Beware the Fatty Sushis
Trevor Corson tells Lexus Magazine why toro, the bellyfat of bluefin tuna, and other blubbery cuts of raw fish don't belong in your tummy. He's got some better, more traditional alternatives.
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6 Comments:
Wow. After going through the linked pages, I feel like I've never known anything about sushi etiquette prior to this...
levinedym at 6:46PM on 02/20/08
I have never liked toro, so I guess that's a start. My favorite is yellowtail. No mention of that in his write as being either good or bad...
seyo at 10:08AM on 02/21/08
Seyo: I have not found much in the way of health & environmental stats on yellowtail, but they are nearly all farmed in a way similar to the way salmon are farmed, and salmon farming raises a whole host of health & environmental problems, so generally I avoid the usual yellowtail at the sushi bar for that reason.
-Trevor
TrevorCorson.com
tcorson at 1:03PM on 02/21/08
Environmental Defense compiled this interesting/useful list for determining what fish are safest (for human and environmental health). I carry it in my wallet when I go out for sushi.
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/1980_pocket_seafood_selector.pdf
evalou at 2:13PM on 02/21/08
But doesn't fatty fish contain the omega-3 fatty acids that we should all be getting more of? I love toro and salmon for just that reason!
Otabenga at 4:11PM on 02/21/08
Otabenga,
You can get the same amount or more of omega-3s from fish that are lower on the food chain and/or not farmed, and thus much safer for you to eat because they'll be lower in mercury and other toxins, as well as being better environmental choices -- mackerels and sardines are good examples of very good omega-3 fish, which are also very tasty when properly prepared.
The fish flesh doesn't have to be full of fat for you to get the omega-3s. Indeed, there are big problems with the whole agenda promoting the consumption of fish for omega-3s. Farmed salmon, for starters, often don't even contain anywhere near the amount of those healthful fatty acids that wild salmon would, and that the fish-farming industry would have you believe, partly because more and more the farmed fish are being fed with vegetable-oil based feed. And in eating enough toro to get omega-3s, you're exposing yourself to such a high mercury risk that it's not worth it.
It makes much more sense, I would suggest, not to choose the seafood you eat in order to get a supposed supply of omega-3s, and instead just to take omega-3 tablets manufactured from relatively sustainable stocks of fish like mackerel, sardines, and anchovies, which are low on the food chain -- these supplements are also filtered to remove any toxins as well. That is what I do.
And I find I don't really miss the salmon and toro at the sushi bar, because I've come to find the fattiness of those fish too cloying, and I now prefer the more interesting and subtle tastes and textures of other, leaner fish.
Trevor
TrevorCorson.com
tcorson at 3:30AM on 02/26/08