sealed. That is much better than possible at home. Home freezers take too long which enables the formation of large crystals that damage the flesh. Rapidly frozen food does not allow the formation of large ice crystals. Plus being sealed immediately shortens the amount of time available for the fish to pick up bacterial infection. But nothing is ever perfect and everything after that freezing and sealing and all bets are off. Something like this should never be served to anybody at risk or with compromised immune system. And if you're pregnant, then just forget it.  This message is  provided by United States Health Department.