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After many years of peak wasabi use (i.e. highest saturation possible) at Japanese restaurants in the US, I had a chance to eat sushi while on a trip to Shangha

by asn0 8y ago

After many years of peak wasabi use (i.e. highest saturation possible) at Japanese restaurants in the US, I had a chance to eat sushi while on a trip to Shanghai. I don't know if Chinese wasabi is more real or not, but quickly learned it had at least 10x more sinus-cleaning power than US wasabi. That was also the first place where I had 'not possible to be any fresher' sushi - orders were placed at the fish tanks on the first floor, restaurant was upstairs.

dragonwriter 8y ago
> That was also the first place where I had 'not possible to be any fresher' sushi - orders were placed at the fish tanks on the first floor, restaurant was upstairs. While I won't question your description of the freshness, I would point out that that set up would also work as a hack to suggest freshness regardless of where the ingredients that actually go into your food are sourced.
- bpicolo 8y ago
  Supremely fresh seafood is drastically cheaper and more accessible in Shanghai than in anywhere in the US. You can hop over to any local grocer / wet market and find a half dozen varieties of live shrimp, eel, fish, etc.
muzani 8y ago
I hear the real wasabi is not as strong as the fake one. I've never tasted it, nor the American type, but it's quite possible that it was even more fake. That doesn't mean the sushi is lower quality though; a lot of really good sushi spots use the horseradish wasabi.
cyphar 8y ago
> That was also the first place where I had 'not possible to be any fresher' sushi - orders were placed at the fish tanks on the first floor, restaurant was upstairs. You really don't want "fresh" sushi. Freshly-caught raw fish has all sorts of parasites and bacteria in it, which is why almost all sashimi-grade fish is flash-frozen to kill the parasites. In addition, like most things, sashimi tastes better with age -- which is why most sushi restaurants will dry-age their fish (which also ends up tenderising it). Freshly caught fish can be quite tough, because the muscles go into rigor mortis. Usually fish is kept for a few days before it's ready to eat. I agree with the other commenter which said the fish tanks where there to be misleading.
dillondoyle 8y ago
That whole 'fresh' thing is very odd Americanism. I like this blog here is good post on the subject: https://www.thesushigeek.com/the-sushi-geek/2016/02/05/719 https://www.thesushigeek.com/the-sushi-geek/2016/02/05/719
userbinator 8y ago
The chemical responsible for the pungency is well-known and synthesisable, so it wouldn't surprise me if the manufacturers just added more of it on the basis that it's cheaper and customers may think "stronger" wasabi to be better: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allyl_isothiocyanate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allyl_isothiocyanate

by asn0 8y ago

dragonwriter 8y ago

> That was also the first place where I had 'not possible to be any fresher' sushi - orders were placed at the fish tanks on the first floor, restaurant was upstairs. While I won't question your description of the freshness, I would point out that that set up would also work as a hack to suggest freshness regardless of where the ingredients that actually go into your food are sourced.

bpicolo 8y ago
Supremely fresh seafood is drastically cheaper and more accessible in Shanghai than in anywhere in the US. You can hop over to any local grocer / wet market and find a half dozen varieties of live shrimp, eel, fish, etc.

muzani 8y ago

I hear the real wasabi is not as strong as the fake one. I've never tasted it, nor the American type, but it's quite possible that it was even more fake. That doesn't mean the sushi is lower quality though; a lot of really good sushi spots use the horseradish wasabi.

cyphar 8y ago

> That was also the first place where I had 'not possible to be any fresher' sushi - orders were placed at the fish tanks on the first floor, restaurant was upstairs. You really don't want "fresh" sushi. Freshly-caught raw fish has all sorts of parasites and bacteria in it, which is why almost all sashimi-grade fish is flash-frozen to kill the parasites. In addition, like most things, sashimi tastes better with age -- which is why most sushi restaurants will dry-age their fish (which also ends up tenderising it). Freshly caught fish can be quite tough, because the muscles go into rigor mortis. Usually fish is kept for a few days before it's ready to eat. I agree with the other commenter which said the fish tanks where there to be misleading.

dillondoyle 8y ago

That whole 'fresh' thing is very odd Americanism. I like this blog here is good post on the subject: https://www.thesushigeek.com/the-sushi-geek/2016/02/05/719 https://www.thesushigeek.com/the-sushi-geek/2016/02/05/719

userbinator 8y ago

The chemical responsible for the pungency is well-known and synthesisable, so it wouldn't surprise me if the manufacturers just added more of it on the basis that it's cheaper and customers may think "stronger" wasabi to be better: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allyl_isothiocyanate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allyl_isothiocyanate