Department of Creative Sashimi: Kevin’s exploration of uses for flash-frozen tuna steaks already has transformed my household’s next journey to Aldi.
(As a brief reminder, F&D links to prolific local writer Kevin Gibson’s “The Taste Bud” column, including new posts as well as ones from the past. We’ll provide a brief snippet to whet your appetite, then you can click through to Kevin’s web site to finish reading the articles.)
Talk about revelations!
The Taste Bud: Eating Frozen Tuna, Salmon at Home, Sashimi-Style
For three or four years now, I have been regularly purchasing frozen ahi tuna steaks from Aldi – they’re super cheap and easy to pan-sear for a quick and protein-packed meal.
…I decided to do some Google searching, only to find that there are plenty of people out there eating Aldi’s frozen ahi tuna steaks raw, like full-blown sashimi. I said to myself, “Self, this seems crazy.” So I kept searching, and time after time I found more people on message boards like Reddit talking about how they use it without cooking in various dips or salads, or just straight.
And that’s when I found confirmation of the myth that the phrase “sushi grade” is not even official USDA terminology, just something many grocers will use to market their better cuts of fish. Actually, the term you’re looking for is “flash-frozen.” That’s when the fishing boats throw the fish immediately into a deep freeze as soon as they catch them, taking them down in the -30 or -40 degrees faranheit range; that essentially kills off any of the baddies inside the fish, while also preserving its freshness, and this practice is pretty much industry standard at this point.
Note to Kevin: “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for some wasabi today.”
Photo credit: Kevin Gibson.
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Kevin Gibson has been a professional writer for more than three decades, having written about restaurants, beer, bourbon, sports, night life, music and plenty more. He has won numerous awards from The Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and Indiana State Press Association, among others, but can’t remember where he put most of them. In addition, he has written for publications like LEO Weekly, Bourbon+ magazine, Thrillist, Alcohol Professor, Louisville Magazine and many more, including various newspapers. When he’s not busy writing books or stories about Louisville, he’s likely hanging out at a brewery with his dog, Atticus.
